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Christians were hated as atheists because they did not worship the Roman gods, and they were despised as immoral. Because of misunderstandings about Christian sacraments, Christians were even falsely accused of being practitioners of cannibalism and incest. (51:2) The faith of the new converts was tried by the persecution which he [Athanaric] excited. A wagon, bearing aloft the shapeless image of Thor, perhaps, or of Woden, was conducted in solemn procession through the streets of the camp, and the rebels who refused to worship the god of their fathers were immediately burnt with their tents and families. (Decline and Fall 519, clarification added) (51:3) Such episodes suggest that, as Christ had said, the believers would, and did, become the 'hated of all nations' for His name's sake.
(51:4)
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