Theology of Martyrdom

The early church understood martyrdom in a number of different ways. Martyrdom first resulted because of the persecution of the church by the Romans. Those who claimed to follow Christ were seen by the Romans to be in opposition to Rome. Christians who refused to offer sacrifices to the emperor and renounce Christ were often tortured and put to death. Thus, the martyrs became the heroes of the early church, since they had shown that they were willing to die for Christ and the church. What comforted those who were being executed or persecuted was that they knew that if they were killed they would have a reward in heaven waiting for them. [1]They believed in life after death. Another comfort for them was that they remembered how Christ had also suffered in life and how he had also been killed by the Romans. The martyrs felt as though they identified with Christ even as Christ identified with them.

One of the most famous martyrs at the time was Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius had been arrested and condemned to death by the Romans who transported him to Rome in order to be executed in front of the crowds. On the way to Rome, Ignatius wrote seven different letters to the churches.[2] In these letters is seen his perspective on martyrdom and his own impending execution. During this time, persecution was not widespread, but Christians were still martyred on occasion, and this was what happened to Ignatius.[3] In his letters he says that he sees his upcoming martyrdom as a way to “imitate the Passion of my God.”[4] In his letter to the Magnesians he writes, “Yes, everything is coming to an end, and we stand before this choice – death or life […] And if we do not willingly die in union with his Passion, we do not have his life in us.”[5] Ignatious had a high view of martyrdom, and he saw this as his way of being able to meet with God.[6] When a group of the early Christians tried to figure out a way for him to escape his impending death and get his sentence revoked or lightened, he asked them to please leave him alone for he wanted to die in imitation of Christ. He wrote, “I fear your kindness, which may harm me. You may be able to achieve what you plan. But if you pay no head to my request it will be very difficult for me to attain unto God.”[7] He sees his martyrdom as a way of witnessing to the world the Passion of Christ and himself as Christ’s servant even unto death. He continues, “When I suffer, I shall be free in Jesus Christ, and with him shall rise again in freedom….I am God’s wheat, to be ground by the teeth of beasts, so that I may offered as pure bread of Christ.”[8] He not only saw his death as a witness to Christ’s death, but he also saw it as purifying. This idea was common throughout the stories of the martyrs. The church came to view the martyrs in such high regard that they eventually came to see the martyrs as having the power to work miracles and forgive sins.[9] Some even asked those about to be martyred to offer up prayers for the dead in order to relieve them from purgatory.[10] It was believed that a Christian who had committed serious post-baptismal sins would receive a new baptism to cover over this upon being martyred, the idea of a baptism of blood.[11] Possessions and remains of the martyrs were kept as treasures, and a number of people believed that these items contained miraculous powers. Hence, the cult of the relics of the martyrs began.[12]

The admiration of the martyrs and the desire of martyrdom became so extreme that many people began to turn themselves in as Christians in order to be killed by the Romans. This happened during times of persecution as well as relative peace. In The Martyrdom of Polycarp Eusebius records that there were some who turned themselves in desiring to be martyred but who then became fearful of death having looked it in the face and chose to recant and offer sacrifices to the emperor instead. These incidents made the Christians look bad. Other Christians chose martyrdom as an act of defiance against the Roman authorities. One martyr by the name of Germanicus called out to the wild beasts in order to provoke into killing him, such was his desire to be martyred.[13] This event got the crowds riled up and they called for the death of Polycarp, the leader of the Christians, who was the aged bishop of Smyrna at the time. Though Polycarp had been influenced by Ignatius, he did not see martyrdom as something that should be embraced unless it was the will of Christ. Polycarp fled, but believing that it was the will of Christ that he should be martyred after receiving a dream, he allowed himself to be captured. Gonzales writes, “One significant not in this entire account is that Polycarp fled and hid when he learned that he was being sought. We are also told in the same account that a certain Quintus, who offered himself as martyr, weakened at the last moment and abandoned the faith.”[14] Gonzales writes that those who were truly chosen by God to be martyrs would be strengthened by Christ, but those who were “spontaneous” martyrs “were false martyrs, and Christ would desert them.”[15] This would appear to be the point which Eusebius is trying to make.

In the martyrdom of Polycarp is seen the gracious attitude of Polycarp towards his captors.[16] Eusebius makes sure to show how Polycarp was respectful of those who were in authority, even though they were trying to kill him. Polycarp had no desire to be martyred as so many others had. He simply believed that this was the will of God for him. One of the points Eusebius appears to be trying to make is that the call of martyrdom is not up to the individual, and that those who should be martyred should remember the One whom they represent. Just as Christ was silent before his sufferers, so too, should those who die for Christ seek to imitate Christ not only in his death but in his life. In his account of the events Eusebius says of Polycarp, “He was not only a noble teacher, but also a distinguished martyr, whose martyrdom all desire to imitate as one according to the gospel of Christ.”[17]





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[1] Justo L. Gonzalez. The Story of Christianity. Vol. 1. The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. (Harper Collins Pub.: New York), 1984.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Richardson, Cyril (ed.). Early Christian Fathers. Vol. 1 of The Library of Christian Classics. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.
[4] Ignatius quoted in Gonzalez.
[5] Ignatius quoted in Richardson.
[6] Gonzalez.
[7] Ignatius quoted in Gonzalez.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas
[10] Ibid.
[11] Jean Comby. From the Beginnings to the Fifteenth Century. Vol. 1 of How to read Church History. (New York: The Crossroad Pub. Co.), 1989, 41.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Eusebius. The Martyrdom of Polycarp.
[14] Gonzalez.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Eusebius.
[17] Ibid.