Martyrdom was common for many of the saints of the early Christian church. This act of selflessness and total devotion to God occurred when a Christian during the establishment of the churches in the East and West were identified by authorities and remained steadfast in identifying as a Christian. When a Christian was sentenced to death for being so and was willing to undergo suffering for their beliefs, this is referred to as martyrdom. Many of the saints we recognize have paid this ultimate sacrifice in order to ensure the growth of the Church, the spreading of the Good News and to be an example to other faithful people that if one remains steadfast in faith in Jesus Christ that any amount of physical and earthly pain can be overcome. The …show more content…
Authorities such as the Roman officials used martyrdom as a way to deter social rebellion and the upheaval they thought Christianity would bring. However, their actions had the opposite effect. Instead of deterring the faithful from remaining Christian, the persecutions actually helped Christianity spread. An article in PBS Frontline expresses the impact of martyrdom well. They say that martyrs are heroes to be “admired and as examples for Christians to try to live up to, but not to emulate.” There are not tens of thousands of martyrs but there are millions of people who admire those few martyrs of the early church. Jesus Christ was the first martyr and so it makes sense that the topic of martyrdom is still relevant and important in today’s church and why martyrdom was so important to the faithful. Without the selfless and devoted acts of the martyrs Christianity may not have spread to the extent it has. The martyr’s brought the Christian religion from a minority of people hiding their worship in an “underground religion” to a worldwide recognition of Christ Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and for this reason Christians will forever thank …show more content…
One such example is Athanasius the Great. Some attribute him to being the Father of hermits because of his discipline in solitary life. Anthony as he was called spent twenty years in an abandoned fort in Pispir living in absolute solitary. He had refused to come face to face with any visitors during this time and all of his sustenance was lopped over the abandoned fort’s wall. Eventually people became so inspired by his actions that they wanted to be disciples and learn from him (though not to such an extreme as he did). He left his solitary life to instruct his disciples and to commit to writing his instruction on spiritual life and spiritual
The persecutions did help the spread of Christianity because they showed that people were willing to die for what they believe in. “I am corresponding with all the churches and bidding them all realize that I am voluntarily dying for God”(Ignatius, paragraph 5). This shows that Christianity is a way to unite ourselves with God and to be freed from all evils. Another reason it helped the spread of Christianity is that there were public executions which increased the number of people knowing about it. This also shows that the Romans don't really care for the individual freedom of their
In both The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicity and Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, the women in the stories are using scripture to explain and justify the claims they make about their faith and the faith of others. They do this by sharing stories about their life and events in their lives to show how the spirit has been moved into them. Both texts describe how these women see themselves as readers of the Bible, what religious authority each is claiming, and what new social reality each woman is arguing that is in keeping of God’s will for human beings.
I never got to know him, but from what I heard, he was a great person to be around. The person who made the ultimate sacrifice is Jesus Christ. Let’s argue. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. ”John 3:16.
...awesome strength and believability. So while martyrdom may not actually say anything about the truth of what they say, it is very still very convincing.
Justin Martyr explains that the people are demons, while Tertullian proclaims that is not the individual who is evil; it is the soul of the individual. Therefore when the martyrs are prosecuted it is not because they believe in Christianity it is because deep down inside they are channeling their evilness to those who are trying to an explanation or philosophic view on God. Justin focuses more on persuading the readers, giving them facts, and other situations to refer to. Tertullian, whom believes in divine revelation, does not even refer to the bible; he feels as if what better evidence than God himself is.
In The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas we see how Christianity was a very poor and uncommon religion. The emperors decided to put laws against Christianity, imposing penalties to those who wish to convert to that religion, so that it can die. One of the main responsibilities of Christianity is to have faith. It testifies God’s grace and produce the edification of man. As we saw with the people who were arrested and decided to die in the arena, they had faith. They believed that by being thrown to the beast, God would help them and they would get a victory. As Saturus mentioned, “Farewell. Remember me, and remember the faith. And do not let these things disturb you, but rather strengthen you.”(Ch. 6, 28) demonstrate the importance of faith.
The rise of Christianity in Rome did not come easily. It came with much destruction and death. The spark of Christianity in Rome came from an appearance of Martyrs in Rome. Martyrs were people that were executed for going against the common beliefs of pagan (polytheistic) ways. (Tignor, 2011, p. 286) Because of these awful executions, Christianity is said to be based off of “the blood of martyrs.” One of their main ways of spreading Christianity was through the sharing of their writings and by 300 CE there was an exceptional amount of book production throughout Rome. (Tignor, 2011, p. 289) “Christianity operated as one among many minority religions in the Roman Empire, and on several occasions experienced widespread persecution, especially under the emperors Nero (r. 54–68), Decius (r. 249–251), and Diocletian (r. 284–305). However, the situation changed radically under the emperor Constantine (r. 306–337), who in 313 issued the Edict of Milan that made Christianity a legitimate religion in the empire.” (Melton, 2010, p. 634)
All of humanity, even the one reading this paper, has had thoughts of doing things that are far from that of a saint, and although most do not act upon these thoughts there are those who have; those who kill out of spite, those who commit unspeakable acts against men, women and children, those who to everyone else are frightening and fearful and thus locked away from
Surprisingly, the Christian martyrs did not care that they were sentenced to death. They believed that by dying for what they believe, it would only bring them closer to God and the Gates of Heaven. The document states, “For this cause have we devoted our lives, that we might do no such thing as this; this we agreed with you” (para. 18). To the martyrs, nothing was more important than fulfilling God’s duties.
These courageous people were not afraid of being persecuted and were willing to die for their faith in order to prove that they really did believe in God. They wanted to set an example for others so that they too may believe and spread the word to others. The narrator believes that martyrs were "truly called and chosen for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (9). The narrator also believed that martyrs were important in that they were "examples for the building up of the Church" (9). While this may first appear to be referring to building a physical church, the church actually has a more symbolic meaning. Since the people are considered to be the Church, the building of the Church is referring to building up the faithful and spreading the word to others. They wanted anyone who was willing to honor and adore God in all His glory to be members of the
John 18:39- but it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release `the king of the Jews'?"King of Jews- He's not the king of the Jews, He's slapping them in the face.The same thing Jesus was being accused of Barnabbas did.JN 19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. [2] The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe [3] and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.This is your Messiah people, this is not VBS, or bible study, this is the Messiah that is in love with you.MT 27:27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.
In his youth, St. Boniface encountered many priests or clerics who traveled from town to town. Through these spiritual conversations, it became evident to St. Boniface that he wanted to pursue a life with God. Eventually, after continuos begging and his fathers fatal sickness, he was sent to the care of the Monastery of Examchester. (Appleton) It is here, that St. Boniface expressed to the Abbot at the time, that he wanted to live a monastic life. The father of the monastery, after council, granted him his wish. Here is where the saint began to prove his love for God, and could begin his journey of the Christian life. After exceeding all expectations and surpassing the knowledge of his teachers, he moved to a neighboring monastery, called Nursling, whereby he studied under the influence of Abbot Winbert.(St. Boniface Church) Here he gained vast knowledge of scriptures and the spiritual exposition of the Bible. Here, he gained such a reputation that men and women from far and wide traveled to study scriptures under his guidance. At the age of 30 he was humbly ordained a priest and yet another branch of his life was fulfilled.
Martyrdom helped to spread Christianity because when people heard about the deaths, they realized that Christianity was important enough for people to die for. For example, Perpetua, a Christian martyr was killed because she went against the Roman emperor’s law in order to be baptized and convert to Christianity. Since she sacrificed her life and died a terrible death in order to join the religion she believed in, many decided to convert to Christianity. Additionally, she wrote about her belief that she would go to
A martyr is a person that defends a principle, even though it means giving up everything that is important to that person (Webster 236). Some martyr's are put in jail for standing up for Jesus Christ or God. Most martyrs are killed because of their beliefs. Martyrs are the strange ones who challenge society with a different way of thinking. They are the rebels and heretics of today (dc Talk 6). For some, standing up for Jesus actually means dying for Him (dc Talk 7). In John 15:13 NIV Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Today some people refer to martyrs as Jesus Freaks. The very nature of Jesus Freaks is to thrust away from the mob mentality, away from the things that society tells us to care about (dc Talk 8).
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, martyrdom is defined as the suffering of death out of obedience to a cause, especially to one's religious faith. But the Greek origin of the word “martyr” sums it up into one word, which is “witness”. In the cases that I will be discussing, the martyrs are witnesses to their faith, to the only true good that exists (God). Within Christianity, there are degrees of martyrdom, even if what we typically think of when we hear the word “martyr” is someone who has been murdered for their beliefs (and refusing to change and/or deny them). One homily, given around the 7th century in Ireland, discusses these degrees of martyrdom.