Dr. Justo Gonzalez's "Story of Christianity, Vol. 1: Persecutions-3rd C...

1.     Persecutions in the Third Century—persecution under Septimus Severus, Decius, and the Question of the Lapsed: Cyprian and Novatian. The last years of the second century had enjoyed relative peace, although Trajan’s policy was still in force resulting in local persecution. However, new and imperial-wide policies were brought to bear in the reigns of Septimus Severus (202) and Decius (249). Septimus Severus, though dealing with barbarians and internal imperial conflicts, legislated “syncretism,” to wit, all religions are subordinated by sovereign edict to the “Sun God” (Sol Invictus)—a state-controlled religion. These imperialized and widened persecutions throughout the Empire. Irenaeus, Felicitas, Perpetua are famed martyrs. Emperors following Septimus Severus retained the policy, but did not enforce it bringing relative peace back for Christian “confessors,” or, believers confessing Christ. The storm broke, however, with Emperor Decius in 249 who mandated restoration of the ancestral Roman religion—this required Christians to sacrifice and burn incense to the Roman deities and even to the Ego-Emperor Decius himself. Some complied, some bought (or procured) certificates of compliance without compliance, and some did neither, but stood tall in combat operations. This occasioned the issue of the “lapsed” who petitioned for readmission to the church. Cyprian, Novatian, Carthage and Rome are entangled in discussions about the lapsed. There are several other notable stories in this period also, but Septimus Severus and Decius are leading subjects.