The Christian Value of Suffering

Since Freud, both psychoanalysts and historians have tended to pathologise those who desire to suffer like Jesus. In addition to the death of Jesus, early church historians often identify martyrdom and persecution as the experiences that changed Christian attitudes to suffering. For most of the period before the Emperor Constantine came to power, Christians were not persecuted. While they did fall foul of legislation promoting the imperial cult in 250 AD., Christians were not the victims of sustained persecution.