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Jan. 29, 2007
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Perpetua & her slave girl Felicitas
Persecution of the Christian church was eased after the death of Polycarp, but continued elsewhere throughout the Roman Empire, especially in North Africa during the early years of the 3rd century.
Perpetua & her slave girl, Felicitas, were executed. Before this there were isolated incidents, one in Rome 10 yrs. after the death of Polycarp. Justin (later called Justin Martyr) was martyred in Rome. He had written to his pagan readers & denounced the persecution of his fellow-believers. He taught believers in private homes and this led to his martyrdom.
Several decades later widespread intense persecution of Christians occurred. In 202 Emperor Septimus Severus, who worshiped Serapis, an Egyptian god of the dead, issued an edict that forbade conversion to Christianity or Judaism.
In Carthage the persecution was the worst. Saturus was a deacon who conducted catechism classes for a group of converst. Vibia Perpetua, a 22 year old mother of an infant son & her personal slave, Felicitas (8 months pregnant) had joined the class. Their plight was kept in diaries and records of Perpetua & Saturus. Through it all they kept the faith and were executed.
After this wave of persecution, there was 50 years of relative peace and the church grew steadily. |
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