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Pilgrim Holiness: Martyrdom as Descriptive Witness
As an explicitly christological witness, martyrdom offers a limited but vital description of the present within the various and unpredictable arenas of living, suffering, and dying. That is to say, martyrdom is not the tragic conclusion of some fatal ideological conflict but a momentary truthful glimpse of present circumstances. Martyrdom reveals, clarifies, and illumines what we take for the real. Martyrs are therefore significant for the church today because they exhibit the sort of truthful living that refuses the claims of history and power without Christ; they show the sort of living and dying that returns forgiveness upon murder, and patience beyond domination. Meditating primarily on the second-century martyrdoms in Lyons and Vienne, France, Pilgrim Holiness offers a view of Christian martyrdom that challenges prevalent misunderstandings about what martyrs are doing in sacrificing their lives. Joshua J. Whitfield argues that martyrdom is a moment of truthful disclosure and thus a moment of forgiveness and peace-gifts for which we are in desperate need.
140 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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May 6, 2016
Ok, Ok, I gave it five stars because a friend wrote it. Otherwise I would have given it four.
It is a good book and religiously sound. A deep look into what Martyrdom is and what it means (across religions but mostly about Christianity).
I think it is a book that anyone with a basic understanding of martyrdom and the early church should read. I came away with significantly more knowledge.
It took me a long time to read (I read slowly as it is). There were sentences I had to read multiple times to understand. It wasn't because of the writing,just the depth of the subject matter.
Update: Seven years later, I feel like, because I read this book, I am more attuned to the role of martyrs in history and the bible. It gives me an insight that I often find lacking in religious conversation or study. It gives me armor against religious misunderstanding and dilution.
It is a good book and religiously sound. A deep look into what Martyrdom is and what it means (across religions but mostly about Christianity).
I think it is a book that anyone with a basic understanding of martyrdom and the early church should read. I came away with significantly more knowledge.
It took me a long time to read (I read slowly as it is). There were sentences I had to read multiple times to understand. It wasn't because of the writing,just the depth of the subject matter.
Update: Seven years later, I feel like, because I read this book, I am more attuned to the role of martyrs in history and the bible. It gives me an insight that I often find lacking in religious conversation or study. It gives me armor against religious misunderstanding and dilution.
Displaying 1 of 1 review