According to tradition, Antipas of Pergamum, also referred to as Hieromartyr Antipas, was a personal disciple of the holy Apostle John. Additionally, Apostle John Hieromartyr Antipas had been made bishop of the Christian church of Pergamum during the reign of Emperor Nero in A.D 92.
During these times, the people were offering sacrifices to idols, and those who did not adhere lived under constant threat of execution or exile from the Emperor. Therefore most of the people did as Emperor Nero commanded. At the same time, the holy apostle John was imprisoned on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, and the Lord revealed the future judgment of the Holy Church and the world.
On the other being a free man, Saint Antipas preached about the kingdom of Christ to the masses. Through his examples of healing miracles, deeds, and firm faith, Antipas began turning the people from offering sacrificial worship to idols that could not move, breath, see, or hear. A fact that angered the pagan priests and led them to reproach him for misleading the people and turning them away from their ancestral gods. They, therefore, demanded that he stop preaching and start offering sacrifices to the idols. Saint Antipas their plea refused, saying that he would not worship a mere mortal.
Enraged by his answer, the pagan priests dragged him to the temple of Artemis, where they would put their sacrifices to the idols and into a glowing red-hot copper bull. In his last minutes, the martyr prayed loudly, pleading with God to receive his soul, strengthen the Christian’s faith and forgive those inflicting this torment on him. He then departed peacefully as though he were sleeping.