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The Christians had often said that this world must end so that a better, purer world might take its place.
基督徒们曾常常说，这个世界必须毁灭，好让一个更好的、更纯洁的世界诞生。
Of course, you and I know that they meant Heaven.
你知道，他们这话是什么意思。
But because people tend not to listen very carefully, soon they were saying: "The Christians want the world to end because they hate mankind."
但是由于人们通常只是粗略地倾听别人说话，所以罗马不久便盛传：基督徒希望世界毁灭，他们仇恨人类。
An extraordinary accusation, don't you think?
这难道不是一个奇怪的指责吗?
Nero had them arrested wherever he found them, and they were brutally put to death.
尼禄一找到他们便统统将其逮捕，并残忍地处死他们。
Some were torn to pieces by wild beasts in the arena, while others were burnt alive as torches at a grand nocturnal banquet in his garden.
他不仅让他们在剧场里被野兽撕碎，他也让他们在他的私人花园里在一个盛大的晚会上当火炬活活烧死。
But the Christians bore all these tortures and those of later persecutions with unbelievable courage.
但是基督徒在这次以及后来受迫害时都以闻所未闻的勇气忍受住了种种痛苦，
They were proud to testify to the power of their new faith.
他们为成为这一新的信仰力量的见证人而感到自豪。
And these testifiers – or 'martyrs', to use the Greek word – later became the first saints.
这些见证人在希腊语中叫“martyrs”。这些殉教者后来被敬奉为第一批圣徒。
Christians used to pray at the tombs of their martyrs,
基督徒们去朝拜他们的坟墓并在那里祈祷。
whom they buried in a whole network of underground passages and burial chambers called catacombs, outside the city gates.
由于他们不能再大白天公开集会，所以他们就偷偷地在墓室里聚集。那是城市前面的地下通道和墓室。
