Huff Post: by Candida Moss.
Even the earliest, most ostensibly trustworthy martyrdom stories have been edited and reworked. The authors of these accounts borrowed from ancient mythology, changed the details of events to make the martyrs appear more like Jesus, and made the Roman antagonists increasingly venomous. The motivations of these later authors and editors, who have gone unheralded by history but who shaped our understanding of the world, are arguably more fascinating than the martyrdom stories themselves. No doubt there are kernels of truth at the heart of some of some of the stories, but we do not have evidence of persecution.
Christians of all denominations maintain that the Early Church was widely persecuted. They state that in the first few centuries after the death of the Messiah, Christians were hunted, tortured and killed just for following Christ. This persecution is believed to have begun with the deaths of Stephen, the Apostles, and then the Christians persecuted under a long succession of cruel and vindictive Roman emperors.
Categories: CHRISTIANITY, Church, Religious persecution, Research
Most religions however have been persecuted worst in its beginning.
In fact, there is a fair bit of documentary evidence from non-Christian sources about the persecution of the early Church. This website gives a flavour: http://www.bible-researcher.com/persecution.html
The Roman historian, Pliny’s letter to the emperor and Tacitus’ (also a Roman) comments about the fire are pretty clear.
Did you know that Christians today are the religious group that suffer the most religious persecution from adherents of other faiths? The same Huffington Post that posted the article by Candida Moss, recently posted this one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-james-clark/christianity-most-persecuted-religion_b_2402644.html