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Paul becomes a martyr

The pagans had their very own son of God - the emperor Augustus. He reigned between 63 and 14 B.C. At the age of 19 he was declared to be a son of God, and by the time of his death at the age of 49, the Roman senate decreed that he was a God in his own right. So, to worship Jesus as the Son of God was to ask for serious trouble. Although Romans were allowed to choose their own religion, everyone had to respect, obey and worship the emperor too. The penalty for failing in this duty was death. But Paul refused to sign up to the emperor cult. He told his pagan audiences that there was only one God, Jesus Christ. It was a direct provocation.

Nero blamed the fire on the Christians. Paul was sentenced to death. It should have spelt the end of the Christian mission to the pagans, but it didn't. The death of martyrs like Paul became the ultimate test of the belief in the resurrection.

Miracles of Jesus

Part 3   The Resurrection  13

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