I’m currently reading The Church History by Eusebius of Caesarea who lived apprximately 260-339 A.D.  He records some pretty horrific persecution of Christians during his day. For example he writes, 

“…why need I give example after example of the godly martyrs’ contests throughout the world, especially those who were no longer attacked under common law  but as enemies in war? A little town in Phrygia, for instance, all of whose inhabitants were Christian, was surrounded by armed infantrymen who set it on fire and burned to death men, women, and young children as they were calling on almighty God. The reason? All the townspeople, from the mayor himself and the magistrates to the entire populace, confessed their Christianity and refused to commit idolatry.” (Book 8.11)

He continues in Book 8.12 (For some reason they called each chapter a book back then.), 

“Sometimes they were killed with an axe, as was the case in Arabia, or had their legs broken, as those in Cappadocia. At other times they were hung upside down over a slow fire, so that smoke rising from the burning wood suffocated the, as in Mesopotamia. Sometimes noses, ears, and hands were mutilated and the other parts of the body butchered, as was the case in Alexandria.

At Antioch they were roasted on hot gridirons for prolonged torture, not seared to death.”

Sadly, such grotesque atrocities against followers of Jesus are not merely historical. Brutal persecution of Christians still takes place in many parts of the world today.

Those of us who live in relative comfort must be careful not forget our Christian heritage, and still more we must remember to pray for our brothers and sisters who are facing severe persecution in our time.