What does the bible say about persecution of Christians?
Many New Testament studies focus on persevering in faith to the end and responding even to perpetrators of persecution with love and forgiveness. Yet while there are unifying principles, the New Testament is filled with a range of experiences of and reflections on Christian persecution – texts that it is crucial to engage with in order to fully appreciate the bewildering array of experience and strongly held viewpoints amongst believers today.
In When Christians Face Persecution, Chee-Chiew Lee explores the New Testament authors’ theological understanding of persecution. She offers a thorough look at the biblical foundations, covering their responses to early Christian persecution, their evaluation of these responses, and how they encourage or persuade their recipients to persevere in their faith.
Lee also brings these writings together to offer an integrated theology of facing persecution, reflecting on how the understanding of early Christian writers can be applied to the persecution of Christians today.
When Christians Face Persecution is a valuable study that will enrich your knowledge of biblical teaching on persecution, and its continued relevance in the twenty-first century. It offers engaging theological synthesis as well as contextual reflection, and it invites you to a deeper understanding of the breadth of theological perspectives contained with the New Testament.
Inhoudsopgave
Contents
Foreword vii
Preface ix
List of abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
Understanding persecution: definition and scope 1
Let the New Testament authors speak for themselves: methodology 5
Theology of persecution in modern scholarship: a brief overview 9
Answering the relevant questions: overview of this book 11
1 Why it all began: exploring the reasons 12
Historical background 12
Greco-Roman religious world view 12
Jewish religious world view 18
Oppositions during the first century 23
Who persecuted the Christians? 24
Why do Christians face persecution? Perspectives of insiders and outsiders 36
Summary of theological perspectives 50
2 What was happening: responses to persecution 54
Forms of persecution 54
Tactics and plots 54
Official and non-official punishments 57
Diverse Christian responses 63
Resistance and perseverance 63
Apostasy and assimilation 76
Accommodation and adaptation 82
Summary of theological perspectives 89
3 How to stand firm to the end: persuading and empowering perseverance 94
Cultural background: the art of persuasion 94
Rhetorical conventions 94
Honour and shame 97
Persuasions to persevere 98
Mark 98
Matthew 101
Luke–Acts 108
John 109
Pauline epistles 114
Hebrews 118
1 Peter 128
Revelation 130
Summary of theological perspectives 151
4 Conclusion 156
Causes of persecution 156
Responses to persecution 157
Persuasions towards perseverance 159
Conclusion: when Christians face persecution today 161
Epilogue: some contemporary reflections 163
What constitutes persecution 163
Appropriating biblical exemplars and teachings 164
Understanding perspectives and formulating responses 166
Empathizing with the persecuted 169
Concluding remarks 170
Bibliography 171
Index of Scripture references 193
Over de auteur
Chee-Chiew Lee is Associate Professor of New Testament and Senior Director of Programme Development and Advanced Studies at Singapore Bible College, and is a Graduate of the Langham Scholars Programme. As well as When Christians Face Persecution she is the author of The Blessing of Abraham, the Spirit, and Justification in Galatians (Pickwick), and other textbooks in Chinese for seminary students and pastors.
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