Category: Martyrdom
Subject: Martyrdom
Martyrdom
July 27, 2006
Martyrdom is defined as “the suffering of death on account of adherence to a cause and especially to one’s religious faith” (Webster’s). In respect to the Christian faith, martyrdom is dying because of the profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Perhaps the best known example of such a death is also the first example, that of Stephen, whose stoning is recorded in Acts 7:57-59, “Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”