Early Christian Martyr Stories PDF Download

Author: Bryan M. Litfin
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1441220070
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Personal narratives are powerful instruments for teaching, both for conveying information and for forming character. The martyrdom accounts preserved in the literature of early Christianity are especially intense and dramatic. However, these narratives are not readily available and are often written in intimidating prose, making them largely inaccessible for the average reader. This introductory text brings together key early Christian martyrdom stories in a single volume, offering new, easy-to-read translations and expert commentary. An introduction and explanatory notes accompany each translation. The book not only provides a vivid window into the world of early Christianity but also offers spiritual encouragement and inspiration for Christian life today.

Author: Candida Moss
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062104543
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
An expert on early Christianity reveals how the early church invented stories of Christian martyrs—and how this persecution myth persists today. According to church tradition and popular belief, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. But as Candida Moss reveals in The Myth of Persecution, the “Age of Martyrs” is a fiction. There was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches. The traditional story of persecution is still invoked by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. By shedding light on the historical record, Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get them.

Author: P.D. James
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 0857861077
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 93

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Book Description
Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James

Author: L. Stephanie Cobb
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520293355
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Imprint -- Subvention -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. Bodies in Pain: Ancient and Modern Horizons of Expectation -- 2. Text and Audience: Activating and Obstructing Expectations -- 3. Divine Analgesia: Painlessness in a Pain-Filled World -- 4. Whose Pain?: Pain as a Locus of Meaning in Christian Martyr Texts -- 5. Narratives and Counternarratives: Discourse and Early Christian Martyr Texts -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Author: Candida R. Moss
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300154658
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Using perspectives on death from ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish traditions, a theology professor discusses the history of Christian martyrdom and challenges the traditional understanding of the spread of Christianity.

Author: Anthony P. Schiavo, Jr.
Publisher: Arx Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 1935228188
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
"Jesus never existed." "The Bible is a book of fairy tales." "Accounts of Christian persecution are fables." Christians of today face ridiculous claims of this type on a regular basis. These charges gain traction in the modern world because the average person has practically no knowledge of the Church's ancient past. I Am A Christian: Authentic Accounts of Christian Martyrdom and Persecution from the Ancient Sources aims to remedy this deficiency. The works collected in this book represent some of the most trustworthy first-hand accounts of the triumphs and travails of the early Church that have survived antiquity. These include several authentic transcripts of Roman legal proceedings against Christians, along with obscure but fascinating historical works that are unfamiliar to even the most informed Christians of today. In several cases, readers will be presented with the actual words of the martyrs themselves. In others, they will read accounts penned by eye-witnesses or authors writing within the living memory of the events themselves. Taken together, these works form a glorious record of early Christian zeal and fortitude in the face of aggressive state persecution. When reading them, one notices a common refrain: when questioned, the accused would cry out: “I am a Christian,” which was the equivalent of saying, “I am guilty as charged.” In an era when such an admission carried a death sentence, these authentic testimonies provide a convincing answer to modern skeptics who will find them as baffling as did the ancient Roman emperors, proconsuls and magistrates of nearly two millennia ago.

Author: Hans Urs Von Balthasar
Publisher: Ignatius Press
ISBN: 1681495236
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
Balthasar puts his finger on the precise origin of all those elements in modern Christianity which see the real Jesus Christ as unknowable, the Gospels as merely the confused reflections of later Christians, and Christian tradition as a perpetuation of the mythology.

Author: DC Talk
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441260048
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
There are more Christian martyrs today than there were in ad 100--in the days of the Roman Empire. Now in the twenty-first century, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, more than 150,000 Christians are martyred around the world every year. "Remember the Lord's people who are in jail and be concerned for them. Don't forget those who are suffering, but imagine that you are there with them." Hebrews 13:3 cev Their stories must be told.

Author: Todd Nettleton
Publisher: Moody Publishers
ISBN: 0802499465
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Winner of the ECPA Book Award Journey alongside Persecuted Christians Take a 40-day journey to meet brothers and sisters who share in the sufferings of Christ. When Faith Is Forbidden takes you to meet a Chinese Christian woman who called six months in prison "a wonderful time," an Iraqi pastor and his wife just eight days after assassins' bullets ripped into his flesh, and others from our spiritual family who've suffered greatly for wearing the name of Christ. Each stop on this 40-day journey includes inspiration and encouragement through the story of a persecuted believer. You’ll also find space for reflection and a suggested prayer as you grow to understand the realities of living under persecution—and learn from the examples of the bold believers you'll meet. For more than 20 years, Todd Nettleton (host of The Voice of the Martyrs Radio) has traveled the world to interview hundreds of Christians who’ve been persecuted for the name of Christ. Now he opens his memory bank—and even his personal journals—to take you along to meet bold believers who will inspire you to a deeper walk with Christ.

Author: Ca 160-Ca 230 Tertullian
Publisher: Legare Street Press
ISBN: 9781016528313
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.