Persecution was seen by those who belonged to the early church as a declaration of their absolute loyalty to Christ and martyrdom was considered a privilege; some even believed that they had been tasked with these horrendous sufferings by God himself. Since Jesus had warned his followers that they would be hated just like him because their standard of living would be at odds with the earthly government and its worldly population, “I have given them your word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14, KJV). Being deemed unacceptable by a secular governing entity was a sign of the early church's separation from the profane things of the mortal realm. While the church was scripturally obligated to abide by civil laws and principles, it was at the same time to abstain from any mandate that would lead it away from the principles and doctrines of the Word of God: “And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and God's is God's" (Lk 20:25,