PERSECUTION BY DIOCLETIAN
One of the most systematic and terrible of all persecutions took place during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, from 303 to 310 A.D. In March of 303, the Emperor ordered the: 1. cessation of all meetings of the Christians. 2. the destruction of all church buildings. 3. imprisonment and/or death of all church officers. 4. imprisonment of those who continued to testify of Jesus. 5. destruction of all Bibles by fire. 6. sacrifice of all Christians to the pagan gods or face death. History records that the prisons became so crowded with Christians that there was no longer room for the criminals. When it seemed to the emperor that he had made an end to the church, he had a coin minted with the following motto on it: “The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the Roman gods is restored.” The truth is that the church simply went underground and obviously survived, prospered, and remains until today!…
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