《Jesus Resurrection Was and Is a Cause to Die For》復活的大能
~Dr. Michael A. Milton
All of the Apostles would die for the message of the resurrection except for John, who would suffer for it, and die as an old man in the parish of Ephesus. Thomas would go to India and be martyred at modern-day Chennai. Mark went to Egypt and died while preaching eternal life in Christ. Other extra biblical literature of the day would say that Joseph of Arimathea went to Britain. Celtic traditions tell of a Welsh king who was captured by Román soldiers and brought to Rome. While under house arrest, he heard the gospel and brought the Christian faith and its beautiful message of the resurrection back to the British Isles.
The Roman empire had built its fortunes on the cult of the Roman emperor, but within years, despite unprecedented persecution, the amphitheaters constructed to kill Christians for bloodthirsty sport became magnificent stadiums—veritable giant pulpits and sanctuaries— to proclaim the risen Christ. I know. I have stood in the underground stone cages built for ferocious bears and seen how the cages were transformed to chapels, with Bible stories embedded into the walls with still-luminous mosaics, and baptismal fonts and Communion Tables of stone.
※耶穌的複活是基督徒不怕死的力量
所有的使徒都會為傳講復活的信息而被處死,除了約翰(約翰為此受苦),並在以弗所教區老去。多馬前往印度,並在現在的清奈被殺害。馬可去埃及傳永遠的生命福音時死了。當時其他的聖經文獻都說尊貴的議士亞利馬太的約瑟夫去了英國,在Glastonbury建立第一所教堂。凱爾特人的傳說講述了一位威爾斯國王,他被羅馬士兵俘虜並帶到羅馬。在被軟禁期間,他聽到了福音,並將基督教信仰及其複活的美好信息帶回了不列顛群島。
羅馬帝國的財富是建立在羅馬皇帝的崇拜之上的,但是在過去的幾年中,儘管遭受了空前的迫害,嗜血者為殺害基督徒的圓形劇場變成了宏偉的體育場…名副其實的巨型講壇和聖所,以宣揚復活的基督。我經歷站在為凶猛的熊而建的地下石籠中,看到牢籠是如何變成小教堂的,聖經故事洗禮盆和石製聖餐檯,被鑲嵌在仍然發光的馬賽克牆上。