They publicly declared that their God, and their God alone, was the true ruler of Heaven and Earth, and that all other gods were imposters. 他们公开宣称他们的上帝，唯独他们的上帝是宇宙与尘世的真正主宰，而所有别的神不过是冒名顶替的骗子。

This seemed unfair to the other sects and the police discouraged such utterances. The Christians persisted. 这种说法显得对其他宗教很不公平，帝国警察不得不出面干预此类言行，可基督徒们依然坚持。

Soon there were further difficulties. 不久，更大的冲突产生了。

The Christians refused to go through the formalities of paying homage to the emperor.  基督徒拒绝施行对罗马皇帝表达敬意的礼仪，

They refused to appear when they were called upon to join the army. 他们还拒服帝国的兵役。

The Roman magistrates threatened to punish them. 罗马行政当局威胁要惩罚他们，

The Christians answered that this miserable world was only the ante-room to a very pleasant Heaven and that they were more than willing to suffer death for their principles. 他们却回答说，我们生存的这个悲惨世界只不过是进人天堂乐土的"过道"，我们宁愿丧失现世的生命，也不愿违背信仰的准则。

The Romans, puzzled by such conduct, sometimes killed the offenders, but more often they did not. 罗马人对这样的言行大惑不解，偶尔杀死几个敢于反抗的基督徒，但大部分时候都是听之任之。

There was a certain amount of lynching during the earliest years of the church, 在教会成立的初期，发生过一些私刑处死基督徒的情形，

but this was the work of that part of the mob which accused their meek Christian neighbours of every conceivable crime, 不过这都是暴民们的行为。他们对自己温 顺的基督徒邻居胡 乱指控，污蔑他们犯下了各种各样离奇古怪的罪行，

(such as slaughtering and eating babies, bringing about sickness and pestilence, betraying the country in times of danger) because it was a harmless sport and devoid of danger, as the Christians refused to fight back. 比如杀人、吃婴儿、散布疾病和瘟疫、出卖国家于危难之际等等。这些罪行出自暴徒们疯狂而阴险的想象力，他们知道基督徒是不会以暴易暴的，因此他们能够轻易地处死基督徒，却不怕招致报复。

Meanwhile, Rome continued to be invaded by the Barbarians and when her armies failed, 与此同时，罗马一直在受到蛮族的侵略。当罗马军队的刀剑无能为力的时候，

Christian missionaries went forth to preach their gospel of peace to the wild Teutons. They were strong men without fear of death. 基督传教士却挺身上前，向野蛮的条顿人宣讲他们的和平福音。他们都是些不畏死的坚定信仰者