Our generation has witnessed its fair share of atrocities motivated by religious fanaticism and sectarian extremism. As a result, an exaltation of martyrdom such as this will undoubtedly be met with skepticism, scoffing, or scorn. Therefore, before we begin our study on this holy calling as it is set forth in Scripture, we must focus briefly on the continuum of martyrdom between the first and second comings of Jesus to observe how common it has been to the Church of Jesus Christ through history. A brief survey of martyrdom in the Church’s past, present, and future will magnify the importance of this widely misunderstood and woefully neglected subject, and urge us to embrace it as an integral element of apostolic Christianity. Convinced that the persecution of the saints is central to the great Story of redemptive history, John Bunyan wrote that
A man when he suffereth for Christ, is set upon a Hill, upon a Stage, as in a Theatre, to play a part for God in the world.[1]
As we observe martyrdom’s prominence throughout Church history, we are compelled to embrace this message as the normative call to true faith in Christ. Remembering those who have gone before us gives us considerable insight into how we are to relate to this issue in the present and in the future. Concerning the memorializing of martyrs, Craig Hovey writes,
Martyrs are those who are remembered by the church for having carried crosses to death, thereby sharing in the death of Christ. By remembering them in this way, the church does not embrace death so much as embrace as part of its ongoing life those who have died in the cause of Christ. A martyr-church remembers its fallen members as followers of Jesus. Nevertheless, it is also appropriate that the church identify its martyrs as martyrs through a process of its life together. Whether its members are truly martyrs, and thus how they should be remembered, requires discernment.[2]
The memorializing of martyrs requires discernment because we must distinguish between the true and the counterfeit. Contesting the perverted pursuit of martyrdom in his day, Augustine wrote that
They who seek the glory of the martyrs would rightly claim to be true martyrs if they had suffered for the right cause. The Lord did not say those who suffer will be blessed, but rather, those who suffer for the Son of Man, who is Jesus Christ.[3]
True martyrs are those of whom the Lord spoke, saying, “Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice’s sake.” Therefore, not they who suffer for an iniquitous purpose, for the sinful destruction of Christian unity, but rather those who suffer persecution for justice’s sake, are to be accounted true martyrs.
MARTYRDOM AT THE BEGINNING
We begin our study by acknowledging the prominence of martyrdom at the beginning. The early Church was birthed and nurtured in a culture of martyrdom and was intimately acquainted with Christ through the fellowship of suffering. Church historian Stephen Neill wrote, “Every Christian [in the first century] knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life.”[4] How could they not in light of the martyrs that preceded them? In one concentrated time frame, John the Baptist, Jesus, and Stephen were slain. The bloody executions of these three men set a precedent for first-century believers: In order to follow Christ, one must be willing to die.
The prominent place of martyrdom in the early Church is made evident by the stunning fact that in the wake of Stephen’s death (which was overseen by Saul of Tarsus, another future martyr), nearly all of the original disciples were violently killed. Church history suggests that of the twelve, it is possible that only John the Beloved died a natural death. The blood of all the others stained the far corners of the Roman Empire.
James, the son of Zebedee, was the first to know death as gain when Herod Agrippa executed him with the sword in Jerusalem around AD 44.[5] Phillip was killed in Phrygia in AD 54 after his head was fastened to a pillar and rocks were hurled at his defenseless body. In AD 63 James, the brother of Jesus, was cast down from the Temple, stoned, and then beaten to death with a club. In AD 64 Barnabas was dragged out of the city Salamina on Cyprus and then burned. That same year Mark was dragged to the stake through the streets of Alexandria resulting in “his whole body [being] torn open, so that there was not a single spot on it, which did not bleed.” He was dead before he reached the stake. Tradition suggests Peter was crucified upside down in Rome around AD 67–68. Andrew was crucified in Greece. Jude was killed in what is now Iran. And Thomas spilled his blood on the distant soil of India. The death of those young men[6] and the subsequent beheading of the apostle Paul marked the beginning of a historical continuum of martyrdom that persists to this very day. This leads us to the next point.
MARTYRDOM AT PRESENT
It is critical that we also acknowledge the prominence of martyrdom at present. Statistically speaking, the subject of martyrdom is more relevant now than it has ever been in light of the fact that it is now more prolific than it has ever been.
In the 2002 edition of the Annual Statistical Table on Global Mission David Barrett estimated that “approximately 164,000 Christians [would] die as martyrs [that year] and that the average number of Christian martyrs each year will grow to 210,000 by the year 2025.”[7] According to Barrett’s research, there were approximately 45,400,000 martyrs in the twentieth century.[8] This means that the previous century saw more martyrs than every century before it combined. In his book, The New Persecuted (I Nuovi Perseguitati), Italian journalist Antonio Socci argues that 65% of all Christian martyrs were slain in the twentieth century.[9]
In the time that it will take you to read this book, saints will be killed for their faith somewhere in the world. For believers in nations like Nigeria, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran, Columbia, and North Korea, the issue of martyrdom is a cold hard reality. To dismiss this subject is to dishonor those who at this very moment are faced with the threat of violence for their faith in Christ.
While we in the West may believe the subject of martyrdom to be fringe and irrelevant to our faith, the testimony of the slain around the world, in our own generation, urges us to reconsider. In view of the mounting violence against Christians in the nations, it is more likely that those who dismiss the issue of martyrdom are the ones whose beliefs are fringe and irrelevant, as statistics show that it is they who are the minority.
MARTYRDOM AT THE END
Finally, as we begin our study, it is imperative that we acknowledge the prominence of martyrdom at the end of the age.
The prophetic Scriptures are abundantly clear that the greatest expression of martyrdom will occur in the generation of the Lord’s return after “the whole world” receives a “witness” concerning “the Gospel of the Kingdom.”[10] The penetration of the Gospel into every nation, tribe, and tongue will result in a bloody backlash. This is not to say that the end-time missions thrust will be unfruitful. On the contrary, men, women, and children from every nation will vow their allegiance to Jesus. The final push towards global evangelism will be met with vehement rage. Jesus said that as the Gospel of the Kingdom is being heralded across the Earth during the tumultuous time of tribulation, “all nations will hate” believers and “put [them] to death.”[11] The impact of this unprecedented wave of persecution will claim the lives of Christ-followers in “every nation, people, tribe, and tongue.”[12] This is a staggering prophetic reality. Every nation will be painted red with the blood of the faithful. These end-time martyrs will “come up out of the great tribulation” to be counted among the “full number” of martyrs which, according to Jesus, has already been ordained in God’s sovereignty.[13]
The prophetic texts speak of an age-ending scourge in which a satanic tyrant will be granted authority “to make war on the saints and to conquer them.”[14] Christians will be “given into his hands” and will be “worn out” as he “makes war with them” and “prevails over them.”[15] During that final time of “tribulation,” that tyrannical “man of sin”[16] will “destroy mighty men and the saints”[17] as he “goes out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction.”[18] Many in that day will “stumble by sword and flame, captivity and plunder.”[19]
Martyrdom will be so prolific in that final hour that Jesus declared it to be one of the premier signs of the times indicating the nearness of His return and the end of the age. If we ignore or dismiss this issue now, we seal our fate as those who will be unprepared to “stand” and “endure” in the midst of the coming storm.
A WORD TO CHRISTIANS IN THE WESTERN WORLD
The prominence of martyrdom at the beginning of Church history, the prominence of martyrdom at present, and the prominence of martyrdom at the end of the age[20] all urge us to acknowledge it as a valid historical continuum as well as a prophetic reality for which we should prepare. But despite the fact that martyrdom has been a present and abiding experience for Christians in much of the Earth since the stoning of Stephen, many will struggle to accept these realities because they have never personally known persecution. Because of the measure of safety they now enjoy and because of the time and place in which they now live, many find it difficult to embrace the call to martyrdom on the grounds that their environment does not require them to. But dismissing or avoiding the issue on these grounds alone is foolish. The call to martyrdom is standard for every believer regardless of when or where they live. Articulating the way in which we should approach the subject of martyrdom, Hovey writes
I do not accept that it falls only to others to reflect on the meaning of martyrdom as a New Testament assumption and mandate. Instead, I take seriously [the] responsibility I believe to be incumbent on all Christians, including those in first-world comfort: to refuse to relegate the threat of martyrdom to the fringes of history or remote parts of the globe. The church may well discover that some settings are more hostile than others, that the world exhibits more and less hospitality to Christ’s heralds depending on the mode of its witness, the whims of rulers, and a multitude of other factors. But it is my conviction that the periods and places of quiet are exceptions to the rule and more often reflect the church’s willingness to accommodate to its host culture than indicate that culture’s inherent goodness.[21]
As we begin this study on the call to martyrdom, I would encourage you to carry the testimony of the faithful witnesses of the past, present, and future close to your heart. Their deaths give profound meaning to our lives and make much of the One we love so dearly. But as important as the testament of history is, it is not the primary reason we should embrace the call to martyrdom. It is first and foremost the Holy Scriptures that bid us “come and die.”
MARTYRDOM AS INTRINSIC TO THE APOSTOLIC GOSPEL
Martyrdom is so prominent in history because martyrdom is so central and intrinsic to the Gospel. From the start, it was the normative call to discipleship for all who would follow Christ.
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.[22]
If sinful men killed our Teacher and Master, what reason do we have to not expect the same treatment? Are we “above” Him in this regard? Or are we to anticipate a shared experience of suffering? Is this not the ultimate paradigm of Christian obedience?
The Gospel is defined in the New Testament in terms of Jesus’ sacrifice for us and never in terms of our sacrifice for Him. But it must be acknowledged that the New Testament stresses that those who wish to bind themselves to the crucified Lord must first “lose their lives” in order to do so. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was right in saying that, “The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ.”[23]
The crosses we bear and the deaths we die can never save us. Christ’s cross and Christ’s death alone are the only grounds of our salvation. But we must never emphasize this truth in such a way that diminishes Jesus’ insistence upon self-denial and cross-bearing for those who wish to follow Him. After prophesying of His own death by crucifixion, He turned to the disciples and called them to theirs.[24] The call to “pick up your cross,” “deny yourself,” and “lose your life,” is at the center of Jesus’ preaching and teaching. It is inseparable from the message of “Christ and Him crucified.”[25] His cross makes sense of ours, and our cross makes much of His. Martyrdom “is an aspect of the gospel in the world, an intrinsic quality of the cross of Christ, and therefore a mark of the church both in how it remembers those who have died and in how it prepares and trains its members for faithfulness.”[26]
The issue of martyrdom was powerfully brought to bear upon the conscience of the American Church in 1956 when Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Pete Fleming were slain in the jungles of Ecuador. In the preface of Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot, (first published in 1958), Elisabeth Elliot wrote of the death of her husband and his friends saying,
Jim’s aim was to know God. His course, obedience–the only course that could lead to the fulfillment of his aim. His end was what some would call an extraordinary death, although in facing death he had quietly pointed out that many have died because of obedience to God. He and the other men with whom he died were hailed as heroes, ‘martyrs.’ I do not approve. Nor would they have approved.
Is the distinction between living for Christ and dying for him, after all, so great? Is not the second the logical conclusion of the first? Furthermore, to live for God is to die, ‘daily,’ as the apostle Paul put it. It is to lose everything that we may gain Christ. It is in thus laying down our lives that we find them.
Those who want to know [Christ] must walk the same path with him. These are the ‘martyrs’ in the scriptural sense of the word, which means simply ‘witnesses.’ In life, as well as in death, we are called to be ‘witnesses’ – to ‘bear the stamp of Christ.’
I believe that Jim Elliot was one of these. His letters and journals are the tangible ground for my belief. They are not mine to withhold. They are a part of the human story, the story of a man in his relations to the Almighty. They are facts.”
The call to martyrdom is the call to know Christ, to follow Christ, and to bear witness about Him to the nations. This has been the case since the first century and will continue until the end.
Dalton Thomas is the Founder and President of Frontier Alliance International, and co-founder of Maranatha, a global fellowship of churches and ministries. He is the Director of films and film series such as Sheep Among Wolves, Covenant and Controversy, The Frontier, and Better Friends Than Mountains. Dalton and his wife Anna live in the Golan Heights of Israel with their five sons.
[1] Rev Jeremiah Chaplin, The Riches of Bunyan, (United Kingdom: Echo Library, 2007), 156.
[2] Craig Hovey, To Share in the Body: A Theology of Martyrdom for Today’s Church, 18.
[3] James E. Sherman, The Nature of Martyrdom, (Paterson, NJ: St. Anthony Guild Press, 1942), 61.
[4] Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, (Penguin, 1964), 43.
[5] Acts 12:2
[6] The details of the executions can be found in the first chapter of The Martyrs Mirror (VA: Herald Press, second reprint edition, 1938).
[7] David Barrett, Annual Statistical Table on Global Mission: 2002, International Bulletin of Missionary Research 26, no. 1 (January 2002), 23.
[8] David Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions—AD 30 to 2200, vol. 1, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 11.
[9] “Twentieth Century Saw 65% of Christian Martyrs,” EWTN (website), Accessed November 2011, http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=26402.
[10] Matthew 24:14
[11] Matthew 24:9-14
[12] Revelation 7:9-14
[13] Revelation 6:9-11
[14] Revelation 13:7
[15] Daniel 7:21-25
[16] “Man of sin” is the title Paul gave this man commonly referred to as “the Antichrist” or “the beast.”
[17] Daniel 8:24
[18] Daniel 11:44
[19] Daniel 11:33-34
[20] Matthew 24:3-14
[21] Craig Hovey, To Share in the Body: A Theology of Martyrdom for Today’s Church, 14-15.
[22] Matthew 10:24-25
[23] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, (New York: Macmillan, 1967), 55.
[24] Mark 8:35-36
[25] 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
[26] Craig Hovey, To Share in the Body: A Theology of Martyrdom for Today’s Church, 19.