The Inquisition Revisited
.The Cardinals and Inquisitors Generals in Rome condemned the information in this article. Their edict decreed the public should not be permitted to read under the severest penalties.
The Book of Judith in the Hebrew Bible explains the persecution of the Jewish people because of their religion. Their leader was Anchior, a descendant of Lot, whom God saved from death in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Anchors' adversary was General Holofernes, the invading general of Nebuchadnezzar. During the battle, Anchior was captured. He explained to Holofernes that he and his fellow Jews were originally from Mesopotamia, where they refused to follow the gods of their fathers.
Abraham suffered many persecutions because of his opposition to the idolatry of his country. He was imprisoned for his beliefs and thrown into the fire but miraculously rescued by his god.
The Athenians persecuted Socrates for his religion. They brought him to a public trial and condemned him when he was over seventy for exploring the mysteries of heaven and earth, corrupting the youth, refusing to worship what the authorities claimed to be the actual city gods, and introducing new deities. Rumours made by his enemies prejudiced the judges' minds against him. Several of his accusers, not named at the trial, caused him to complain that it was like fighting with a shadow. However, he maintained his innocence and openly declared that he believed in the being of God. As proof, he bravely told his judges that God had appointed him to teach his philosophy: “I will obey God rather than you and teach my philosophy as long as I live.” In 399 BC, the judges condemned him to death for impiety and atheism. He refused to submit to the authorities and ended his life by drinking poison.
The judges and accusers were not priests. Nor did the priests have any share in causing his death. The Athenian government made religion a part of the laws of the civil community. No tolerance was allowed for those who differed from it.
On this account, philosophers, by public decree, were banished.
According to the Athenian constitution, Socrates did not believe in the gods of his country and was perceived to have better concepts of the deity than his superiors.
Similarly, the Athenian constitution also condemned priestesses upon introducing new deities.
Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher, was accused of impiety because he affirmed the sun was a globe of red hot iron, which his country worshipped as a god. Stilpo, another philosopher, was banished because he denied Minerva, a Greek and Roman goddess. Diagoras, a Greek poet, was killed for ridiculing the mysteries of the gods. Protagoras, a Greek philosopher, escaped being put to death by fleeing his country because he had written something about the gods that differed from the orthodox opinions of the Athenians. Theodorus, a Greek mathematician, was also put to death on the same account.
In Sparta and surrounding areas, the Spartan constitution regularly expelled citizens who had lived in foreign lands for fear of corruption that would weaken their laws.
An ancient decree stated no emperor should consecrate a new god, and one of the standing laws said no one should separate the deities or privately worship foreign gods.
After capturing Jerusalem, Antiochus IV, the king of Syria, plundered the temple and built an altar where he sacrificed swine and forced the Jews to worship his deity. Those who refused were tortured and crucified. He also put forward a mandate to kill anyone who refused to renounce the Jewish religion.
The first public execution of the Christians began with the Roman Emperor Nero, who, to clear himself of the charge of burning Rome, made them guilty and put them to death by various methods of torture.
The Roman historian Suetonius reported that the Christians were a group of Jews who had embraced a new religion under the curse of superstition.
Their newfound beliefs caused them to become victims of Nero’s fury. He forced many to dress up in the skins of wild animals to be devoured by dogs; others he crucified, and some he covered in pitch and set afire to be seen throughout the night. After his death, the persecution of Christians continued with Emperor Domitian, 81- 96.
Roman emperor Trajan 53-117 began the third persecution of Christians in the fourteenth year of his reign. In answer to a letter from Pliny, a Roman author and philosopher, he ordered that no one seek out Christians, but if they were accused and convicted of being Christians, the law should execute them. But if they deny being Christian and show proof by sacrificing to the gods, they would be considered innocent of any charges.
In response to the emperor in a letter, Pliny described the actions of the Christians; he stated they confessed that at selected times, they would meet before daylight and sing a hymn to Christ as god and bound themselves to an oath not to commit wickedness, such as theft and adultery. To be assured of the truth to this, he tortured two Christian women. After examining them, he stated that he found them guilty of nothing but a wicked and unreasonable superstition.
Pliny was forced to acquit the women but accused them of irrational superstition because they adhered to the faith of Christ. Though innocent in all other respects, he brought them to a special court where he asked them whether they were Christians. According to an eyewitness, if they confessed, he repeatedly asked them the same question, adding threats each time. Because they maintained their faith, they were condemned to death because he claimed their stubbornness and obstinacy deserved punishment.
After commending Pliny for his actions, Trajan asserted that Christians must renounce the name Christian and sacrifice to the gods or face punishment.
This was the beginning of the end for pagan worship.
Dr. Larry J. Falls, Ed. D.
Sexology, Research and Education
The Book of Judith in the Hebrew Bible explains the persecution of the Jewish people because of their religion. Their leader was Anchior, a descendant of Lot, whom God saved from death in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Anchors' adversary was General Holofernes, the invading general of Nebuchadnezzar. During the battle, Anchior was captured. He explained to Holofernes that he and his fellow Jews were originally from Mesopotamia, where they refused to follow the gods of their fathers.
Abraham suffered many persecutions because of his opposition to the idolatry of his country. He was imprisoned for his beliefs and thrown into the fire but miraculously rescued by his god.
The Athenians persecuted Socrates for his religion. They brought him to a public trial and condemned him when he was over seventy for exploring the mysteries of heaven and earth, corrupting the youth, refusing to worship what the authorities claimed to be the actual city gods, and introducing new deities. Rumours made by his enemies prejudiced the judges' minds against him. Several of his accusers, not named at the trial, caused him to complain that it was like fighting with a shadow. However, he maintained his innocence and openly declared that he believed in the being of God. As proof, he bravely told his judges that God had appointed him to teach his philosophy: “I will obey God rather than you and teach my philosophy as long as I live.” In 399 BC, the judges condemned him to death for impiety and atheism. He refused to submit to the authorities and ended his life by drinking poison.
The judges and accusers were not priests. Nor did the priests have any share in causing his death. The Athenian government made religion a part of the laws of the civil community. No tolerance was allowed for those who differed from it.
On this account, philosophers, by public decree, were banished.
According to the Athenian constitution, Socrates did not believe in the gods of his country and was perceived to have better concepts of the deity than his superiors.
Similarly, the Athenian constitution also condemned priestesses upon introducing new deities.
Anaxagoras, a Greek philosopher, was accused of impiety because he affirmed the sun was a globe of red hot iron, which his country worshipped as a god. Stilpo, another philosopher, was banished because he denied Minerva, a Greek and Roman goddess. Diagoras, a Greek poet, was killed for ridiculing the mysteries of the gods. Protagoras, a Greek philosopher, escaped being put to death by fleeing his country because he had written something about the gods that differed from the orthodox opinions of the Athenians. Theodorus, a Greek mathematician, was also put to death on the same account.
In Sparta and surrounding areas, the Spartan constitution regularly expelled citizens who had lived in foreign lands for fear of corruption that would weaken their laws.
An ancient decree stated no emperor should consecrate a new god, and one of the standing laws said no one should separate the deities or privately worship foreign gods.
After capturing Jerusalem, Antiochus IV, the king of Syria, plundered the temple and built an altar where he sacrificed swine and forced the Jews to worship his deity. Those who refused were tortured and crucified. He also put forward a mandate to kill anyone who refused to renounce the Jewish religion.
The first public execution of the Christians began with the Roman Emperor Nero, who, to clear himself of the charge of burning Rome, made them guilty and put them to death by various methods of torture.
The Roman historian Suetonius reported that the Christians were a group of Jews who had embraced a new religion under the curse of superstition.
Their newfound beliefs caused them to become victims of Nero’s fury. He forced many to dress up in the skins of wild animals to be devoured by dogs; others he crucified, and some he covered in pitch and set afire to be seen throughout the night. After his death, the persecution of Christians continued with Emperor Domitian, 81- 96.
Roman emperor Trajan 53-117 began the third persecution of Christians in the fourteenth year of his reign. In answer to a letter from Pliny, a Roman author and philosopher, he ordered that no one seek out Christians, but if they were accused and convicted of being Christians, the law should execute them. But if they deny being Christian and show proof by sacrificing to the gods, they would be considered innocent of any charges.
In response to the emperor in a letter, Pliny described the actions of the Christians; he stated they confessed that at selected times, they would meet before daylight and sing a hymn to Christ as god and bound themselves to an oath not to commit wickedness, such as theft and adultery. To be assured of the truth to this, he tortured two Christian women. After examining them, he stated that he found them guilty of nothing but a wicked and unreasonable superstition.
Pliny was forced to acquit the women but accused them of irrational superstition because they adhered to the faith of Christ. Though innocent in all other respects, he brought them to a special court where he asked them whether they were Christians. According to an eyewitness, if they confessed, he repeatedly asked them the same question, adding threats each time. Because they maintained their faith, they were condemned to death because he claimed their stubbornness and obstinacy deserved punishment.
After commending Pliny for his actions, Trajan asserted that Christians must renounce the name Christian and sacrifice to the gods or face punishment.
This was the beginning of the end for pagan worship.
Dr. Larry J. Falls, Ed. D.
Sexology, Research and Education