it s a dangerous, tumultuous time in the roman empire. nowhere more so than in the province of judea on the far edge of the mediterranean. its capital, the holy city of jerusalem, is teeming with pilgrims for the springtime feast of passover. many of them looking for an earthly key, a messiah who will deliver them from the yoke of roman oppression. into this powder keg walks jesus of nazareth. his protests against the romans make him a popular hero. to some, he is the messiah. but to the romans, he s political trouble, so they crucify him. the followers of jesus believed that he has risen from the dead and will soon usher in the kingdom of heaven, but when and how will this new faith survive after jesus? today, more than 2 billion people call themselves christians, people who believe jesus rose from the dead. but perhaps it s a miracle that christianity did not disappear when the romans crucified jesus on a lonely hill outside jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. this region
jerusalem, is teeming with pilgrims for the springtime feast of passover. many of them looking for an earthly key, a messiah who will deliver them from the yoke of roman oppression. into this powder keg walks jesus of nazareth. his protests against the romans make him a popular hero. to some, he is the messiah. but to the romans, he s political trouble, so they crucify him. the followers of jesus believed that he has risen from the dead and will soon usher in the kingdom of heaven, but when and how will this new faith survive after jesus? today, more than 2 billion people call themselves christians, people who believe jesus rose from the dead. but perhaps it s a miracle that christianity did not disappear when the romans crucified jesus on a lonely hill outside jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. this region, jerusalem and judea, represented an important land bridge between syria and egypt. so throughout history, this has been a critical place. jerusalem had been the holy
Scapegoats. he apparently had some of them burned as human torches in his gardens. he had others wrapped in animal skins and set wild dogs upon them in a public setting. and so this is the first persecution of christians by roman emperor. the reason christians were persecuted early on was not because it was illegal to be a christian. they were persecuted because they were known to be troublemakers. among nero s victims were the two most important leaders of the early christian church. peter had been living and preaching in rome. paul had been living under house arrest. now they were both condemned to death for their faith. peter is not a citizen of the roman empire, and so he is able to be crucified. then he s crucified upside down because he did not feel that he
Scapegoats, the natural scapegoats. he apparently had some of them burned as human torches in his gardens. he had others wrapped in animal skins and set wild dogs upon them in a public setting. and so this is the first persecution of christians by roman emperor. the reason christians were persecuted early on was not because it was illegal to be a christian. they were persecuted because they were known to be troublemakers. among nero s victims were the two most important leaders of the early christian church. peter had been living and preaching in rome. paul had been living under house arrest. now they were both condemned to death for their faith. peter is not a citizen of the roman empire, and so he is able to be crucified. then he s crucified upside down
The christians are the scapegoats, the natural scapegoats. he apparently had some of them burned as human torches in his gardens. he had others wrapped in animal skins and set wild dogs upon them in a public setting. and so this is the first persecution of christians by roman emperor. the reason christians were persecuted early on was not because it was illegal to be a christian. they were persecuted because they were known to be troublemakers. among nero s victims were the two most important leaders of the early christian church. peter had been living and preaching in rome. paul had been living under house arrest. now they were both condemned to death for their faith. peter is not a citizen of the roman empire, and so he is able to be crucified. then he s crucified upside down