We have been repeatedly asked about a recently published book called The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom, by Candida Moss, professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Notre Dame University. In the book, she asserts that early Christian martyr stories (first three centuries of the church) either were forgeries (“pious fraud”) or that the original stories were edited, rewritten, and altered to fit personal, theological, ecclesiastical, and/or political agendas. She writes that stories of an afterlife for martyrs were invented to protect God’s reputation since God did not come through and save them before death. The stories, she believes, are unreliable at best, obscured by being worked over, or were made-up. “The purpose of this book is to show that the foundations for this idea [that there were legitimate martyrs in the early church] are imaginary,” she writes. They are “inspirational fiction.”

We live in a very practical-oriented world. Pragmatism was born in the US—although it is probably that we just gave a name to something that already existed. The main theme of pragmatism “if it works, use it” has opened the door to a lot of good things since the opposite “if it doesn’t work, don’t use it” seems like an obvious truth.

We all suffer—it is a part of life since the Fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden. Some suffer because of their testimony to their belief in Christ. As long as Christians are silent, there are few repercussions. A holy life may give away your secret, but if you are a silent Christian you may be able to escape rejection and hostility, if that is your goal. If you articulate that Jesus is Lord and not people (even yourself) then the likelihood of rejection is exponentially increased.

It is hard to conceive that anyone would be against holy living. To be God-like in character, it would seem, would be a benefit to one's family and society. Who could you trust more than a truly God-like person? Of course, we are assuming that we would be like the living God who has revealed himself to us through his Word. Not all "gods" are righteous or trustworthy. The pantheon of gods from ancient times to the present day had no idea of righteousness, goodness, or fairness. Because we know and seek to emulate the character of the living God through Jesus Christ we know perfectly well what righteousness, goodness, and fairness means.

The Bible teaches that we were created in the image of God, so we have personhood and our personhood reflects the nature of God. We are not only individuals but we also are a part of families and communities. We are designed to live in community because God is like that.

Different regions of the world have different histories and also different traditions about freedom, especially freedom of religion. Some areas of the world have never known freedom, or very little of it, so society’s disapproval of people who turn to Christ or witness for Christ is somewhat expected. The idea of “tolerance” is not in their thinking. In Western thought, however, the idea of tolerance is well known, and it sometimes evokes emotion in Christians who believe it indicates turning one’s back on biblical truth.

It is very appropriate to have an emotional response to persecution. That is how many of us began in ministry to and with the persecuted church. We deeply identify with their pain and loss, and we are driven to help.