Persecution of Christians

People have been treated badly for their faith for a long time. In the old Roman days, some leaders were mean to Christians.

A leader named Nero blamed them for a big fire.

Later, even some Christians fought each other. They had different ideas about what to believe. This caused many sad fights.

In the 1900s, many people were hurt in big wars. This happened in lands like the Ottoman Empire.

Today, it still happens in some places. Many Christians live in small groups in other lands.

It is a very old story.

People have faced hardship for their faith for a long time. This began when Christianity first started. Early followers faced trouble from both Jewish and Roman groups.

One early person, Stephen, was killed by a mob. Paul the Apostle also faced many dangers. He was beaten and even shipwrecked because of his beliefs.

Later, the Roman leader Nero blamed Christians for a big fire. This led to more state-led harm.

Over time, even Christians fought one another. They had different ideas about what to believe. These disagreements led to many sad conflicts.

In the 1900s, many Christian groups faced very hard times. In the Ottoman Empire, people faced genocide. This means large groups were targeted for harm.

Today, this still happens in some parts of the world. Many Christians live in places where they are in a minority. They may face unfair rules from their governments. This can happen in parts of Africa and Asia.

Persecution means that people are treated badly or unfairly because of what they believe. For Christians, this has been a part of their history since the very beginning. This history spans from the first century to the present day. Some people were targeted because they were missionaries or new converts. In many cases, people were even martyred, which means they died for their faith. Early Christians faced pressure from the Jewish communities where their religion began. They also faced trouble from the Roman Empire, which ruled many early Christian areas.

In the early days, the way people were treated changed often. For example, the Apostle Paul wrote about his own many sufferings. He was beaten with rods and even faced shipwrecks and robberies.

Some early leaders, like Stephen, were killed by mobs in Jerusalem. In the Roman Empire, the leader Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome. This led to supervised persecution by the state. For a long time, these hardships were often local or led by regional governors. It was not until the year 249 that the first empire-wide government persecution began under Decius.

As time went on, the nature of these conflicts changed. It was not always people of different faiths fighting one another. Since the fourth century, Christians have also persecuted other Christians. This happened because of differences in doctrine, which are specific sets of beliefs. These disagreements are sometimes called heresies. Large splits, known as schisms, happened between different groups like Rome and Constantinople. Later, the Protestant Reformation also caused severe conflicts and sectarian violence between different Christian denominations.

In the 20th century, the scale of hardship became even larger. In the Ottoman Empire, Christian populations faced genocide. This includes the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian genocides.

These were very large-scale events where entire groups were targeted. Some people also faced persecution in atheist states within the former Eastern Bloc. These events caused many people to flee their homes and seek safety elsewhere.

Today, Christianity is the largest religion in the world. However, about 10% of Christians live as minorities in states where they are not the majority.

In some parts of Africa and Asia, governments may show favoritism to one religion. This can lead to religious discrimination for others. Some groups also face harm from non-state actors, which are organizations not part of a government. This history shows that while many people live in peace, others continue to face hard times because of their faith.

Persecution refers to the unfair treatment or hostility directed at individuals or groups because of their religious beliefs. For Christians, this has been a recurring theme throughout history, spanning from the first century to the present day. This history includes various forms of hardship, ranging from local social pressure to state-sanctioned violence and genocide. It involves many different actors, including Jewish authorities, Roman officials, other Christian denominations, and modern political states or non-state groups. Understanding this history requires looking at how religious identity has intersected with political power over two millennia.

In the earliest stages of Christianity, the movement functioned as a sect within Second Temple Judaism. This led to immediate inter-communal dissension. According to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul originally persecuted Christ-following assemblies before his own conversion. The book of Acts describes the death of Stephen, who was stoned by a mob for perceived transgressions of Jewish law.

Paul himself later documented his own sufferings, including floggings by Jewish authorities and beatings by Roman magistrates. He also faced dangers from shipwreck, robbery, and threats from both pagans and rival members within the movement.

As Christianity grew, it encountered the complex political landscape of the Roman Empire. Early on, persecution was often sporadic and managed by regional governors rather than the emperor himself. For example, the Emperor Trajan maintained a policy where Christians were punished if they refused to worship the emperor, but they were not actively sought out. However, the first documented case of imperially supervised persecution occurred under Nero. Tacitus recorded that Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome, leading to state-led punishments.

During this era, many early leaders, including Peter and Paul, are reported to have died as martyrs.

By the fourth century, the relationship between the state and Christianity changed significantly. The Edict of Serdica in 311 and the Edict of Milan in 312 ended official imperial persecutions and legalized the faith. However, this shift introduced a new type of conflict: intra-Christian persecution. Once Christianity became established, different groups began to fight over doctrine, or specific sets of religious beliefs. Those whose views differed from the accepted standard were often declared heretical. This led to major schisms, such as the Rome–Constantinople schisms and the conflicts following the Protestant Reformation.

In the 20th century, the scale of persecution reached catastrophic levels through state-sponsored genocide. The Ottoman Empire and its successor, the Republic of Turkey, targeted Christian populations during several mass killings. These included the Hamidian massacres and the late Ottoman genocides, which comprised the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian genocides.

These events involved the systematic destruction of entire communities. Additionally, Christians in the former Eastern Bloc faced persecution from atheist states that sought to limit religious influence.

In the modern era, the nature of religious hardship continues to evolve. Christianity remains the largest world religion, yet approximately 10% of its followers live as minorities in non-Christian-majority states.

Contemporary persecution often occurs in countries in Africa and Asia where governments practice religious favoritism. The United States Department of State identifies several "countries of particular concern" due to severe violations of religious freedom, including China, Iran, and North Korea. In these regions, official state persecution is often accompanied by widespread religious discrimination.

Beyond government actions, non-state actors also play a significant role in modern persecution. These are groups that are not part of an official government but still exert control or violence over specific areas. Examples include the Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the Houthi movement in Yemen. These entities create environments where religious freedom is severely restricted. This ongoing pattern shows that religious identity continues to be a focal point of social and political tension globally.