Martyrs in Early Christianity

Martyrdom and the Development of Christianity

“Wherefore, O blessed, consider yourselves as having been transferred from prison to what we may call a place of safety. Darkness is there, but you are light; fetters are there, but you are free before God.”

~Tertullian, ca. 197

According to Merriam and Webster, a martyr is “a person who suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion,” or “a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle.” [1] The martyrs of the first three centuries of the Common Era had a profound effect on the development and spread of Christianity. Writers such as Tertullian tell us vivid accounts about martyrs such as Perpetua, Felicitas and Ploycarp,[2] whose stories can be seen as a microcosm for Christians as a whole under the rule of the Roman Empire. Their suffering, it seems, was not in vain – Christianity took root in Roman culture despite the punishments that Christians endured, and the movement has grown to more than 2.1 billion adherents in the last two thousand years.[3]

The concept of martyrdom was not a new one in Christianity – indeed, the Jews had produced martyrs in the form of Kiddush Hashem for centuries. The Jewish nation had clearly developed their concept of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, which reflects upon an individual person or a group of people who suffers willingly for the sake of others. These early developments in martyrdom were often reflected upon as precursors to Christ, as many believed that He was the ultimate martyr who died for the sins and salvation of the world. One major difference between the Christian and Jewish martyrs was that the heroism of the Christian martyrs served to attract new followers, whereas the Jewish martyrs did not. Judaism was not a religion of conversion at the time – anyone who was killed in the name of his or her God was...