Early Church History

[Fidei Defensor]

This contains the period of Church history from 100-333 A.D. Among those who emerged in their period was Polycarp, Barnabas, Origen, Eusebius, and many more. This is the part of Church History when people were fed to lions, Nero wore Christian skin as clothing, and some of worst persecutions the Church faced. In this part of Church History, brothers and sisters in Christ lived in caves in Petra, with ceilings at 2 feet to three feet tall. 

[Fidei Defensor]

This period of Church History becomes more relevant as the persecution of the Church spreads. I recommend if you want a very concise account of this period to read "The History of Church," Eusebius, Penguin Publishers. It not an easy read through, but it will give you the details of persecution all the way to the Battle of Milvan Bridge and Constantine the Great's Conversion. 

[FresnoJoe]

Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? And also,

“If the righteous are barely saved,

what will happen to godless sinners?”^h

So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you. 1 Peter 4:12-19 (New Living Translation)