BOOK REVIEW:

"The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom" By Candida Moss

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Famous throughout Christian History are the tales of persecution faced by the early Christians in Pagan Rome. Everyone in the Christian world has heard the stories of how Christians were thrown to the lions in the coliseums, tortured, or burned alive for their refusal to renounce Christ as their lord. It is a widespread church belief that before Emperor Constantine made the conversion to Christianity legal in the fourth century AD, early Christians were systematically persecuted for their beliefs. These martyred saints are still celebrated by the church today. Such stories make for an exciting fiction, but have little historical evidence to back them up.

Leading expert on Early Christianity, Candida Moss, reveals how the early church exaggerated, invented, and forged stories of Christian martyrs and how such a legacy continues to be perpetuated today. The time of supposed Christian persecution, 0 - 300 AD, was a very well documented period in history. Yet there is very few written accounts about Christians getting thrown to the lions or tortured.

This is part of a larger pattern of lies in Christian history. There is virtually no historical evidence for even the existence of Jesus, even though this was one of the most heavily documented periods in ancient history. See our report. Also, while the stories of Christian persecution by Rome are largely lies, the totalitarian reign of terror unleashed by the church when it came to power was real. It was the greatest religious reign of terror in all of history. See our report.