For several blogs I have been focusing on Paul’s “Man of Lawlessness” prophecy. Most recently I concentrated on his exalting himself to be worshiped.
But now we must note that Nero (“The Man of Lawlessness”) not only seeks worship, but openly “opposes” (2 Thess. 2:4) God by persecuting persecuting believers. He even begins the persecution by presenting himself in a chariot as the sun god Apollo. He does this while burning Christians at the stake for illumination at his self-glorifying party.
We find the earliest evidence for Nero’s persecuting wrath upon the Christians in an epistle from Clement of Rome to the Corinthians (designated 1 Clement). In 1 Clement 5 the writer mentions the persecution of the apostles. Then in section 6 Clement tells us that “unto these men were gathered a vast multitude of the elect, who through many indignities and tortures, being the victims of jealousy, set a brave example among ourselves.”
The great Christian apologist Tertullian (A.D. 150-230) defends Christianity by challenging men to search the archives of Rome for the proof that Nero persecuted the Church: “And if a heretic wishes his confidence to rest upon a public record, the archives of the empire will speak, as would the stones of Jerusalem. We read the lives of the Caesars: At Rome Nero was the first who stained with blood the rising faith” (Tertullian, Scorpion’s Sting, 15).
Roman historian Tacitus gives a most detailed and terrifying account of the beginning of the persecution:
But by no human contrivance, whether lavish distributions of money or of offerings to appease the gods, could Nero rid himself of the ugly rumor that the fire was due to his orders. So to dispel the report, he substituted as the guilty persons and inflicted unheard-of punishments on those who, detested for their abominable crimes, were vulgarly called Christians. . . .
So those who first confessed were hurried to the trial, and then, on their showing, an immense number were involved in the same fate, not so much on the charge of incendiaries as from hatred of the human race. And their death was aggravated with mockeries, insomuch that, wrapped in the hides of wild beasts, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or fastened to crosses to be set on fire, that when the darkness fell they might be burned to illuminate the night. Nero had offered his own gardens for the spectacle, and exhibited a circus show, mingling with the crowd, himself dressed as a charioteer or riding in a chariot. Whence it came about that, though the victims were guilty and deserved the most exemplary punishment, a sense of pity was aroused by the felling that they were sacrificed no on the altar of public interest, but to satisfy the cruelty of one man. (Tacitus, Annals 15:44)
In a list of the “positive” contributions of Nero as emperor, Roman historian Suetonius (A.D. 70-160) notes that he persecuted Christians: “During his reign many abuses were severely punished and put down, and no fewer new laws were made: a limit was set to expenditures: “Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition” (Suetonius, Nero 16).
Obama = Nero. Classical columns at the previous Democratic Convention acceptance speech should have told you something. The Obama “O” logo replacing the U.S. flag on the tail of Airforce One should have told you something. His about face position on Gay marriage should have told you something. Taking God out of the 2012 Democratic Party platform should have told you something.
One aspect of Nero’s reign of terror that I’ve never heard discussed or mentioned is his relationship to Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Most people tend to consider people of that era to be un-intellectual, unsophisticated and just slightly above being barbarians. There is nothing further from the truth. While their technical knowledge may not have been as great as compared to ours, they were every bit as intelligent. Their rulers and politicians were as astute as they are now regarding how politics is played, and they were just as crooked and self-serving as they are now. They also knew how to play favorites and play one person or persons against someone else to advance their power and prestige. They weren’t dummies.
I realize this might be considered to be an argument from silence since I’ve never seen any documentation to back up my position, but with regard to the book of Romans, it had been in existence for a number of years in Rome. Also, by the time Nero was ascending to power, its existence and content was probably fairly widely known even to government officials. The Christian community did not live in isolation from the rest of the population, nor would they be silent about what they believed and would probably back up their beliefs with whatever material they might have available including the Septuagint and whatever Apostolic letters that might have been available, such as Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Christians, now a days, contend that Paul never tried to change the government of Rome. Maybe he didn’t directly try, but his letter to the Romans would have been considered as being seditious, especially where he discusses the proper role and function of civil government. If Nero had read it, especially the material in Chapter 13, and I would assume that at some point someone trying to get on his good side would have brought it to his attention in order to ingratiate himself to Nero, Nero would have had an apoplectic fit that anyone would dare state that the god Nero was subject to some other God! Nero may have been insane, but he wasn’t stupid. He would have viewed Paul and his teachings as a direct threat to his power, prestige and position as not just the emperor, but god himself.
Paul may not have intended to change the Roman government, but he sure would have stirred up a hornets’ nest!