Quotes about Persecution

A. D. 1560, pope Pius the Fourth, ordered all the protestants to be severely persecuted throughout the Italian states, when great numbers of every age, sex, and condition, suffered martyrdom.

About the same time one Purderve was put to death, for saying privately to a priest, after he had drunk the wine, "He blessed the hungry people with the empty chalice."

At Buckingham, Thomas Bainard, and James Moreton, the one for reading the Lord's prayer in English, and the other for reading St. James' epistles in English, were both condemned and burnt alive.

And yet, notwithstanding all these continual persecutions and horrible punishments, the Church daily increased, deeply rooted in the doctrine of the apostles and of men apostolical, and watered plentously with the blood of saints.

In particular, he had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs until they expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees, and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them.

And all this to be done on pain of death, and confiscation of house and goods, unless within the limited time they turned Roman catholics.

He was shown the dead bodies, in order that the sight might intimidate him. On beholding the shocking subjects, he said, calmly, You may kill the body, but you cannot prejudice the soul of a true believer; but with respect to the dreadful spectacles which you have here shown me, you may rest assured, that God's vengeance will overtake the murderers of those poor people, and punish them for the innocent blood they have spilt.

People do not risk their lives in the face of persecution to uphold a view they believe to be in error or only somewhat probable.

The three most powerful and most apparent means used by Rome to retain her power over the minds of her votaries are Ignorance, Superstition, and Persecution.

Women have been the most persecuted people throughout all of recorded history, more than any race or religion.

On this view, then, Paul envisions an eschatological, end-of-time Antichrist, a man characterized by sin and destruction who will assume a place of influence and authority within the professing Church from which he will persecute God's people and foment a spiritual apostasy (cf. Matt. 7:21-23; 2 Tim. 1:15; Rev. 3:1; 11:7-13; 20:7-10), all of which must come to pass before the Lord Jesus can return in fullness.

Overt persecution is a daily threat to millions of Christians around the world. Visit Persecution.org to read about current examples of such cases and pray for our brothers and sisters around the world.