Praise God We Bear the Name

- part 4 of 4 - Suffering for Being a Christian


Imagine if you were a Christian back in the time of the early Church. People were not just killed, but cruelly tortured first, and through it all, they could have escaped if they had just denied they were Christians. It is estimated that about 50,000 Christians died for their faith prior to 325 A.D. Since we have so many examples in the lives of God's people who have gone before us, let us not lose heart, but rather persevere.


How Important is it to be a Christian?


Cyprian of Carthage (246-258 A.D.) "We must endure and persevere, beloved brethren, in order that, being admitted to the hope of truth and liberty, we may attain to the truth and liberty itself; for that very fact that we are Christians is the substance of faith and hope." Treatises of Cyprian. Treatise 9 ch.13 p.487




Christians of Vienna and Lugdunum (177 A.D.) "vol.8 p.781 For while those who confessed what they really were, were imprisoned simply as Christians, no other accusation being brought against them, those who denied were detained as murderers and profligates."


Christians of Vienna and Lugdunum (177 A.D.) vol.8 p.782 "Attalus also was vehemently demanded by the mob; for he was a man of mark, He entered the lists a ready combatant on account of his good conscience, since he had been truly practised in the Christian discipline, and had always been a Witness of the truth among us. He was led round the amphitheatre, a tablet going before him, on which was written in Latin, `This is Attalus the Christian; 'and the people swelled with indignation against him."








Practical Matters


So does this mean the first thing you should do in a Christian-hostile environment is announce you are a Christian? No, that is no necessary. Early Christians were often quiet about their faith, sharing privately during times of persecution. However, they drew the line at denying they were a Christian. So you can tell people you are a Christian using tact, but do not throw away the name Christian.


You can see a chart on which early Christians taught which doctrines on the church at


All Bible verse quotations are from the NIV.
