A Bit of Pertinent History

Last night (Wednesday, Sept. 14), we took another look at the Bible Answer Man's theory concerning the great tribulation and held it up against history and the Bible. There are two items that will help you when listening to that message. The first is:

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, whose name was later changed to Nero Claudius Caesar, ruled in Rome from AD 54 to 68. Those dates are important when considering the martyrdom of the apostles and authors of the New Testament. Keep it in mind when you're listening to the message, since I neglected to spell it out.

Secondly, while reading from Foxe's Book of Martyrs, I breezed over the section concerning the apostle Paul, assuming his death at Rome to be common knowledge. But, inasmuch as he is the only Biblical figure to have any direct historical connection with Nero (the tradition concerning Peter being tenuous at best), some might accuse me of having skipped over that account in order to bolster my own argument. So, just for the record, here is what was written:
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X. Paul

Paul, the apostle, who before was called Saul, after his great travail and unspeakable labors in promoting the Gospel of Christ, suffered also in this first persecution under Nero. Abdias, declareth that under his execution Nero sent two of his esquires, Ferega and Parthemius, to bring him word of his death. They, coming to Paul instructing the people, desired him to pray for them, that they might believe; who told them that shortly after they should believe and be baptised at His sepulcher. This done, the soldiers came and led him out of the city to the place of execution, where he, after his prayers made, gave his neck to the sword.

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What will be instantly obvious by comparing the dates of Nero's rule and the history of the apostles is that the theory that the great tribulation occurred during his reign, based on the supposed quality of the people who fell under his hand, is a position that it impossible to defend beyond mere conjecture.

I just wanted to add those details to help our listeners follow our line of reasoning.