Martyrdom

=Martyrdom=

Martyrdom is when someone suffers great pain or is put to death for his Christian faith. Most martyrs are put to death in brutal ways such as a crucifixion. The first known martyr was Saint Stephen who died for his faith in Jesus was stoned to death by his faith (as recorded in the [|Acts 6:8–8:3]). The most important thing to know about martyrdom is that it mainly has to do with extremists along. This is the same with Jihad and Jewish Martyrdom.

Christian Crusades
In the 1095 ad to 1230 ad time periods the people who called themselves Christians (even though they did not do anything Christian like) went on crusades trying to take back the land in the middle east. It was taken away from them by the Arabs and Muslims. Jerusalem was never bothered because Christians were still aloud there. This was done in a Jihad fashion, very violent and if they were to die while fighting they would go to heaven. This is not what Christ stood for but at the time they thought they were doing the right thing. This is also alot like the story of Masada.

Modern Martyrdom
Most modern martyrs are seen in the news, for instance Tom Fox an American who went to Iraq as a member of a Christian Peacemaker team was kidnapped and murdered there or Pastor Li De Xian. He's been arrested 13 times in six months for "illegal preaching" in his home country of China. As you can see most martyrs today do not go and fight but it is to fallow the word of God. Also you will notice that there are not a lot of martyrs now.

Jack Gilman

Bibliography