Ancient Christian Death

When ancient Christians were punished for being Christians and refused to follow the sacrificial ritual, they were often thrown into public venues so their deaths would be grand spectacles. This type of death was seen with Perpetua and her Christian comrades, who were all sentenced to the beasts and to the gladiator’s sword in a public sphere. During these events, large crowds would gather to watch excitedly as these Christian heathens were killed or slaughtered; however, the large, angry crowds knew the people condemned to die were Christians who were being punished, and this ultimately meant that the crowds who went to watch knew these people were willing to lay their life down for their God and in their God’s name. To the ancient Christians, …show more content…
One prominent example of a Christian using his or her imprisonment, death, and martyrdom as a way to proclaim his or her love of God is the story of Paul. Despite the fact that he was arrested seven times, “…was exiled, received a stoning, became a herald (of the gospel) in East and West, and won the noble renown which his faith merited,” he refused to stop preaching about God and Jesus. He took his suffering and became stronger, allowing him to enter these hugely public areas and continue to speak the Christian doctrine. He represented, and even now still represents, endurance, patience, and love of God, which clearly came through in how he never let his martyrdom stop him from sharing his adoration for God. Perpetua was the same in how she ended her life—she died at her own hand, speaking prayers to God and loudly proclaiming herself as a Christian in front of the Roman court. Ancient Christians’ self-sacrificing mentality only spurred their need and want to proclaim their love for God; their need to be martyrs never hindered their desire to share the word of God with all those around them, especially in their last moments in …show more content…
Ancient Christians during that time were fearless and eager to die for the God they believed in and cherished because they firmly thought it would finally give them a chance to stand up against their rulers and proclaim their self-sacrificing culture and dogma. The chance to be a martyr allowed them (especially women) to take their lives into their own hands and make important decisions for themselves, as well as gave Christians a public venue to display their love and sacrifice for God, ultimately letting everyone who watched know they were absolutely willing to die for God, exactly like Jesus