Quotes about Martyrdom

Do not desire crosses, unless you have borne those already laid upon you well — it is an abuse to long after martyrdom while unable to bear an insult patiently.

Although always prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it should be postponed.

But those are truly gifts of the Holy Spirit which make drunk with the richest knowledge of the Son of God, just as when John Hus was led to martyrdom, he prayed with great and unbroken courage: "Jesus, Son of God, Thou who hast suffered for us, have mercy on me."63 This is not said without the Holy Spirit. No one else would have spoken this way unless he had been made drunk by that wine. He was one of the colts bound to the excellent vine.

Jews may face martyrdom (not least because they refuse to privatize their faith), but they are committed to being good [162] citizens even under a regime at best penultimate and at worst blasphemous.

Acts, with its many tales of confrontation, persecution, and martyrdom, takes forward exactly this agenda. This is what it looks like, Luke is saying, when Jesus is enthroned as Lord of the world, and his followers go out to put his royal rule into effect, ending up in Rome announcing God's kingdom and Jesus as Lord "with all boldness, and with no one stopping them" (28:31).

Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and many others speak of dying for the law, for one's country, one's friends, one's family, even for the emperor.

A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.

They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.

Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’

They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.