Early Christians and Martyrdom: Some Basic Details

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This coming Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. There is a tremendous need for prayer on such matters, for there are hundreds of millions of Christians today who face various forms and degrees of persecution – some more subtle and insidious, other forms more public, violent, and horrific.
 
With the plight of contemporary Christians in mind, I thought it would be helpful to provide a summary of some basic details from the experience of the early church’s struggles. Hopefully it will spur on some further research into the past to think and act in a more informed manner today.

The Greek word “martyr” meant “witness” and the verb form meant “to testify.” While the Gospels use the term “martyr” in the sense of “eyewitness/testimony” (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:22; John 1:15), Revelation uses “martyr” in the sense of “blood witness” (Revelation 2:13). The term “martyr” came to be used in the later sense, with those who confessed before the authorities and survived referred to as “confessors.”

• Origen: “Now everyone who bears witness to the truth, whether he support it by words or deeds, or in whatever way, may properly be called a martyr; but it has come to be the custom of the brotherhood...to keep the name of martyr more properly for those who have borne witness to the mystery of godliness by shedding their blood for it.” On John's Gospel, 2:28
• Eusebius: “...they reminded us of the martyrs already departed: They indeed are martyrs, whom Christ judged worthy to be taken up as soon as they had confessed Him, sealing their martyrdom by their departure: we are nothing but humble confessors.” The History of the Church, 5:2

 
By the mid-60s Christianity was made illegal in the Roman Empire, with off and on arrests and persecution for the next 200 years. By the mid-third century, persecution became empire-wide and only ended with the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 312. However, the persecution of Christians within the Persian Empire continued…and in many ways was even more severe than in the Roman Empire.
 
Early Christians refused to acknowledge Caesar as Lord and refused to offer incense to him.

• Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna: “They took him [Polycarp] into their carriage, sat down beside him, and addressed him persuasively. ‘Come now’ they said, ‘where is the harm in just saying ‘Caesar is Lord’, and offering the incense, and so forth, when it will save your life?’...The Governor, however, still went on pressing him, ‘Take the oath, and I will let you go’, he told him. ‘Revile your Christ.’ Polycarp's reply was, ‘Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?’” The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 8,9

 
Martyrdom was looked forward to by Christians. (A few intentionally sought out martyrdom, but such conduct did not represent the church as a whole and was condemned by leaders.)

• Ignatius: “For as soon as you heard that I was on my way from Syria, as a prisoner for the Name and the Hope we all share (and trusting through your prayers to be granted an encounter with the wild beasts at Rome - a boon that will enable me to become a true disciple), you were all eagerness to visit me.” Letter of Ignatius to the Ephesians, 1
• Polycarp: just before his execution prayed “bless thee for granting me this day and hour, that I may be numbered amongst the martyrs, to share the cup of thine Anointed and to rise again unto life everlasting, both in body and soul, in the immortality of the Holy Spirit.” The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 14
• Perpetua: “As the day of the contest approached, she became very distressed that her martyrdom might be delayed.” Martyrdom of Perpetua, 15

 
Martyrdom was considered to be a number of things:

• It was deemed to be something that was chosen by God for the individual person. The person had been chosen by God because they had been counted worthy by God (The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 14), and for this reason Christians were not to intentionally seek martyrdom: “There was one man, however, Quintas by name, a Phrygian recently arrived from Phrygia, whose courage failed him at the sight of the beasts.  It was he who had compelled himself and some others to surrender themselves voluntarily; and after much persuasion he was induced by the Governor to take the oath and offer incense. And that is the reason, brothers, why we do not approve of men offering themselves spontaneously.  We are not taught anything of that kind in the Gospel.” The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 4 
• It was deemed to be a way to receive a better crown in heaven: “...Saturnus used to say that he wished to be thrown in with all the animals so that he might wear a more glorious crown.” The Martyrdom of Perpetua, 19
• It was deemed to be a second baptism, a ‘baptism of blood’: “...about to be purified after child-birth by a second baptism.” The Martyrdom of Perpetua, 18

 
Martyrs were highly esteemed by the church, and at an early date their remains were collected.

• Referring to the death and remains of Polycarp (Bishop of Smyrna): “...although numbers of us were anxious to do this and to claim our share in the hallowed relics...It is to Him, as the Son of God, that we give our adoration; while to the martyrs, as disciples and imitators of the Lord, we give the love they have earned by their matchless devotion to their King and Teacher...So after all, we did gather up his bones - more precious to us than jewels, and finer than pure gold - and we laid them to rest in a spot suitable for that purpose.  There we shall assemble, as occasion allows, with glad rejoicings; and with the Lord's permission we shall celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.” The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 17,18
• In the fourth and fifth centuries the veneration of martyrs was widely developed in the church.  Relics were collected for their spiritual power, and church buildings were built on the burial places of martyrs. Buildings built in memory of martyrs were called “martyria.”

 
Some Christians believed that martyrs had the power to forgive sins.  

• Tertullian (the first quote seems to support it, while the second is definitely against): “Let the devil find you fortified and armed with concord: for your peace means war for him.  Some who have not this peace in the Church are wont to beg it from the martyrs in prison. Therefore, you ought to have it in yourself and to cherish and guard it that you may be able perchance to supply it to others.” To the Martyrs, 1
• “...yet who permits a man to pardon the sins which have been reserved to God?...Let it suffice for the Martyr to have purged his own sins;...who but the Son of God ever redeemed another's death by his own?” On Modesty, 22

 
Despite the many who refused to submit to the authorities, there were also many who did give in under pressure and deny the faith.

• Eusebius: “Then, then it was that many rulers of the churches bore up heroically under horrible torments, an object lesson in the endurance of fearful ordeals; while countless others, their souls already numbed with cowardice, promptly succumbed to the first onslaught.” The History of the Church, 8:3

 
Two of the most well-known early church martyrs were Polycarp (Asia Minor) and Perpetua and Felicitas (North Africa). Reading the accounts of their martyrdom is a good place to start if you want to get a first-hand view of their experience. However, be forewarned that the accounts are quite vivid and may be troubling for some:

• Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (martyred around 160)([1]
• Perpetua/Felicitas (martyred around 202)[2]

 
In conclusion, we need to think carefully how we appropriate the accounts of martyrs. There is much to be gained by reading such accounts, but there is also danger in misappropriating “lessons” from their experience. For some of my earlier reflections on the dangers of wishing for persecution, see the following articles:

• Gordon L. Heath, “Wishing for Persecution?” International Journal for Religious Freedom 3 (2010): 15-21.
• Gordon L. Heath, “When the Blood of the Martyrs Was Not Enough: A Survey of Places Where the Church Was Wiped Out,” In The Church, Then and Now, Bingham Colloquium Series, editors Stanley E. Porter and Cynthia Westfall, 97-133. Eugene: Pickwick, 2012.

[1] https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0102.htm
[2] https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0324.htm