Acts to Revelation | Episode 15
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Acts to Revelation | Episode 15
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- Da
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- Dave
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- Dave S
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- Dave Sto
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- Dave Stott
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- Dave Stotts:
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- Dave Stotts: I
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- Dave Stotts: In
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- Dave Stotts: In
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- Dave Stotts: In
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- Dave Stotts: In ou
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- Dave Stotts: In our
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- Dave Stotts: In our la
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- Dave Stotts: In our last
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- Dave Stotts: In our last e
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- Dave Stotts: In our last epi
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- Dave Stotts: In our last episo
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- Dave Stotts: In our last episode
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- Dave Stotts: In our last episode,
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- Paul was taken to Rome where he was delivered to the Praetorian
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- guard and held under house arrest for two years.
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- This is where the book of Acts ended,
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- with Paul awaiting his trial before the Roman emperor.
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- We also explored the life of Peter in Rome.
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- He was living with the Jewish and Christian communities,
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- probably on the west side of the Tiber River.
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- Peter was writing letters to the persecuted church,
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- while also providing Mark with eyewitness information for his
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- Gospel accounts.
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- Opposition was heating up for the Christians in Rome
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- and throughout the entire Roman Empire.
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- Dave: The first Christians were no
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- strangers to cruel treatment.
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- From the brutal deaths of Stephen and James to the
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- repeated beatings and imprisonments of Peter and Paul,
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- suffering merely for being a follower of Jesus was becoming
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- a common price to pay in the early church.
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- Yet, in 64 A.D., Christians would encounter cruelty on
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- an altogether new and unimaginable level.
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- This was no longer about religious differences
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- or political insecurities.
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- This was about sheer evil, cruelty for its own sake.
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- Now, Christians, like everyone else in the Roman Empire,
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- had heard nasty stories about Emperor Nero's wild parties,
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- public narcissism, and insane cruelty.
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- Now Christians were about to experience
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- that brutality firsthand.
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- Dave: The great fire of Rome broke out on
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- July 18, 64 A.D.
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- Rome had endured fires before, but this was the
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- worst in its history.
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- The historian Tacitus said that the fire began at the east end
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- of the Circus Maximum, at the foot of Palatine Hill.
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- After about a week, the raging fire consumed 10 of Rome's 14
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- districts, nearly three-quarters of the entire city.
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- There were countless dead and an estimated 200.000 homeless.
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- Dave: There were reports that those trying to fight the fire
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- were prevented from doing so.
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- Many said this came on orders from the imperial palace.
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- In the end, rumors started to spread that Nero himself was
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- responsible for burning Rome so that he could
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- rebuild it in his own glorious image.
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- According to ancient historian Tacitus,
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- this is when things got really bad for the Christians.
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- Dave: "Consequently, to get rid of the reports,
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- Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite
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- tortures on a class hated for their abominations,
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- called Christians," Tacitus, "Annals."
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- In addition to throwing Christians into the arena
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- to fight beasts such as lions, bears,
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- and wild dogs, Nero crucified them and burned them alive,
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- using them as human torches to light the city at night.
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- The worst persecution of Christians to this point in
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- history had started.
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- Unimaginable cruelty would now spread throughout Rome and the
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- rest of the Roman Empire.
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- Dave: This is the Circus Maximus,
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- the largest of all entertainment venues in the Roman Empire.
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- It was originally built for public games connected
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- to religious festivals.
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- Now, the Circus Maximus has a capacity of over 150.000 people
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- and it was used for horse races, chariot races,
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- festivals, music, plays, athletics,
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- and gladiator contests.
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- However, during the persecution of Nero,
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- the Circus Maximus was also used for the killing of Christians
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- who were forced to fight wild beasts here and endure other
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- horrific executions.
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- Dave: Here's what the Circus Maximum probably looked like
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- just before the great fire of Rome.
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- The smaller Circus of Nero on the other side of the Tiber
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- River was also used for inflicting torture and death on
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- the Christians, especially while the Circus Maximus was being
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- repaired after the great fire.
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- Although the great fire of 64 A.D.
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- severely damaged the structures on Palatine Hill,
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- it also cleared a huge amount of space in the city.
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- This allowed Nero to construct a new gigantic palace complex,
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- complete with an artificial lake and gardens that occupied at
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- least 100 acres of central Rome.
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- This new palace of Nero was called the Domus Aurea,
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- or the Golden House, due to its over-the-top decorations of
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- gold, jewels, ivory, marble, and a revolving ceiling.
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- Outside the main entrance to the palace complex was a huge,
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- nearly 100-foot bronze statue, called Colossus Neronis,
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- the Colossus of Nero, which towered over the area and
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- portrayed Nero as a God.
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- Dave: The persecution of Christians here in Rome
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- was now widespread.
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- We don't know the circumstances, but about three months after the
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- great fire, Peter was arrested and executed by crucifixion.
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- Remarkably, over 30 years earlier,
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- Jesus had predicted that Peter would be crucified.
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- Dave: "'Very truly I tell you,
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- when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where
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- you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands,
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- and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not
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- want to go.'
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- Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by
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- which Peter would glorify God.
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- Then he said to him, 'Follow me!'"
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- John 21:18-19.
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- Dave: Church sources from the 2nd and 3rd centuries say that
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- Peter was crucified upside-down.
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- Some say that it was his request since he saw himself unworthy to
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- be crucified in the same manner as his Lord.
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- Dave: Peter was buried in a cemetery near the north wall
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- of the Circus of Nero, probably being crucified
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- in the gardens nearby.
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- In the 4th century A.D., Emperor Constantine built a church to
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- commemorate the martyrdom of Peter at the location marked
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- since the 2nd century.
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- This church became known as the incredible Basilica of
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- Saint Peter.
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- Dave: However, it wasn't until the 20th century that
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- archeological discoveries provided evidence to confirm
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- this as the actual location for the ancient tomb of Peter.
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- When the tomb under the Basilica was excavated,
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- archeological material such as coins and inscriptions indicated
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- its use as early as the 1st century.
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- Later, bones were discovered which were determined to be
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- those of a man about 60 to 70 years old.
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- Additionally, the bones of the feet below the ankles were
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- missing, suggesting the possibility that the man was cut
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- down from a cross after being crucified upside-down,
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- just as the ancient accounts say.
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- Dave: Finally, an inscription of Petras,
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- or Peter, from the 2nd century was discovered
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- on the wall near the tomb.
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- Therefore, the tomb monument seems to have been made in the
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- 2nd century in a cemetery that was used as early as the 1st
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- century, and then continuously visited and revered until the
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- 4th century, when Emperor Constantine built a church over
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- the tomb to protect it and to commemorate the martyrdom
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- of Saint Peter.
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- While not absolute, we have very good evidence to believe that
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- the tomb of Peter is housed here at the Basilica of Saint Peter,
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- now on the grounds of the Vatican.
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- Dave: So, what about the Apostle Paul?
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- Last we saw, he was being held under house arrest,
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- a prisoner of Rome, encouraging Christians and making converts,
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- even as he awaited his trial.
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- Dave: Following his release from his two-year imprisonment
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- in Rome, Paul had a brief period of freedom where he continued to
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- preach, teach, and encourage the churches
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- around the Mediterranean region.
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- Paul seems to have brought the gospel then to Spain,
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- which was his stated intention a few years earlier
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- in his letter to the Romans.
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- Although we know very little about this journey,
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- a brief record of it has been preserved in the 1st century
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- writings of Clement.
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- Dave: In addition to Spain, Paul went to the island of
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- Crete, and then onto Nicopolis in the province of Macedonia
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- in late 65 A.D.
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- It was an Nicopolis where Paul wrote a letter back to Titus at
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- Crete and his first letter to Timothy at Ephesus,
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- two letters we explored in previous episodes.
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- Dave: According to Roman history,
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- Emperor Nero visited Nicopolis in 66 A.D.
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- to compete in the Actian games.
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- Since Nero was a megalomaniac feared by all the people,
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- the contests were rigged so that he won every event that
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- he competed in, from music contests to chariot races.
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- Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun.
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- Dave: Did Paul and Nero meet up again in Nicopolis?
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- Was Paul arrested there and brought back to Rome?
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- We just don't know, but shortly after the Actian games,
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- Paul was back in Rome, in prison,
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- and ultimately condemned to death.
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- Dave: Paul's second imprisonment in Rome may
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- have started in the Praetorian barracks or another
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- rented apartment, but it probably ended here at
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- the infamous Mamertine Prison.
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- Now, this prison was originally constructed
- 00:11:16.210 --> 00:11:19.000
- in the late 7th century B.C.
- 00:11:19.010 --> 00:11:22.070
- as a water cistern, but the Romans used it for high profile
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- criminals under sentence of death.
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- There's an ancient tradition that both Paul and Peter were
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- held here during the final years of their lives.
- 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:37.280
- Dave: The dungeon of this prison was called the Tullianum,
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- from "tullius," meaning a spring of water.
- 00:11:46.050 --> 00:11:48.280
- The Tullianum was a rounded subterranean
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- chamber about 23 feet in diameter.
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- Usually prisoners were removed from the chamber to be executed,
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- although some faced their end inside the chamber itself.
- 00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:04.280
- Dave: Some time during his final house arrest,
- 00:12:07.040 --> 00:12:09.190
- before coming here to Mamertine Prison,
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- Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy.
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- He seems to already know his final verdict of execution and
- 00:12:15.050 --> 00:12:19.210
- is simply waiting for his sentence to be carried out.
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- This is what Paul wrote.
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- Dave: "For I am already being poured out like a drink
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- offering, and the time for my departure is near.
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- I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
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- I have kept the faith.
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- Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness,
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- which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
- 00:12:41.290 --> 00:12:44.040
- will award to me on that day--and not only to me,
- 00:12:44.050 --> 00:12:48.020
- but also to all who have longed for his appearing,"
- 00:12:48.030 --> 00:12:51.250
- 2 Timothy 4:6-9.
- 00:12:51.260 --> 00:12:55.090
- Dave: Paul was executed here in Rome in about 67 A.D.
- 00:12:55.100 --> 00:13:00.070
- According to ancient sources such as Clement,
- 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:03.170
- Dionysius, Eusebius, and Tertullian,
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- Paul was executed by beheading, a death befitting
- 00:13:06.170 --> 00:13:10.210
- a Roman citizen.
- 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:12.180
- Ancient records suggest that Nero himself knew Paul,
- 00:13:12.190 --> 00:13:17.050
- so it's likely that he had Paul beheaded through order of the
- 00:13:17.060 --> 00:13:20.170
- prefects of Rome.
- 00:13:20.180 --> 00:13:23.070
- Dave: From the location of Paul's martyrdom,
- 00:13:24.170 --> 00:13:26.170
- some of Paul's friends took his body roughly two miles up the
- 00:13:26.180 --> 00:13:30.070
- road, called the Austian Way, and laid it to rest in
- 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:33.180
- the family tomb of a Roman Christian named Matrona Lucilla.
- 00:13:33.190 --> 00:13:38.080
- There, a memorial was erected, which quickly became a place
- 00:13:38.090 --> 00:13:41.200
- of pilgrimage to Christians in the 1st century.
- 00:13:41.210 --> 00:13:45.000
- Today, an enormous basilica sits atop this location,
- 00:13:45.010 --> 00:13:49.190
- a sacred destination for modern pilgrims that provides
- 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:53.040
- protection for the ancient memorial still
- 00:13:53.050 --> 00:13:55.280
- visible to us today.
- 00:13:55.290 --> 00:13:57.270
- 00:13:57.280 --> 00:14:07.290
- Dave: It was here in the 4th century that Roman
- 00:14:16.190 --> 00:14:19.090
- Emperor Constantine built the first church
- 00:14:19.100 --> 00:14:22.020
- commemorating Paul's martyrdom.
- 00:14:22.030 --> 00:14:24.090
- It was also in the 4th century that tradition tells us that
- 00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:27.250
- Paul's remains were moved into a marble sarcophagus
- 00:14:27.260 --> 00:14:31.180
- and buried in the church's crypt.
- 00:14:31.190 --> 00:14:35.220
- Dave: The tombstone reads, "Paulo, Apostolo,
- 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:41.190
- Mart," Latin for "Paul,
- 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:44.180
- Apostle, Martyr."
- 00:14:44.190 --> 00:14:49.010
- Dave: During the 4th and 5th centuries,
- 00:14:51.040 --> 00:14:53.020
- four other Roman emperors expanded the site.
- 00:14:53.030 --> 00:14:56.230
- Today, the church is known as the Basilica of Saint Paul
- 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:00.240
- Outside the Walls, with the latest construction
- 00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:04.010
- completed in 1800.
- 00:15:04.020 --> 00:15:09.290
- Dave: But is there any truth to the idea that Paul
- 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:12.140
- is buried here?
- 00:15:12.150 --> 00:15:14.100
- On December 6, 2006, after four years of careful excavation,
- 00:15:14.110 --> 00:15:19.190
- Vatican archeologists confirmed the discovery of a white marble
- 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:24.100
- sarcophagus beneath the church's altar.
- 00:15:24.110 --> 00:15:28.020
- They left it in place, but they allowed one of its sides
- 00:15:28.030 --> 00:15:30.270
- to remain visible.
- 00:15:30.280 --> 00:15:33.000
- Then in 2009, the Vatican revealed that the sarcophagus
- 00:15:33.010 --> 00:15:36.150
- had bone fragments and a purple linen cloth laminated with gold.
- 00:15:36.160 --> 00:15:42.030
- Scientists ran tests on the bone fragments and confirmed that
- 00:15:42.040 --> 00:15:45.180
- they dated to the 1st or 2nd century.
- 00:15:45.190 --> 00:15:49.220
- The Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls is now
- 00:15:49.230 --> 00:15:52.270
- considered by many scholars to be the
- 00:15:52.280 --> 00:15:55.090
- authentic site of Paul's tomb.
- 00:15:55.100 --> 00:16:00.250
- After Peter and Paul were gone, the Roman church
- 00:16:02.010 --> 00:16:04.240
- continued to grow.
- 00:16:04.250 --> 00:16:06.190
- Despite being an illegal religion,
- 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:08.230
- followers of Jesus continued to meet in
- 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:11.030
- the homes of wealthy Christians.
- 00:16:11.040 --> 00:16:13.220
- In his final letter to Timothy, Paul mentioned one of these
- 00:16:13.230 --> 00:16:17.000
- churches meeting at the house of Pudens.
- 00:16:17.010 --> 00:16:20.020
- Pudens is thought to have been the son of Senator Quintus
- 00:16:20.030 --> 00:16:23.160
- Cornelius Pudens and the church would've met at the
- 00:16:23.170 --> 00:16:26.140
- family villa or domus.
- 00:16:26.150 --> 00:16:31.040
- Dave: In the 4th century, the church of Santa Pudenziana was
- 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:35.210
- built over the remains of an earlier house church that dates
- 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:39.190
- back to at least 140 A.D.
- 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:43.030
- Recent evidence, including the mosaic floor of a 1st century
- 00:16:43.040 --> 00:16:46.240
- home, indicates that this may have been the actual house of a
- 00:16:46.250 --> 00:16:51.050
- Roman Christian named Pudens mentioned in Scripture.
- 00:16:51.060 --> 00:16:55.040
- 00:16:55.050 --> 00:17:01.160
- Dave: That beautiful mosaic up there dates to about 420 A.D.
- 00:17:01.170 --> 00:17:06.230
- It's remarkable because there aren't that many mosaics
- 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.270
- depicting Jesus Christ that survive from such
- 00:17:09.280 --> 00:17:13.010
- an early period.
- 00:17:13.020 --> 00:17:14.280
- 00:17:14.290 --> 00:17:21.240
- Dave: According to tradition, church leaders lived here for
- 00:17:21.250 --> 00:17:24.180
- the first couple of centuries of the Roman church.
- 00:17:24.190 --> 00:17:27.280
- Despite numerous persecutions of Christianity during those early
- 00:17:27.290 --> 00:17:32.220
- years, the church here in Rome persisted.
- 00:17:32.230 --> 00:17:36.140
- In 313 A.D., Roman Emperor Constantine legalized
- 00:17:36.150 --> 00:17:41.060
- Christianity with the Edict of Milan.
- 00:17:41.070 --> 00:17:45.010
- Now, nearly 2.000 years after the gospel arrived here in Rome,
- 00:17:45.020 --> 00:17:50.030
- Christianity lives on in this eternal city.
- 00:17:50.040 --> 00:17:54.290
- Dave: Even in death, Paul's legacy lived on
- 00:17:56.030 --> 00:17:58.090
- throughout the Roman Empire.
- 00:17:58.100 --> 00:18:00.030
- Prior to his execution, Paul worked tirelessly to establish
- 00:18:00.040 --> 00:18:04.090
- Christian churches throughout Asia Minor,
- 00:18:04.100 --> 00:18:06.250
- Macedonia, and Greece.
- 00:18:06.260 --> 00:18:09.090
- Along the way, he was joined by a number of courageous,
- 00:18:09.100 --> 00:18:12.110
- loyal, and even scholarly helpers that continued their
- 00:18:12.120 --> 00:18:16.140
- ministries after Paul was gone.
- 00:18:16.150 --> 00:18:18.290
- A man named Apollos, a member of the large Jewish community in
- 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:22.230
- Alexandria, Egypt, ended up teaching the gospel at the
- 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:26.040
- synagogue in Ephesus.
- 00:18:26.050 --> 00:18:28.030
- He was very well trained in the Scriptures and could handle
- 00:18:28.040 --> 00:18:31.030
- himself in debates with the toughest opponents.
- 00:18:31.040 --> 00:18:34.160
- Paul's assistants, Priscilla and Aquilla,
- 00:18:34.170 --> 00:18:36.230
- heard him teach at Ephesus and recruited him to Paul's work.
- 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:41.170
- Apollos was sent across the Aegean Sea to Corinth,
- 00:18:41.180 --> 00:18:45.110
- a city where the new Christians faced constant struggles.
- 00:18:45.120 --> 00:18:49.000
- Apollos was so successful in his ministry there that he got quite
- 00:18:49.010 --> 00:18:52.290
- a following for himself.
- 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.030
- In one of his letters to the Corinthian church,
- 00:18:55.040 --> 00:18:58.000
- Paul mentioned that Apollos was developing the kind of personal
- 00:18:58.010 --> 00:19:01.190
- reputation that Christian leaders should discourage.
- 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:05.000
- Paul wrote that Christians should not consider themselves
- 00:19:05.010 --> 00:19:08.150
- disciples of Apollos, or Peter, or Paul,
- 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.030
- but rather disciples of Jesus Christ.
- 00:19:12.040 --> 00:19:15.020
- It was Christ who was crucified for the sins of his followers.
- 00:19:15.030 --> 00:19:18.070
- His followers merely have particular jobs
- 00:19:18.080 --> 00:19:21.090
- to do in the church.
- 00:19:21.100 --> 00:19:23.040
- "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul?
- 00:19:23.050 --> 00:19:27.070
- Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has
- 00:19:27.080 --> 00:19:31.040
- assigned to each his task.
- 00:19:31.050 --> 00:19:33.210
- I planted the seed, Apollos watered it,
- 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:36.160
- but God has been making it grow.
- 00:19:36.170 --> 00:19:39.060
- So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters
- 00:19:39.070 --> 00:19:42.010
- is anything, but only God, who makes things grow,"
- 00:19:42.020 --> 00:19:47.020
- 1 Corinthians 3:5-7.
- 00:19:47.030 --> 00:19:50.220
- Dave: At this point, Apollos vanishes from
- 00:19:51.040 --> 00:19:53.190
- the biblical record.
- 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.010
- Church tradition takes him from Greece to Rome,
- 00:19:55.020 --> 00:19:58.220
- and it was here about ten years later that a mysterious letter
- 00:19:58.230 --> 00:20:03.030
- was written, a letter with incredible insights into the
- 00:20:03.040 --> 00:20:07.000
- identity of Jesus Christ.
- 00:20:07.010 --> 00:20:09.180
- The letter was addressed to the Jewish followers of Jesus,
- 00:20:09.190 --> 00:20:13.000
- probably in Judea and Galilee, who were being
- 00:20:13.010 --> 00:20:16.040
- tempted away from the faith.
- 00:20:16.050 --> 00:20:18.240
- The letter is known to history as the Epistle to the Hebrews,
- 00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:22.120
- or the book of Hebrews, or simply, Hebrews.
- 00:20:22.130 --> 00:20:26.220
- Dave: Although Hebrews made it into the New Testament,
- 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:30.000
- nobody really knows who wrote it.
- 00:20:30.010 --> 00:20:32.070
- In the late 2nd century, church historian Tertullian
- 00:20:32.080 --> 00:20:35.220
- gave credit to Barnabas.
- 00:20:35.230 --> 00:20:37.150
- Others have said Luke, Philip, Silas, or Clement of Rome.
- 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:42.240
- During the 2nd and 3rd centuries,
- 00:20:42.250 --> 00:20:44.240
- church scholars in Alexandria came to
- 00:20:44.250 --> 00:20:47.060
- believe the writer was Paul.
- 00:20:47.070 --> 00:20:49.150
- However, detractors argue that Hebrews doesn't match the style
- 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:53.070
- or content found in any of Paul's other letters.
- 00:20:53.080 --> 00:20:57.040
- Today, some New Testament scholars
- 00:20:57.050 --> 00:20:59.260
- support Apollos as the writer of Hebrews.
- 00:20:59.270 --> 00:21:02.200
- In the 16th century, Martin Luther eventually made this
- 00:21:02.210 --> 00:21:06.020
- conclusion and others have followed suit.
- 00:21:06.030 --> 00:21:09.080
- Dave: But one things scholars can't agree on is the importance
- 00:21:09.090 --> 00:21:12.280
- of Hebrews in the New Testament.
- 00:21:12.290 --> 00:21:15.110
- Since the letter assumes all the rituals and sacrifices are still
- 00:21:15.120 --> 00:21:20.010
- taking place at the temple in Jerusalem,
- 00:21:20.020 --> 00:21:22.180
- that means Hebrews was written before its destruction
- 00:21:22.190 --> 00:21:26.060
- in 70 A.D.
- 00:21:26.070 --> 00:21:27.250
- This matters because the book of Hebrews presents Jesus Christ
- 00:21:27.260 --> 00:21:31.170
- as divine, fully human and fully God.
- 00:21:31.180 --> 00:21:34.240
- Therefore, the divinity of Christ is
- 00:21:34.250 --> 00:21:37.100
- a very early Christian doctrine.
- 00:21:37.110 --> 00:21:40.040
- Dave: Hebrews opens by declaring Jesus as
- 00:21:40.050 --> 00:21:43.090
- the Son of God.
- 00:21:43.100 --> 00:21:45.050
- Through the Son, God made the world.
- 00:21:45.060 --> 00:21:47.100
- By going through death, the Son conquered sin and
- 00:21:47.110 --> 00:21:50.270
- death on our behalf.
- 00:21:50.280 --> 00:21:53.170
- "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets
- 00:21:53.180 --> 00:21:57.050
- at many times and in various ways,
- 00:21:57.060 --> 00:22:00.060
- but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
- 00:22:00.070 --> 00:22:04.110
- whom he appointed heir of all things,
- 00:22:04.120 --> 00:22:06.260
- and through whom also he made the universe.
- 00:22:06.270 --> 00:22:10.050
- The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact
- 00:22:10.060 --> 00:22:13.280
- representation of his being, sustaining all
- 00:22:13.290 --> 00:22:17.130
- things by his powerful Word.
- 00:22:17.140 --> 00:22:19.220
- After he had provided purification for sins,
- 00:22:19.230 --> 00:22:22.210
- he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven,"
- 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:26.270
- Hebrews 1:1-3.
- 00:22:26.280 --> 00:22:29.220
- Dave: According to the book of Hebrews,
- 00:22:29.230 --> 00:22:31.170
- Jesus Christ's once-for-all sacrifice had replaced the
- 00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:36.120
- need for the recurring animal sacrifices of the temple.
- 00:22:36.130 --> 00:22:40.040
- The new covenant has replaced the old,
- 00:22:40.050 --> 00:22:42.280
- but this teaching would've been outrageous for religious
- 00:22:42.290 --> 00:22:46.060
- Jews living in the 60s A.D.
- 00:22:46.070 --> 00:22:49.090
- The rites and rituals of the temple were in full operation
- 00:22:49.100 --> 00:22:53.110
- like they had been for centuries,
- 00:22:53.120 --> 00:22:55.220
- however in just a few years, Jerusalem and its holy temple
- 00:22:55.230 --> 00:23:00.140
- would be utterly destroyed.
- 00:23:00.150 --> 00:23:03.140
- In 66 A.D., Nero ordered an attack on Judea and its
- 00:23:05.100 --> 00:23:10.010
- surrounding territories in order
- 00:23:10.020 --> 00:23:12.160
- to quell a variety of rebellions.
- 00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:15.080
- He sent his trusted general Vespasian and an army of
- 00:23:15.090 --> 00:23:18.200
- 60.000 to handle the job.
- 00:23:18.210 --> 00:23:21.180
- Dave: The Romans were successful in taking Galilee
- 00:23:22.170 --> 00:23:25.130
- and sections of Judea, but the walled city
- 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:28.010
- of Jerusalem held out.
- 00:23:28.020 --> 00:23:29.280
- Nero died in June of 68 A.D.
- 00:23:29.290 --> 00:23:33.030
- and the Roman Empire was thrown into chaos.
- 00:23:33.040 --> 00:23:36.010
- Ultimately, Vespasian was proclaimed emperor and
- 00:23:36.020 --> 00:23:39.140
- called back to Rome.
- 00:23:39.150 --> 00:23:41.030
- Vespasian's son, Titus, took over command of
- 00:23:41.040 --> 00:23:44.080
- the Judean assault.
- 00:23:44.090 --> 00:23:45.230
- By the spring of 70 A.D., Titus and his three Roman legions
- 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:50.100
- advanced on the city of Jerusalem.
- 00:23:50.110 --> 00:23:52.280
- After a brutal siege lasting months,
- 00:23:52.290 --> 00:23:56.000
- the Romans finally conquered the city
- 00:23:56.010 --> 00:23:58.140
- on August 30, 70 A.D. and totally destroyed the temple.
- 00:23:58.150 --> 00:24:06.150
- Dave: The Arch of Titus here in Rome still stands as a
- 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.180
- testament to the sacking of Jerusalem and the destruction
- 00:24:09.190 --> 00:24:13.200
- of the Jewish temple.
- 00:24:13.210 --> 00:24:15.100
- Dave: It shows the Romans hauling off the seven-branched
- 00:24:15.110 --> 00:24:19.040
- menorah and other religious instruments used in the temple.
- 00:24:19.050 --> 00:24:23.000
- This was dramatic imagery, symbolizing the end of a
- 00:24:23.010 --> 00:24:26.170
- centuries-old system of traditional rituals and
- 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:29.230
- animal sacrifices.
- 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.150
- Dave: Just as the writer of Hebrews suggested,
- 00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:34.210
- the old covenant had been surpassed by the new.
- 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:38.050
- Dave: Jesus himself foretold the destruction of the temple
- 00:24:38.060 --> 00:24:41.210
- some 40 years earlier.
- 00:24:41.220 --> 00:24:44.090
- "As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples
- 00:24:44.100 --> 00:24:47.030
- said to him, 'Look, Teacher!
- 00:24:47.040 --> 00:24:48.230
- What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!'
- 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:52.090
- 'Do you see all these great buildings?'
- 00:24:52.100 --> 00:24:54.190
- replied Jesus.
- 00:24:54.200 --> 00:24:56.010
- 'Not one stone here will be left on another;
- 00:24:56.020 --> 00:25:00.140
- every one will be thrown down,'" Mark 13:1-2.
- 00:25:00.150 --> 00:25:05.100
- This is exactly what the historian Josephus reported.
- 00:25:05.110 --> 00:25:10.080
- The temple was so thoroughly destroyed that every stone
- 00:25:10.090 --> 00:25:14.010
- was stripped from its foundation and thrown
- 00:25:14.020 --> 00:25:16.160
- down off the Temple Mount.
- 00:25:16.170 --> 00:25:18.180
- To this day, these huge stones lie here in Jerusalem
- 00:25:18.190 --> 00:25:22.260
- as a testimony to that fateful event in Jewish history.
- 00:25:22.270 --> 00:25:28.050
- Dave: After Vespasian's death in 79 A.D., his son
- 00:25:28.060 --> 00:25:32.060
- Titus went on to become emperor of Rome.
- 00:25:32.070 --> 00:25:35.060
- He served until his death in 81 A.D.,
- 00:25:35.070 --> 00:25:39.000
- when his brother Domitian took over power.
- 00:25:39.010 --> 00:25:42.100
- Dave: Domitian ushered in a new era of hate and persecution
- 00:25:42.110 --> 00:25:46.250
- against the Christians.
- 00:25:46.260 --> 00:25:48.100
- Ancient historians describe Domitian as a violent madman
- 00:25:48.110 --> 00:25:52.190
- who insisted on being worshiped as a god,
- 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:55.280
- and he began to build temples to himself all
- 00:25:55.290 --> 00:25:57.290
- over the Roman Empire.
- 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:00.080
- One of these temples was built in about 86 A.D.
- 00:26:00.090 --> 00:26:04.090
- in the city of Ephesus, and the Christians there were being
- 00:26:04.100 --> 00:26:07.280
- forced to worship Domitian and make sacrifices to him.
- 00:26:07.290 --> 00:26:11.260
- This didn't sit well with an aging apostle who was helping
- 00:26:11.270 --> 00:26:15.280
- lead the church in Ephesus, a weathered fisherman
- 00:26:15.290 --> 00:26:19.110
- from Galilee named John.
- 00:26:19.120 --> 00:26:21.130
- 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:31.140
- CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 www.abercap.com
- 00:26:31.170 --> 00:26:36.150