Arlin & Pamela HENDRIX
15 B chemin Sapinière
69330 Meyzieu, FRANCE
Telephone & fax: +33 478.04.13.06
E-mail: hendrixap@gmail.com

Sponsor Information
White Station Church of Christ
Attn: Hendrix Mission
1106 Colonial Road
Memphis, TN 38117

Contact: Jack Boyd
Phone 901-550-1585
jbond2202@comcast.net

Missions elder: Richie Lynn
Phone 901-606-5999
RBALynn@gmail.com

Lyon, Birthplace of French Christianity

Christianity came early to Lyon, largely through settlers from churches of Asia Minor: Pergamum, Smyrna and Ephesus. The Church Father Irenaeus described the Roman persecutions in which, beginning in 177 AD, hundreds of Christians were killed in the amphitheater in Lyon. This persecution marked the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christendom.

Centuries later, Lyon became the headquarters of the Catholic Church in France. St. John's Cathedral dates from the 12th century and is still the headquarters of the Cardinal of Lyon -- the Archbishop of Gaul.

During the Renaissance, German printers took refuge in Lyon and spread their idea of church reform. The Reformation gained many followers, but in 1551 the Protestants began to flee persecution. Since then, Lyon has remained firmly Catholic.

Church and State ties were severed during the French Revolution. The people identified the Bible with superstitions that paralyzed progress and denied political freedom. Philosophers such as Voltaire and Rousseau then made humanism their religion. God's Word was virtually banned from both religious and secular life. Today few people are believers, even though most consider themselves Catholic.