Matching the timeline of Daniel 2:44, Christ’s church began in the days of Roman power. That beginning had nothing to do with Roman friendliness. Daniel had pictured Rome, the conqueror of Greece, as an iron beast, shattering all opposition (Daniel 2:40; 7:7). Rome tolerated only religions that it officially recognized, which for a while included Judaism. Initially, Rome treated Christianity as just another sect within Judaism, and therefore legal. But two things changed. In Roman eyes, Christianity grew into a distinct religion without official sanction. And the list of Rome’s idols grew to include its emperors. People who refused to worship the emperor as a god were considered enemies of the state.
Persecution intensified in the second and third centuries. Many whom the apostles had trained—called “apostolic fathers”—suffered greatly. They included Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch and Papias of Hierapolis. They and the next Christian leaders—broadly called “the church fathers”—were often the first targets. As an example, consider John’s disciple Polycarp who lived from A.D. 69 to A.D.
Many suffered as Christian “martyrs”—those who died for their faith in Christ— often after terrible tortures. Other famous martyrs included Ignatius (67-110), Justin Martyr of Neapolis (100-167), and perhaps Irenaeus of Lyons (130-200). Early Christians like Tertullian of Carthage (160-220) and Origen of Alexandria (185-254) wrote enough to fill many volumes. (Origen’s writings quoted about two thirds of the New Testament.) Historians like Eusebius (265-339) collected and recorded the details, which are far beyond the scope of our brief survey.