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Getting Schooled - Martyrdom 101
🕑 Added 2025-10-02 10:00:11 +0000 UTC“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” …that’s intense! Martyrdom is a huge part of Christianity, but the word’s meaning has changed over time and raises a lot of questions about who does or doesn’t count. Kaitlyn’s here to look at what this word means and why Protestants in particular struggle to define it well.
Resources:
Early Christian Martyr Stories: An Evangelical Introduction with New Translations by Bryan M. Liftin: https://a.co/d/7j5Kt7r
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs:
https://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Foxes%20Book%20of%20Martyrs.pdf
The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicity by Tertullian of Carthage: https://ccel.org/ccel/tertullian/perpetua_felicitas/anf03.vi.vi.html
Comments
Amanda Benedict
Growing up my dad had a copy of Foxe's Book of Martyrs that I read at a young age. Because it was literature related to faith, I don't think my parents thought twice about it, but I really was not old enough (I was about 9-10) to have a well developed understanding of what all this meant. In my child brain, it just developed this intense fear that "the world" was out to get me for my faith, and that I was destined to die in some gruesome way, likely at a young age. I was convinced for many years that I wouldn't live past my 20s. I'm coming towards the end of my 20s now, so I suppose there is still time haha, but I do think we need to be careful & have intentional conversations with our youth around these topics!
Bethany Riker
Yes! I was convinced I would be martyred by 18 so I had so much trouble making college/future plans because I didn’t think I’d live that long. I think part of it was the popularity of Jesus Freak-both the song and the book. It was definitely also the Cassie Bernal/Rachel Scott effect, including MWS’s “She Said Yes” song.
Hannah Comerford
Do you have any reflection on how, seemingly in the late '90s and 2000s, starting with Columbine, a lot of Evangelical kids were taught that they were going to get martyred for their faith and to be prepared for it? There was this push, or sense, that you should want to be a martyr and that's always struck me as I misuse of the term. What do you think?
