The Early Christians - The State, Society and Martyrs

The witness of the early church was forged in the fires of false 
accusation, torture, and death. With a unified state religion and a 
governmental structure that kept every citizen under its iron grip, the 
Roman Empire tolerated no authority other than its own and regarded 
anything that resisted or opposed it as an extremely dangerous threat. 
Jesus warned his first disciples, “On my account you will be brought
before 
governors and kings…All people will hate you because of me” (Mt. 10:18, 
22). And so it happened and continues to happen for all who 
uncompromisingly follow him.