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    The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom
    Unavailable
    The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom
    Unavailable
    The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom
    Ebook403 pages7 hours

    The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom

    By Candida Moss

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In The Myth of Persecution, Candida Moss, a leading expert on early Christianity, reveals how the early church exaggerated, invented, and forged stories of Christian martyrs and how the dangerous legacy of a martyrdom complex is employed today to silence dissent and galvanize a new generation of culture warriors.

    According to cherished church tradition and popular belief, before the Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in the fourth century, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. These saints, Christianity's inspirational heroes, are still venerated today.

    Moss, however, exposes that the "Age of Martyrs" is a fiction—there was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches.

    The traditional story of persecution is still taught in Sunday school classes, celebrated in sermons, and employed by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get Christians and, rather, embrace the consolation, moral instruction, and spiritual guidance that these martyrdom stories provide.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 5, 2013
    ISBN9780062104540
    Unavailable
    The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom
    Author

    Candida Moss

    Candida Moss is professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame. A regular contributor to The Daily Beast, Moss has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, CBS News, FOX News, the History Channel, National Geographic, and the Travel Channel, and has served as an expert commentator for the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other national media outlets.

    Read more from Candida Moss

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    Reviews for The Myth of Persecution

    3.5/5

    34 ratings6 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Objectively false premise of which even atheist historians agree happened.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      A decent look at the way in which the stories of Christian martyrs arose, and become standard fare for Christians seeking to prove something. The author, a Christian herself, feels that these martyrdom stories are harmful, and lead to bad consequences, so she wants to see the Christians face up to the invented nature of these stories, and the reality that Christians really weren't particularly persecuted. Overall, it is well researched and readable. The main complaint I have is that the author would occasionally make some statement such as "It is evident that this (fill in event) occurred", though usually not in the way reported by legend. She doesn't explain why it is evident; what is your evidence that this person existed and was martyred, if the only evidence we have is from decades or centuries later? It would be fascinating to hear how she decided this. It would help those of us who are interested in history without the extensive training know a bit more about evaluating claims of that nature in the future. Definitely worth a read.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I am by no means any manner of religious/Biblical expert. I do have a fascination for the study of religions and their histories. I was baptized Catholic and for my first 6 years of school I had a Catholic education. My commentary on this book might offend some but religion is one of those divisive topics.I found Ms. Moss's writing style to be very easy to read and the book was well laid out. I especially found the section on the etymology of the word martyr to be fascinating. I love learning how words come to mean what they do.Many of the stories of the martyrs were part of my religious education at school; we were all taught of the glory of dying for your belief in God. Instant ride to heaven, that! In fact I still remember the fear - I grew up in Philadelphia in a time when the city was having crime issues and "motorcycle gangs" (according to the nuns anyway) were running rampant. If one of these evil types were to invade the school and ask us to renounce our God we were to die rather than do so. I'm not kidding. This is what went through the nuns' heads and what they passed on to us. I only went through sixth grade so I could not have been that old. And people wonder why I have no religion....But I digress. Although the above anecdote does prove the power of the martyr legend. But back to the book. Ms. Moss goes through the history of Christianity and of the more famous martyrs. The facts are presented in a straightforward manner with her various positions in support of her topic. I found it fascinating. To me organized religion is more about consolidation of power than anything else so I would expect that the Romans or any other power base would see a growing "cult" as a threat. As that threat grew into the largest power base in the known world one could understand why the Romans might have been nervous.The power struggles continued as the church broke with the East and then the Reformation. Everyone's God was "the one true God." Persecution of Christians became persecution of the opposition's power base. But without the martyr aspect dying for one's God was not as motivating as dying for power.That's not to say that religious persecution has not/does not exist. But this book is about Christianity. For someone like me who is a casual reader of religious history and books about religion it was an easy, well constructed book. It was written in a style that was comfortable for the non-scholar to comprehend but I suspect that my interest in the topic and working knowledge of Catholicism helped with full understanding.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Are the stories of Christian persecution during Christianity’s early years really true? Or should we recognize them as apologetic exaggeration?Candida Moss takes a hard look at how such stories are derived, and she has high standards for what counts as persecution. Execution for merely refusing to recant one’s Christian beliefs doesn’t measure up (prosecution is not persecution, any more than prejudice is persecution). Yet she makes her point strongly that widespread, repeated persecution of Christians before the time of Constantine is no more than a myth.There is much at stake in this discussion, because it is a common apologetic tactic to claim “proof” of Jesus’ resurrection by referring to his followers’ willingness to die for their beliefs. But what if this willingness to sacrifice for one’s principles, in the few cases where it is genuine, differs little from the principles of many other philosophers of the day? Socrates, for example, was equally willing to die for his principles.Moss writes with intelligence and deep research as she presents her case that Christian martyrdom stories are distorted by their chroniclers, often presented with unsubtle motives. Eusibus, who played a key role in defining orthodoxy, very effectively employed martyrdom stories to further his own theological agendas.But is there an even darker side to exaggerating the stories of our martyrs? Does an over-admiration for martyrdom promote an us-versus-them atmosphere that encourages polarization? More than a rhetorical question, Moss fears that overplaying martyrdom does Christianity a disservice. It leads us to believe persecution (perceived or real) is evidence of God’s approval. Evidence that we are the chosen ones. Maybe we should quit playing our martyr cards and instead pay a little more attention why Christians were so despised. Moss pulls no punches as she explains why Christians didn’t fit in with either Gentile or Jew.I remember growing up with 1 Peter 4:12 in mind: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” Are we as Christians supposed to ignore such advice? Perhaps Moss was never teased as a child for professing Christian beliefs. Perhaps she’s simply telling us it’s time to grow up. Perhaps she’s insinuating that the reward isn’t worth the suffering. Whatever your personal experience in “carrying your cross” and “suffering for Christ,” you can bet this controversial book will provoke emotions. Moss writes bluntly, unafraid to step on a few toes. But maybe it is time to grow up.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I am by no means any manner of religious/Biblical expert. I do have a fascination for the study of religions and their histories. I was baptized Catholic and for my first 6 years of school I had a Catholic education. My commentary on this book might offend some but religion is one of those divisive topics.I found Ms. Moss's writing style to be very easy to read and the book was well laid out. I especially found the section on the etymology of the word martyr to be fascinating. I love learning how words come to mean what they do.Many of the stories of the martyrs were part of my religious education at school; we were all taught of the glory of dying for your belief in God. Instant ride to heaven, that! In fact I still remember the fear - I grew up in Philadelphia in a time when the city was having crime issues and "motorcycle gangs" (according to the nuns anyway) were running rampant. If one of these evil types were to invade the school and ask us to renounce our God we were to die rather than do so. I'm not kidding. This is what went through the nuns' heads and what they passed on to us. I only went through sixth grade so I could not have been that old. And people wonder why I have no religion....But I digress. Although the above anecdote does prove the power of the martyr legend. But back to the book. Ms. Moss goes through the history of Christianity and of the more famous martyrs. The facts are presented in a straightforward manner with her various positions in support of her topic. I found it fascinating. To me organized religion is more about consolidation of power than anything else so I would expect that the Romans or any other power base would see a growing "cult" as a threat. As that threat grew into the largest power base in the known world one could understand why the Romans might have been nervous.The power struggles continued as the church broke with the East and then the Reformation. Everyone's God was "the one true God." Persecution of Christians became persecution of the opposition's power base. But without the martyr aspect dying for one's God was not as motivating as dying for power.That's not to say that religious persecution has not/does not exist. But this book is about Christianity. For someone like me who is a casual reader of religious history and books about religion it was an easy, well constructed book. It was written in a style that was comfortable for the non-scholar to comprehend but I suspect that my interest in the topic and working knowledge of Catholicism helped with full understanding.
    • 4/5
      She makes a pretty good argument using historical sources.

      1 person found this helpful