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The Final Christian Persecution in the Roman Empire

After being upset that the "righteous ones" were blocking communication with Apollo, Emperor Galerius tried to torture Christians into worshipping the Roman gods. When that failed, and he became sick, in 311AD he wrote a remarkable letter on his deathbed, making Christianity legal again. With one caveat - he asked for prayer from the Christians for himself and for the Empire. Full text below: "Among other arrangements which we are always accustomed to make for the prosperity and welfare of the republic, we had desired formerly to bring all things into harmony with the ancient laws and public order of the Romans, and to provide that even the Christians who had left the religion of their fathers should come back to reason; since, indeed, the Christians themselves, for some reason, had followed such a caprice and had fallen into such a folly that they would not obey the institutes of antiquity, which perchance their own ancestors had first established; but at their

Loving vs Prideful Evangelism

1 Timothy 1:3-5 is a remarkable passage. The goal of "knowing your Bible" is to spread love, not start or win arguments. It reminds me of the "two kinds of wisdom" James 3:13-18 talks about. Or the difference between knowledge and love 1Corinthains 8:1 explains. When a friend sincerely believes false doctrine I find that I hesitate to correct them because I don't want to start a long argument. But these passages tell me I need to approach my friends from a place of love, not pride.