Believers accused through testimony of false witness

Scripture references

Matthew 26:59 (ASV)

⁵⁹Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death;

Mark 14:55–59 (ASV)

⁵⁵Now the chief priests and the whole council sought witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found it not. ⁵⁶For many bare false witness against him, and their witness agreed not together. ⁵⁷And there stood up certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, ⁵⁸We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands. ⁵⁹And not even so did their witness agree together.

Acts 6:9–14 (ASV)

⁹But there arose certain of them that were of the synagogue called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen. ¹⁰And they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake. ¹¹Then they suborned men, who said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. ¹²And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and seized him, and brought him into the council, ¹³and set up false witnesses, who said, This man ceaseth not to speak words against this holy place, and the law: ¹⁴for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, a...

Stories

Goforth of China by Rosalind Goforth

In 1893, terrible false allegations were brought against the missionaries in China that they had been murdering children and harvesting their organs. As these rumors spread far and wide, the work of sharing the gospel was consequently affected.

Hudson Taylor The Man Who Believed God by Marshall Broomhall

A blatantly false accusation of being responsible for the loss of 22 Chinese children was used by an enraged mob to lay siege to the missionary premises in Yangchow. Some of missionaries were badly stoned, and there was much injury to others as they tried to escape.

I Am N, Inspiring Stories of Christians Facing Islamic Extremists by Voice of the Martyrs

With a pistol to his head, Kazim still wouldn't recant his faith in Jesus; he was happy to die if God wills so. When his persecutors could not kill him, false charges were brought against him and used to torture and imprison him. But through it all, Kazim's only sadness was his inability to read the Bible due to his swollen eyes.

The Missionary Review, Volume XLII, January to December 1919 by Missionary Review of the World

A believer was accused falsely of destroying the idols in a village temple and was on the strength of that false testimony fined and forced to repair the destroyed temple.

Tortured for His Faith by Haralan Popov

In a bid to destroy the church in Bulgaria, blatantly false testimonies were beared against its leaders. Pastor Ivanoff was sentenced to life imprisonment and his properties confiscated -- because of the false testimony of a marmalade factory engineer.