Of the Ten Bloody Persecutions which the Christians Suffered under The…

When the Jews were stripped of their power by the heathen, and their time was past, in which they had persecuted and killed the saints of God, the Lord God still allowed His church to be visited by the refining fire of persecution, namely, through the power of the heathen; of whom the Emperor Nero was the first tyrant. Introduction to the Mirror of the Anabaptist Martyrs, printed in the year 1631, page 35, column 2.

This Nero, according to the testimony of the Emperor Trajan, governed the monarchy of Rome so admirably during the first five years of his reign that no emperor ever had greater praise than he; for at that time he was so tenderhearted that when he was asked to sign the death warrant of a highwayman, he replied, "Oh, that I could not write!" showing by this his aversion to the killing of human beings. Trajan, in Tract. Also, Roomschen Adelaer, door D. P. Pers, printed in the year 1642, page 100, in the life of Nero. Also, Suetonius, in Nero, chapter 10.

But after the first five years he became so full of hatred, murder, and bloodshed that he seemed to delight in nothing more than in killing, murdering, and fearfully torturing, not only criminals, but even the saints of God, who were praised even among their enemies for their God-fearing life and conduct.

I will not mention the cruelties and tyrannies he practiced on his own friends; how he had his beloved son Britannicus poisoned, and his own mother Agrippina cut open, to see the place where he had lain; how he had his faithful wife, Octavia, put to death with the sword, because she was barren; and Seneca, his faithful teacher, bled to death, and poisoned. We will speak only of the persecutions and unheard-of cruelties he practiced on the beloved friends of God, namely, the true Christians. To this end we will begin as follows

Once, wanting to see the burning of Troy matched by its equal, he had the city of Rome set on fire, and climbed a certain tower outside the city, where, as he watched it, he began to sing, "Troy is on fire," and so on. Suetonius, the same, in Nero, chapter 38. Roomschen Adelaer, page 102, in the life of Nero.

After this was done he laid the blame on the Christians, saying that they had done it; for when the Romans, greatly stirred by the immeasurable damage and the dreadful calamities that came from this fire, began to murmur loudly, he, to shield himself and to vent his preconceived hatred on the Christians, put the whole blame on them. Introduction to the Martyrs Mirror, page 35, from Baronius, in the year 66, number 1.

For this reason bloody decrees against the Christians were proclaimed at once, in the name of the Emperor, throughout the whole known world (then under the monarchy of the Romans), that they should be put to death everywhere. The contents of these decrees were as follows: "If anyone confesses that he is a Christian, he shall be put to death, without further trial, as a convicted enemy of mankind." Johannes Gysius' Historia Martyrum, edition of 1657, folio 6, column 2.

Tertullian afterwards rebuked the Roman Senate, saying: "Read your own histories, and you will find that Nero was the first who raged against this sect (so he calls the Christians), which at that time flourished most in Rome." Apologia, Contra Gentes, chapter 5.

In another place he says: "Nero was the first who stained with blood the rising Christian faith at Rome."

Shortly after this decree of Nero, a violent and merciless persecution of the Christians broke out in all the countries that were under Roman rule; and this persecution lasted until the Emperor's death. The innocent Christians were accused not only of the burning of Rome, but also of every wickedness imaginable, so that they might be tortured and put to death in the most awful manner. The Roman Tacitus (according to the translation of J. Gysius, and not that of Fenacolius) * refers to this, saying: [n105-1] "Then Nero, in order to turn this report away from himself, had those whom the common people called Christians accused and severely tormented. The author of this name is Christ, who was publicly put to death in the reign of Tiberius, by Pontius Pilate, the governor. Those who confessed that they were Christians were arrested first, and afterwards, by their making it known themselves, a great multitude were all condemned, not so much because of the fire as because of the hatred in which they were held by mankind. The taking of their lives was accompanied with much mockery; they were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and then torn to pieces by dogs; or nailed on crosses; or set at stakes and burned, serving also as torches for the spectators, when the day was over."

So Tacitus, a Roman himself, has confessed plainly enough, in spite of himself, as J. Gysius writes, that the Christians were innocent of the burning of Rome, but that they nevertheless had to suffer for their name.

Who the great multitudes were that perished in those awful persecutions, confessing the name of Christ even to death, is not stated in the histories of the fathers; but we will content ourselves with this, that God remembers them, and that their names are written in the Book of Life. Still, we do meet with some names, though only a few, of those who suffered in that persecution in the reign of Nero, and sealed the truth of Christ with their blood and death; of these we will speak in the proper place.