131 Christians (Martyrs)

9 martyrs of the early and modern church

Ignatius of Antioch

"Now I begin to be a disciple…. Let fire and cross, flocks of beasts, broken bones, dismemberment…come upon me, so long as I attain to Jesus Christ.”

‘Earliest Post-New Testament Martyr’

Sought to reflect Christ by dying

Polycarp

“He who grants me to endure the fire will enable me also to remain on the pyre unmoved, without the security you desire from nails.”

‘Aged Bishop of Smyrna’

Battled and converted Gnostics

Captured willingly in his 80’s

Perpetua

“It will all happen in the prisoner's dock as God wills, for you may be sure that we are not left to ourselves but are all in his power.”

“Well, neither can I be called anything other than what I am, a Christian.”

‘High Society Believer’

Female martyr

Had every reason to live

“Give up your pride…have pity on your baby!”

Boniface

“You seem to glow with the salvation-bringing fire which our Lord came to send upon the earth

‘Apostle of Germany’

Zealous Axe-Wielder and Church Reformer

Thomas Becket

“For the name of Jesus and the protection of the church I am ready to embrace death.”

‘Murdered Archbishop of Canterbury’

Friends to enemies with King Henry II

State (king) vs Church (clergy)

Canterbury Cathedral shrine

Jan Hus

“Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies.”

‘Pre-reformation Reformer’

Your favorite Reformers’ Reformer

The ‘goose’ that had been ‘cooked’ by the pope

Burned in the church by the Holy Roman Emperor

Thomas Cranmer

“Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them….”

‘Genius behind Anglicanism’

Royal Absolutist -primary duty is to serve and obey the king above the church

Burned alive after declaring the Pope to be ‘Christ’s enemy and antichrist’

Hugh Latimer & Nicholas Ridley

“Be of good comfort, Mr. Ridley, and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust never shall be put out.”

‘English Reformers who died together’

Were burned hanging by chains together, like a candle, because of their reforms against the Catholic Church

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

“In the almost 50 years that I have worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”

‘German Theologian and Resister’

Pacifist (religious action and moral persuasion) —> Secret Service (conspiracies against Hitler, rescuing Jews)