The main problem is in the fact that christians were persecuted for a long time, so they have to hide.
No, they really weren't.
Nearly all of the accounts of the Romans' persecution of Christians never actually happened from a historical standpoint, but originated as part of a genre of "martyrdom literature" modeled to a great degree on the Jewish Books of the Maccabees.
Christians believe that if they're not being persecuted, they're not doing something right, because Jesus supposedly predicted it. They need to make it come to pass, so that they can obtain the promised blessings.
10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me" (Matthew 5).
9 "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me" (Matthew 24).
"In his letter to the governor Scapula, the proconsul of Africa in 212, Tertullian notes that many governors were lenient with accused Christians, encouraging them to recant and even dismissing the charges against them. In a famous episode in Asia Minor around 185, a mob of Christians marched to the home of C. Arrius Antoninus, the governor of Asia, and demanded to be executed. The governor, no doubt irritated by the interruption, sent the Christians away, telling them that if they wanted to die, they had cliffs to leap off and ropes with which to hang themselves." -
The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom by Candida R. Moss (HarperCollins Publishers, 2013), pg. 144.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Myth-Persecution-Christians-Martyrdom/dp/0062104551http://www.salon.com/2013/02/24/the_myth_of_persecution_early_christians_werent_persecuted/One such aspiring Christian martyr, Peregrinus Proteus, attempted to place himself in a position to be martyred as a Christian by conspicuously violating the law and being arrested, but after spending some time in prison in anticipation of blessed release, the governor pardoned him and turned him out of prison. Unable to have satisfaction that way, Proteus went to the Olympic Games of 165 CE, and publicly threw himself onto the pyre, immolating himself. Although his relationship with Christians of the time was rocky (what he was attempting to do was disapproved of in most circles) and they disavowed him as a Christian, classing him with the Cynics (in many respects almost indistinguishable from Christians at that time), his life subsequently received a hagiographical makeover from the Catholics, who embellished it and dubbed him "Ignatius," after the manner of his death by fire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrinus_ProteusPortrait of an Early Christian: The Strange Career of Peregrinus Proteus http://tinyurl.com/nfcwwal (It's interesting that his career had resonances with modern-day Catholic clerical abusers.)
The first of a series of articles identifying Peregrinus Proteus as the basis for the hagiographical Ignatius:
http://vridar.org/2013/02/11/the-letters-of-ignatius-originally-written-by-peregrinus/ Stories about Nero and Christians are mostly made up out of whole cloth, based upon chains of assumptions and passages of questionable authenticity. The Neronian persecution in Rome was of Jews, led by one Chrestus ("the Good"); this was later distorted to represent Christ and Christians. From a historical standpoint, in the 1st century, there weren't yet any "Christians" - the idea of their existence at that time and place was an anachronistic insertion (it would be the same if emotive stories emerged telling of the bravery of Republican Party members during the American Revolution). Christianity's origins belonged to the 2nd century.
http://www.politicususa.com/2012/07/08/demythologizing-christianitys-cherished-moment-nero-christians-part.htmlhttp://www.truthbeknown.com/pliny.htmDecius (250 CE) instituted a loyalty test of sacrifice for the well-being of the Emperor; it was not intended to target Christians specifically. A number of Christian sectarians had no problem with it, including the gnostics, based upon the same kind of Pauline reasoning expressed in 1 Corinthians 8; an offering for the health of Caesar was 'nothing.' The loyalty test only troubled a certain kind of Christian, the literalist
psuchikoi, who only possessed a superficial understanding of the faith.
It lasted for less than a year. Nor was it universally, uniformly enforced; there was insufficient time, resources, or motivation to get everyone across the "civilized world" to do it. (It seems to have been most rigorously enforced in North Africa.) Like people today who continue to drive without liability insurance and are never caught, so most Christians managed to keep away from situations where they would be forced to show their
libellus (a written certificate showing they had complied with the edict). In order to run afoul of an edict that wasn't intended to target Christians, they would have to show up at a civic center and announce, "I refuse to comply! Kill me!", rather like the mob that came seeking martyrdom at the home of Asian Governor C. Arrius Antoninus in 185 CE.
The impact and significance of the Decian Edict was something that grew in the re-telling, as added to the growing body of 'martyrdom fiction.'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decian_persecutionStill
some actual persecution occurred, especially when Christianity began overunning Roman society at every level; 4th century Roman Emperor Diocletian and his co-rulers in particular took exception to it, and attempted to criminalize it. The "Diocletianic Persecution" lasted ten years, but in that time caught very few fish in its net (only 103 across several provinces of the Roman Empire). Too little, too late. After that, it was over, Christianity entered its ascendancy, and, armed by the power of the state, began persecuting non-Christians and sectarians they regarded as heretical.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletianic_Persecution§«
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhG6uc7fN0o Ȥ
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