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
New Testament phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and the Gospel of Luke share the same author, referred to as Luke–Acts. Luke-Acts does not name its author. Church tradition identified him as Luke the Evangelist, the companion of Paul, but the majority of scholars reject this due to the many contradictions between Acts and the authentic Pauline letters. The most probable date of composition is around 80–100 AD, and there is evidence that it was still being substantially revised well into the 2nd century. The epistles of the New Testament are considered by Christians to be divinely inspired