Christian martyr

The stoning to death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, in a painting by the 16th-century Spanish artist Juan Correa de Vivar

In Christianity, a martyr is a person who was killed for their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus.[1] In the years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake, or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word martyr comes from the Koine word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness" or "testimony".

At first, the term applied to the Apostles. Once Christians started to undergo persecution, the term came to be applied to those who suffered hardships for their faith. Finally, it was restricted to those who had been killed for their faith. The early Christian period before Constantine I was the "Age of Martyrs".[2] "Early Christians venerated martyrs as powerful intercessors, and their utterances were treasured as inspired by the Holy Spirit."[3]

In western Christian art, martyrs are often shown holding a palm frond as an attribute, representing the victory of spirit over flesh, and it was widely believed that a picture of a palm on a tomb meant that a martyr was buried there.[4]

  1. ^ Myers, Edward P. (2019). "Martyr". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C.; Beck, Astrid B. (eds.). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 861. ISBN 978-1-4674-6047-7. The word originally referred to one who was a legal witness, but came to refer to one whose testimony for Jesus ends in death (i.e., martyrdom) ... Later use of the word implies only dying for one's faith in Christ.
  2. ^ Fink, John F. (5 June 2015). "Early Church: The classic age of martyrs". The Criterion. Indianapolis: Archdiocese of Indianapolis. ISSN 0574-4350. OCLC 9174801. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  3. ^ Cross, F. L., ed. (2005). "Martyr". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  4. ^ Hassett, Maurice M. (1911). "Palm in Christian Symbolism" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company.