Martyrdom: Why martyrs still matter

by Catherine Pepinster

Publisher:

SPCK Publishing

, 2020

Overview

It was the Roman writer Tertullian who said, ’The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church’.

From its origins, martyrdom has had a particularly honoured place in Christianity. This will be confirmed again in 2020 when the Catholic Church marks the fiftieth anniversary of the canonization of the 40 Catholic Reformation martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI. The sacrifices of Catholics at the time of the Reformation were matched by those of Anglicans who were also persecuted and executed for their faith, for refusing to renounce it or change to another one.

This book examines the significance of martyrdom for Christians today, particularly for the British, and analyses how churches today deal with past martyrdoms of Christians by other Christians. Pepinster explores how ideas of martyrdom have changed over the centuries and considers what the stories of particular martyrs tell us today. She studies how martyrdom is powerfully connected with the clash between religious beliefs and political creeds, and refers to Thomas Becket and Thomas More, and the confrontation between Nazism and Christianity, and cites more recent examples of Oscar Romero, Dorothy Stang and Martin Luther King. The book also looks at the issue of conscience, ideas about heroism, the role of violence in Christianity and the impact of martyrdom on the arts.

It also considers how martyrdom is perceived today when it is often part of a narrative about religious fundamentalism and terrorist atrocities.

Contents

Acknowledgements xi
List of plates xiii
Introduction: Martyrdom - an overview 1
Part 1
CHRONOLOGY
1 Early Church - life (and death) under the Romans 19
2 Reformation - Christians at war 33
3 The twentieth century - a totalitarian, godless age 71
4 Today - when persecution goes global 101
Part 2
THEMES
5 Women - paying the price for making a choice 141
6 Race - for the sake of justice 157
7 Romero - the martyr who bridged a divide 178
8 Revival of the shrine - the power of pilgrimage 190
9 Patriotism - martyrdom and the ideals of the English 205
10 Patriotism - saving Poland’s soul 217
11 Acts of interpretation - culture and martyrdom 238
Conclusion: Martyrdom - a fluid, evolving idea 269
Notes 274
Bibliography 292
Index 308

Product Details

• Title: Martyrdom: Why martyrs still matter
• Author: Catherine Pepinster
• Publisher: SPCK Publishing
• Print Publication Date: 2020
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9780281081660, 9780281081653, 0281081654, 0281081662
• Resource ID: LLS:9780281081660
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-05-12T10:47:51Z

About Catherine Pepinster

Catherine Pepinster has been a journalist for 30 years, reaching the top of national newspapers and then becoming editor of the Catholic weekly, The Tablet, for 13 years. She is a well-known commentator and writer on religious affairs and is a regular contributor to the ‘Thought for the Day’ slot on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Since stepping down as editor of The Tablet, she has written on religion for many publications, including The Guardian, The Observer, The Times, the Religion News Service, the Church Times, the Catholic Herald and The Tablet. She regularly appears on Sky News and the BBC as a commentator. Her book, The Keys and the Kingdom: The British and the papacy from John Paul II to Francis, was published by Bloomsbury in autumn 2017. Since leaving The Tablet, she has also worked for The Anglican Centre in Rome.

Her work as a journalist, broadcaster and author, as well as her work for the Anglican Centre, means that she is already well known to people of influence in religious circles and to others interested in religion. As well as her journalistic skills, she brings academic rigour to her writing: she has an MA in philosophy and religion and spent six months at St Benet’s Hall, Oxford, as a Visiting Scholar.