The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 41

mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment.”
Hebrews 11:36. Great numbers sealed their testimony with their blood.
Noble and slave, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, were alike slain
without mercy.
These persecutions, beginning under Nero about the time of the
martyrdom of Paul, continued with greater or less fury for centuries.
Christians were falsely accused of the most dreadful crimes and declared
to be the cause of great calamities—famine, pestilence, and earthquake.
As they became the objects of popular hatred and suspicion, informers
stood ready, for the sake of gain, to betray the innocent. They were
condemned as rebels against the empire, as foes of religion, and pests
to society. Great numbers were thrown to wild beasts or burned alive in
the amphitheaters. Some were crucified; others were covered with the
skins of wild animals and thrust into the arena to be torn by dogs. Their
punishment was often made the chief entertainment at public fetes. Vast
multitudes assembled to enjoy the sight and greeted their dying agonies
with laughter and applause.
Wherever they sought refuge, the followers of Christ were hunted
like beasts of prey. They were forced to seek concealment in desolate
and solitary places. “Destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world
was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in
dens and caves of the earth.” Verses 37, 38. The catacombs afforded
shelter for thousands. Beneath the hills outside the city of Rome, long
galleries had been tunneled through earth and rock; the dark and intricate
network of passages extended for miles beyond the city walls. In these
underground retreats the followers of Christ buried their dead; and here
also, when suspected and proscribed, they found a home. When the
Life-giver shall awaken those who have fought the good fight, many a
martyr for Christ’s sake will come forth from those gloomy caverns.

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