Roy Stults has studied Christian theologians’ attempts from the first century of the church until recent times to explain the eternal significance of persecution and to appeal to persecutors for fair play. We present part one of his work as a downloadable PDF.
Religious persecution, conflict, and human suffering are major threads in the news these days, especially for Christians. The fact that Christians are being persecuted is not a new thing but needs to be examined historically to get a renewed perspective and to learn from it. How did Christians in the past deal with violence against their faith? How should they respond to the violence of today? What did the theologians of the past, some of whom died as martyrs, teach about martyrdom and persecution, and are their teachings relevant for our times?
You will find answers to this and much more in Stult’s timely book.