This article starts off with a story we heard in class: The martyr Perpetua. In case you forgot "she was just 22, a young mother singing hymns as the crowd jeered and a lion, leopard and wild cow encircled her." She was one of the earliest martyrs and has one of the most extensive records (her diary).
A question we've explored in class was how did the church grow? In our Chidester book, it states martyr's as the seeds of the church. However this article presents a different perspective of martyrdom. Some of their interesting claims include:
1. "More people read about martyrs than ever saw one.”
2. "Church leaders began to embellish and invent stories of martyrdom to inspire the faithful but also to settle theological feuds, Moss says. If, say, a bishop wanted to denounce a rivals’ theology, he spun a story in which a martyr denounced the same doctrine with his last breath, Moss says."
3. “Martyrs were like the action heroes of the ancient world,” Moss says. “It was like getting your favorite athlete endorsing your favorite brand of soda.”
This article continues on to say that historical analysis has underplayed a large component that also contributed to the growth of the church. "Christians stood out because they created a “miniature welfare state" to help the less fortunate, Stark says. They took in infant girls routinely left for dead by their parents. They risked their lives to tend the sick when plagues hit and others fled in terror. They gave positions of leadership to women when many women had no rights, and girls as young as 12 were often married off to middle-aged men, he says."
Even if martyrdom may not have happened as often as we are led to believe, the life and death of a martyr were still impressive feats that led others something to aspire to. Perpetua is one example. Another interesting perspective this article presents was how vicious martyrdom was when it happened. "When Roman persecution did occur, though, it was vicious. The Emperor Nero covered fully conscious Christians with wax and used them as human torches. Other Christians were skinned alive and covered with salt, while others were slowly roasted above a pit until they died."
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