A House Built On Rock

Chapter 12

Narrator: A Roman guard leads a wealthy young woman, Perpetua, into the imperial court. She stands before the Roman procurator and waits to be tried.

Procurator: Perpetua, you are charged with refusing to offer incense to Roman gods. Therefore, you are a traitor to the state.

Perpetua: (proudly) I have always been and still am a loyal citizen of the Roman Empire.

Guard: Good. Then show your loyalty by offering sacrifice to the gods for the protection and health of the emperor.

Perpetua: (firmly) No. I won’t sacrifice to false gods. I am a Christian!

On Trial for Being a Christian

Procurator: Do you realize the result of your stubborn refusal? You’ve already been in jail for months chained to two slaves. Do you realize that you could be tortured, beheaded, or tossed to wild animals in the arena as part of a public show? People will cheer the animals in the same way they cheer at a sports event. Do you want all this done to you just because you are a Christian?

Perpetua: I would be proud to suffer for Jesus who suffered so much for me.

Procurator: (angrily) You are a fool! At this moment, your holy books are being burned, and your leaders are rotting in prison. Many Christians have given in, offered incense, and gone home to lead happy, peaceful lives. Soon there will be no Christians left.

On Trial for Being a Christian

Perpetua: We live not by our own power, but by God’s. No power on earth can separate us from God’s love in the Lord Jesus.

Procurator: Think of your family. By your refusal, you are putting your mother and two brothers in danger. We will find them and torture and kill them too. Who will care for your infant son?

Perpetua: It’s a privilege to die for Christ. I would be glad to enter heaven with my family.

Guard: (pleading) You are throwing your life away for nothing. Perpetua, you are so beautiful, so young. Change your mind!

On Trial for Being a Christian

Perpetua: For me, the only thing in life is Jesus. For him, I live and I die.

Procurator: Perpetua, for the crime of being a Christian, I sentence you to be thrown to the wild beasts in the arena.

Narrator: And so it was done. Perpetua was killed for her loyalty to Christ.

On Trial for Being a Christian

Why is Perpetua on trial?

How do the procurator and guard try to persuade her to change her mind?

Why does Perpetua confuse and amaze the procurator and the guard?

On Trial for Being a Christian

Compare the persecutions of Nero and Diocletian.

How did bishops lead the Church during the

persecutions?

Why do the persecutions of Christians, which continue in our day, fail to destroy the Church? What is the meaning of the title of this section, "The Witness of the Martyrs?"

The Witness of the Martyrs

Who was Sister Kazel?

Where was she working?

What did she do to help God’s people?

Sister Dorothy Kazel

Christian Children in Nigeria Christians gathering in Nigeria despite violence Neglect in Pakistan Christians Living in Fear in North Korea North Korean Woman Tells Her Story

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy.O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled

as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

Modern Day Persecutions

NeroFirst to persecute ChristiansUsed Christians as scapegoatsPeter and Paul martyred

DiocletianLast to persecute ChristiansDesired to destroy all traces of ChristianityBishop Cyprian martyred

ConstantineOrdered soldiers to put chi rho symbol at battle for

Milvian Bridge (312 AD)Made Christianity legal in Roman Empire with

Edict of Milan in 313 AD

Roman Emperors

Martyr: a person who dies for his/her beliefs in refusal to deny ChristEx: Peter, Paul, Perpetua

Hermit: a person who lives alone to seek God through prayer, silence, and penanceEx: Saint Anthony of Egypt

Monk: a man who lives a life of prayer and takes vows such as poverty, chastity, and obedience; usually he lives in a community with other menEx: Saint Pachomius, Saint Basil

**Others: bishops, teachers, writers, parents

Witnesses for Christ

What is a heresy?

What is a person called who teaches a heresy?

What was the Arian heresy?

If Jesus were not God, what other Catholic teachings would not have to be true?

The Gospels present Jesus as divine:John – 5:18, 10:30; 14:9-10

Confusion from Within

How did the bishops try to settle the Arian heresy?

How did Emperor Constantine help?

What were the results of each ecumenical council?

When do we pray the Nicene Creed? What lines of the Nicene Creed deal with Jesus as God?

Who are some saints who defended the Gospel against heresies? How did they do this?

Settling Matters & Fathers of the Church