Despite the events which took place in Connecticut yesterday, America is a civil place compared to the storehouse known as history. Acts of brutality, savageness and violence were a daily occurrence in the days of the Roman Empire. According to From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, a riveting book written by Ruth Tucker, sanity went amuck under the leadership of Emperor Septimus Severus. Beginning in A.D. 202, this tyrant leader launched the first empire wide attack on Christianity.
Inspired by his religion, worshipping Serapis, the Egyptian god of the dead, Emperor Septimus was convinced by fear that Christians poised a major threat to the existence of his own religion. As Christianity began to grow in Carthage, North Africa, persecution was unleashed in this area to quench the faith of believers. As a result, 6 individuals were arrested and sentenced to death for failing to renounce their faith. This group consisted of 4 men and 2 pregnant women. Their leader, a deacon named Saturus, along with the other 3 men were the first to be publicly executed. While not quite Pay Per View, Romans gathered in an arena to see these individuals get mauled by a bear, leopard and wild boar before having a gladiator behead each man with a sword. Let’s just say that civil rights have come a long way since the second century.
Meanwhile, the 2 woman, Perpetua and Felicitas were given multiple chances to recant. In fact, Perpetua’s father begged and urged his daughter to deny her new found faith, getting beaten himself for being too aggressive with the prison guards. Having her child just prior to being thrown in jail, Perpetua was allowed to spend her last few days on earth with her baby. On the otherhand, Felicitas gave birth to her child while on death row, saying good bye prior to their joint execution. Two mothers, with one faith, were willing to never see their children grow old, making a statement of faith to the crowd which looked on in disbelief.
In their last days on earth, Perpetua and Felicitas faced the 7 life challenges the apostle Paul addresses in Romans 8:31-39. Tribulations, check. Distress, check. Persecution, check. Famine was experienced by being given just enough food to be kept alive each day. Four down, 3 to go. As these 2 women were led into the arena, they were stripped of their clothes, naked and humiliated. With peril and the sword, 6 and 7 just around the corner, a mad heifer was released, trying to trample each to death like a rodeo clown without a barrel to hide in. Finally, the crowd reached a breaking point, crying out in unison, ENOUGH! The only thing remaining were the eyes of a gladiator staring at his sword, ready to put Perpetua and Felicitas out of their misery. Three strikes later, each breathed their last breath, all because of Jesus.
Like a Hollywood ending, these acts of faith, inspired a generation of Christians in the city of Carthage. Instead of killing Christianity, faith exploded throughout the northern Mediterranean. Churches that exist today can be linked to the faith of these 6 individuals. For further details, check out Ruth Tucker’s book for yourself. Though you may think Perpetua and Felicitas had strange sounding names, their testimony, like Galatians 1:11-24, motivated a generation to acquire their fire for Jesus. Go and do likewise!
by Jay Mankus
Amazing stories of faith also exist during the 3rd century during the Diocletian persecution, who commanded the burning of Bibles and churches. The fact that Bibles withstood these burnings is a testimony to the amount of Bibles which initially existed.
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