Persecution of Christians in the New Testament Persecution of Christians in the New Testament The persecution of Christians in the New Testament is an important part of the Early Christian narrative which depicts the early Church as being persecuted for their heterodox beliefs by a Jewish establishment in what was then the Roman province of Judea. The New Testament, especially the Gospel of John (c. 90–100 AD), has traditionally been interpreted as relating Christian accounts of the Pharisee rejection of Jesus and accusations of the Pharisee responsibility for his crucifixion. The Acts of the Apostles depicts instances of early Christian persecution by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious
Gospel of the Nazarenes his "Commentary on Matthew", Jerome refers to the "Gospel of the Nazarenes" and the "Gospel of the Hebrews". Epiphanius is of the same opinion; he states in his "Panarion" that Matthew alone expounded and declared the gospel in Hebrew among the New Testament writers: "For in truth, Matthew alone of the New Testament writers expounded and declared the Gospel in Hebrew using Hebrew script." ("Panarion" 30.3.7) Origen adds to this by stating that, among the four gospels, Matthew, the one-time tax collector who later became an apostle of Jesus Christ, first composed the gospel for the converts from Judaism, published