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Encounter Messages  /  The Church Did NOT Fall Apart After the Apostles  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 3
After Nicaea, believers were put to death, even burned alive at the stake, by people who claimed to honor Jesus Christ. David Bercot says anyone who calls those men heroes has not understood Jesus. Why is this hard for Christians who admire figures from church history, and how should the Jesus of the Gospels shape whom we admire?
Another way to ask: After Nicaea, some people killed other believers and thought it honored Jesus. David Bercot says those who call them heroes do not understand Jesus. Why is that hard to hear, and how should the Gospels shape who we admire?

Direct Answer

It is hard because it asks us to measure admired figures by the Jesus of the Gospels, and David Bercot does not find that kind of Jesus there. He does not name particular heroes at this point, so the group must apply the test itself.

Support from the Message

- Punishment moved from being put out of the church, to prison and death, to being burned alive at the stake. - This was done to believers who "got something a little wrong." - He says that anyone who sees such a Jesus in the Gospels is reading a different translation than he reads. - He says real heresy is when Christians start killing each other. - Speaking loosely from memory, he recalls Jesus saying people would think putting you to death was a service to God, and he places such killers outside the kingdom.

Discussion Follow-up

Which Christians from history do you admire most? Would their conduct stand up beside the Gospels?

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