At first, the term applied to the Apostles. Once Christians started to suffer persecution, the term came to be applied to those who suffered hardships for the faith. Finally, it was restricted to those who had been killed. The early Christian period before Constantine was the classic age of martyrdom. A martyr's death was considered a "baptism in blood," cleansing one of sin as baptism in water did. Early Christians venerated martyrs as powerful intercessors, and their utterances were treasured as inspired specially by the Holy Spirit.

In subsequent centuries, during periods of widespread persecution, and in particular during the Protestant Reformation, many Christians were martyred, being charged alternately as heretics or Papists. Modern statistics of total Christian martyrs are estimated to total around 70 Million.

Martyrdom in Christian theology

The age of martyrs also forced the church to confront theological issues such as the proper response to those Christians who “lapsed” and renounced the Christian faith to save their lives….were they to be allowed back into the Church? Some felt they should not while others said they could. In the end, it was agreed to allow them in after a period of penance. The re-admittance of the “lapsed” became a defining moment in the Church because it allowed the sacrament of repentance and readmission to the Church despite issues of sin. This issue caused the Donatist and Novatianist schisms.

In 1933 the German church historian Ethelbert Stauffer put forth the proposition that the Christian tradition of martyrdom began with the earlier Jewish tradition, in which suffering was caused by Satan's power in this "aeon," or era, but that it ushered in a new aeon.

History of Christian martyrdom

The first known Christian martyr was Saint Stephen as recorded in the , who was stoned to death for his faith. Stephen was killed (i.e., martyred) for his support, belief and faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth as the Messiah. There were probably other early Christian martyrs besides Stephen since Saul, later-known as the Apostle Paul of Tarsus, is mentioned as bringing many murderous threats against the disciples or followers of Jesus (ff.).

See also

• Catacombs of Rome
• Christian pacifism
• List of Christian martyrs
• Marian Persecutions
• Martyrs' Memorial
• Martyrs Mirror
• Religious Persecution
• Roman Emperor
• The Oxford Martyrs
• New-martyr
• Martyrology
• "Silence", the acclaimed novel by Shusaku Endo, draws from the oral history of Japanese Christian communities pertaining to the seventeenth century suppression of the Church.

References

External links

• Voice of the Martyrs
• Crying Voice in the Wilderness
• International Christian Concern
• Open Doors

Sources

• Rick Wade, "Persecution in the Early Church."
• The History of the Early Christian Martyrs
• John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
• D.C. Talk, Jesus Freaks: DC Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs—Stories of Those Who Stood For Jesus, the Ultimate Jesus Freaks.
• Voice of the Martyrs, Extreme Devotion.