Persecution. It's here And Only Getting Hotter.

Between 2020 and late 2023, the Christian church witnessed massive disruption. As the old saying goes, "It takes two to tango," such a reality was seen globally. The civil magistrate wanted to infringe on Christian’s free and uninhibited worship to curtail a pandemic. At the same time, many denominations and clergy were more than willing to be their dancing partner. Putting aside all the back-and-forth debates that took place during that time and continuing in the present, one main argument that continues to pop up: what the church faced was not persecution. Followed by what the early church went through during the Roman Empire was far more significant. This is a prominent fallback position, so I want to look at some persecution events. Some with a little more focus than others.

In his work, The History of Christianity, Justo Gonzalez makes an interesting point worth consideration regarding the early conflicts with the state,

Jews believed, with some biblical foundation, that the reason why they had lost their independence and been made the subject of the Roman Empire was the people had not been sufficiently faithful to the traditions of their ancestors. For most of the New Testament, it is the Jews who persecute Christians, who in turn seek refuge under the wing of Roman authorities[1]

If this were a research paper, I would back that source up with other sources, but what Gonzalez wrote is correct. It was the religious Jewish people of ancient times that were the main persecutors of Christians. No better example than Jesus. The Sanhedrin wanted to remove Christ and brought Him before Pilate. The Hellenistic Jews wanted to put the Apostle Paul to death (Acts 9:29), or incite the women and leading men of the city against Paul and his companion Barnabas (Acts 13:50) or the last of the examples when the Jewish devotees from Antioch and Iconium won over the crowds to beat Paul and Silas with wooden rods. It would be a far stretch to apply the modern-day Christian church to such barbaric abuse measures, but one needs to note that the majority of pressure upon the church over COVID restrictions stemmed from the religious. An example is the TGC Canada and their many authors writing winsome articles and convincing the church they must bow to the magistrate instead of following convictions. Again, "it takes two to tango," and persecution did come to the church in the form of arrests, closers, threats, and massive fines, and the civil magistrates felt that since they were leading the dance, all was fine. But I digress.

Moving away from the direct persecution that early Christians faced, there is a need to look at that villain, Nero. In his early reign, Nero is known historically to be a reasonable man. Things changed around the "great fire" that ravaged Rome in A.D. 64. This fire turned eyes upon the Christians. Nero attempted to place the blame on the Christians and their wicked practices.[2] The extent of the death of Christians is found in the works of Tacitus,

Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus. A most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination when daylight had expired.[3]

It is a safe assumption that the Apostle Peter and Paul were martyred under Nero. Nero was replaced in A.D. 68, which brought about many years of peace for the church as even under Nero's son Titus, Christians were basically left alone outside his turn on them later in his reign.[4]

Others like Titus and Domitian committed persecutions, but such persecutions were still somewhat scattered in time and were not that common. There is a considerable gap in history here, but again, persecution looked different and came about for different reasons or sources, such as Polycarp under Trajan. It was not like Trajan wanted Polycarp dead for simply existing, but was because Polycarp refused to bow to which violated his convictions as a believer.

Skipping Aurelius, skipping the matters of Christianity, becoming more solidified and accepted under Constantine for brevity. We see troubles of the Christian church with the councils of Nicea (325), Constantinople (381), and Chalcedon (451). For the sake of extensive coverage right up to the Reformation. Why? Within the Reformation, we come back to a source of persecution that is formed from the religious elite of the day. In this context, it is the Roman Catholic Church. Granted, there were those pre-1517 Wittenberg, Germany, making their mark,s such as Jan Hus and John Wycliffe, but Martin Luther is the most recognizable. As the years went by, some were martyred during the English Reformation by Bloody Mary and because of the Roman Catholic Church. Men such as William Cowbridge (1538), John Rogers (1555). Thomas Tompkins (1555) and so forth.

Gonzalez refers to the period of the Reformation as a "period of enormous religious vitality which swept up Protestants and Catholics, theologians and rulers, the high and the low."[5] One could only imagine the amount of revelation that was taking place. Though there was growth, growth brought a commitment to face hardships for the sake of the Gospel. Having painted the image clearly now, it is apparent that in the days gone by, the result of having someone stand in an individual's way too ambitious cultish superiority, views of grandeur, religious differences and standing upon the word of truth could and did very well bring about one's death. The question has to be asked, "Just because someone does not die, is it persecution?" I suggest the answer is yes. Here is why.

From the early days of the Christian church, I highlighted three examples of persecution.

1. From or by the civil magistrate (Specifically)

2. From or by Religious rulers (specifically)

3. From or by civil and religious rulers (Think Roman Catholic/State Church)

It has always been the position of the Christian church NOT to comply and adhere to the laws and demands of those with opposing views. For the Roman Empire, Christians were scapegoats and atheistic barriers. Is this not what the civil magistrates see today? The Christians are the ones getting in the way of their lockdown agendas, their pandemic response, and their desire to push homosexual sodomy as normal and those who will not comply could be charged, tried, convicted, or worse, smeared over the media and have a trial by social media and lose their jobs and incomes. Is this not persecution? I say again, "yes."

If one were to Google the term (persecution), they would read,

hostility and ill-treatment, especially on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation or political beliefs. Persistent annoyance or harassment. (Bold added)

So is the Christian church being persecuted? Yes! And regardless of what some pastors will attempt to say or use the most extreme views of days gone by to prove their point, persecution is undoubtedly happening in Canada. Here are some actual (recent) examples,

1. Candice Malcolm, a columnist with the Toronto Sun, reported on July 24, 2021, that Canada "hit a dubious mark." The article overviewed (at that time) the 50 churches either vandalized, desecrated or burned. [6]

2. Caley Gibson, speaking about the violation of constitutional freedom and fences going up around a Christian church in 2021. The article indicates that pastor James Coates did not care about his congregations' health as other religions did (Which is false).[7]

3. Baptist Pastor Tim Stephens was arrested. Published under the crime section of Global News. He was not arrested for theft, assault or any action that would disqualify himself from the pastorate but over a health order.[8]

4. Pastor James Coates was arrested for the same reasons. The media uses words to villainize the man called to lead his congregation.[9]

5. Trinity Bible Chapel in Ontario had their building seized. They were harassed several times, including contempt charges, which are now being appealed in the Supreme Court of Canada.[10]

6. Harvest Windsor, pastored by Dr. Aaron Rock. He, too, went through harassment, fines and threats. His church was locked down as one of the first in Ontario. Thankfully the courts threw out the ridiculous charges, and they are able to move forward. [11]

Now these are but examples of the many. Artur Pawlowski was arrested out of Calgary, and cult leader Henry Hilderbrandt or Ontario. There was the arrest of the street preacher in Calgary protesting transvestites reading to small children and later charged for praying in a municipal building. From a personal experience, there was the harrassment of medical officers threatening charges and demanding private information of those in my congregation. There was a time an Ontario Occupational Health and Safety officer interrupted my duties as a pastor during a funeral at the church.

What makes all this worse are the words of those working overtime to declare it was not persecution. When they look in the mirror, such men know very well the motives as to why they do what they do and say what they say. I have faced persecution in the past. Now granted, around the world sees much worse and far more serious. But is this the measuring standard? It is like saying, "Well, come on, it is only stage 2 cancer; there are those around the world that have stage four - it's not like your cancer is like theirs!" No, cancer is cancer, and persecution is persecution, and as stated, having faced persecution on the streets, what is taking place feels the same. Now, the Christian church best brace itself. The days of ignoring persecution will not suffice. With the every increasing demand of homosexuals and the civil sphere to accept their lifestyle, a follower of Christ best be prepared to count the cost or compromise. With the discussion of 15-minute cities limiting the church or the climate initiatives pushed by the G7 and WEF, people will quickly realize that COVID was just a test run. For those laughing and saying, "Conspiracy theory!" Well, look it up.

Our brothers and sisters were ready to be crucified, fed to the lions, used as torches; were ready to be excommunicated, burned at the stake, beheaded, have their churches shut down and locked, face massive fines, get arrested, lose friends, and possible face future prison time, were you? Are you? Why do most Christians argue what persecution is rather than live out the faith and find out from experience? To each their own answering that question.

Canada hates Christ, therefore, hates those who profess to be his followers. Persecution is taking place, it is increasing, and it will only get hotter. Have you counted the costs? Are you willing to pick up your cross? As a nobody, pastoring the church God has called me to, may I use the words of J.C. Ryle and Martin Luther in closing

A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing. A cheap Christianity, without a cross, will prove in the end a useless Christianity without a crown - A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.

In His Grace,

___________________________________

1. Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity, Volume One. The Early Church to the Reformation. (New York, NY, HarperCollins Publishing 2010). 42

2. Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Nero." Encyclopedia Britannica, June 5, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nero-Roman-emperor.

3. Cornelius Tacitus, The Annals Alfred John Church, William Jackson Brodribb, Ed, Tac. Ann. 15.44, June 5, 2023. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0078%3Abook%3D15%3Achapter%3D44

4. Gonzalez, 46

5. Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity, Volume Two. The Reformation to the Present Day. (New York, NY, HarperCollins Publishing 2010). 173

6. Malcolm Candice, "Churches are burning in Canada -- do our politicians even care?" Toronto Sun (Toronto), July 24, 2021

7. Gibson Caley, "Fencing goes up around GraceLife church" Global News (Edmonton) https://globalnews.ca/news/7742895/edmonton-area-gracelife-church-closure-covid-19/ April 7, 2021

8. Tim Stephens Arrested. Global News (Calgary)https://globalnews.ca/news/7950499/calgary-pastor-tim-stephens-arrested-covid-19-june-14/

9. James Coates was arrested. CTVNews Edmonton. February 16, 2021. https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/gracelife-pastor-accused-of-defying-health-orders-turns-himself-in-to-police-lawyer-1.5311737

10. Trinity Bible Chapel, CTVNews Kitchener https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/ontario-s-highest-court-dismisses-appeal-by-trinity-bible-chapel-over-covid-19-restrictions-1.6304733

11. Crown drops anti-lockdown charges. Windsor Star. https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/windsor-pastor-pleasantly-surprised-after-crown-drops-anti-lockdown-charges#:~:text=On%20Monday%2C%20the%20Crown%20withdrew,was%20permitted%20at%20the%20time.