Description
Book SynopsisA unique, wide-ranging volume exploring the historical, religious, cultural, political, and social aspects of Christian martyrdom
Although a well-studied and researched topic in early Christianity, martyrdom had become a relatively neglected subject of scholarship by the latter half of the 20th century. However, in the years following the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, the study of martyrdom has experienced a remarkable resurgence. Heightened cultural, religious, and political debates about Islamic martyrdom have, in a large part, prompted increased interest in the role of martyrdom in the Christian tradition. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Christian Martyrdom is a comprehensive examination of the phenomenon from its beginnings to its role in the present day. This timely volume presents essays written by 30 prominent scholars that explore the fundamental concepts, key questions, and contemporary debates surrounding martyrdom in Chr
Trade Review
"Overall, this volume presents a needed correction to the sensationalist studies of martyrdom that have dominated the topic since the dawn of the 'War on Terror.'"
—Journal of Jesuit Studies, Volume 8: Issue 1
"A good Companion helps you to realise how multi-faceted a topic is and to explore several new dimensions of an area of study hitherto only skimmed. This one does exactly that."
—Anabaptism Today 3.1 April 2021
"This substantial and impressive volume delivers to readers dozens of compelling and diverse approaches to studying Christian martyrdom, the foci of which collectively span more than two millennia, virtually the entire globe, and an unexpectedly wide array of cultural and religious traditions."
—Church History, Volume 9: Issue 4, December 2021
Table of ContentsList of Contributors viii
Acknowledgments xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
I. Introductory Matters 1
1 Introduction 3
Paul Middleton
2 Creating and Contesting Christian Martyrdom 12
Paul Middleton
II. Early Christian Martyrdom 31
3 The Roman Persecutions 33
James Corke-Webster
4 Martyrdom and Persecution in the New Testament 51
Paul Middleton
5 Early Jewish and Christian Martyrdom 72
Jan Willem van Henten
6 Martyrdom in Roman Context 88
L. Stephanie Cobb
7 Themes and Intertextualities in Pre-Nicene Exhortations to Martyrdom 102
Paul A. Hartog
8 Early Christian Theologies of Martyrdom 120
Jane D. McLarty
9 Augustine and the Remaking of Martyrdom 135
Annemaré Kotzé
10 Legenda aut non legenda? The Quest for the Literary Genre of the Acts of the Martyrs 151
Danny Praet
11 Martyrdom and Gender 184
Robert Paul Seesengood
12 Martyrdom and the Creation of Christian Identity 199
Matthew Recla
III. Martyrdom in the Medieval and Reformation World 215
13 Early Christian Martyr Cults 217
David L. Eastman
14 A Middle (Byzantine) Martyr: The Power and Point of Productive Suffering 236
Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen
15 Bohemian Martyrdom at the Dawn of the Reformation 255
Thomas A. Fudge
16 Does the Cause make the Martyr? Sebastian Castellio and John Calvin Debate the Execution of Michael Servetus 271
Nicholas Thompson
17 Anabaptist Martyrdom 287
Lloyd K. Pietersen
18 England’s Eusebius: John Foxe and the Acts and Monuments 305
Sarah Covington
19 The Elizabethan Martyrs 322
Victor Houliston and Aislinn Muller
20 The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Nation: Martyrdom in Reformation England 338
Susan Royal
IV. Martyrdom in Global Perspective 355
21 Martyrdom in Roman Catholic Perspective 357
Lawrence S. Cunningham
22 The Franciscans 365
Christopher MacEvitt
23 Christian Martyrdom in Asia: Bearing Testimony to the Love of God 381
Peter C. Phan
24 Christian Martyrdom in Korea 406
Franklin Rausch
25 Christian Martyrdom in Africa 421
Kevin Ward
26 “Dying Well” in Latin America: Christian Martyrdom, Religion and Politics 437
María Soledad Catoggio
27 Martyrdom in Modern America 454
Scott W. Hoffman
V. Legacies of Martyrdom 469
28 Martyrdom Discourse in Contemporary U.S. War-culture 471
Kelly Denton-Borhaug
29 Digital Representations of Martyrdom 485
Jonas Kurlberg and Jolyon Mitchell
30 The Legacy and Future of Christian Martyrdom 501
Michael P. Jensen
Index 514
