MARTYRS
“He who would valiant be
...”
Because of an accident of
birth date and place, I have never been called on to test my courage in war or
under political repression. Equally, in the second half of the 20th century in
western Europe, my Christian faith has never been tested by torture or fire,
only by the temptations of the modern world and by indifference. Christians in England are not imprisoned or killed, just ignored or
mocked as oddities. In recent years, there have admittedly been relatively mild
acts of persecution. The eccentric English preacher Philip Howard was given an
Antisocial Behaviour Order (ASBO) for reading the Bible through a loudspeaker
to passers by in Oxford Circus – a ‘breach of the peace’! A couple of years
back, a community nurse in the UK was sacked for offering to pray for the recovery
of an elderly sick patient. The local Health Trust accuse her of ‘failing to
show a commitment to equality and diversity.’ Eventually common sense prevailed
and she was reinstated. However, in general, few Christians in the west are
severely tested and it is from my privileged position that I have always had a
sort of envious fascination for the way so many people are prepared to suffer
or die for their beliefs.
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| Nicephoros |
So what makes a martyr?
The first point to make is that nobody can ever be sure how they will react in
any given situation. Martyrs are not always people of great courage; their
courage arises from their deep faith and often arrives at the last minute. I
have always admired Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury and prime mover of
the Protestant Reformation in England. He was actually a pretty timid man and, when he
was tortured, recanted his Protestant beliefs and ‘returned to the fold’ of
Catholicism. Sentenced to death anyway, he withdrew his recantation on the pyre
and thrust his right hand into the flames first, saying that this was the hand
that had betrayed his faith. Another 'spontaneous' martyr was St. Nicephoros of
Antioch. He and a priest called Sapricius had been close
friends from boyhood but at some stage they quarrelled. In spite of
Nicephorus's repeated attempts at reconciliation, Sapricius remained unmoved.
Then, during the persecution under Valerian,
Sapricius was arrested as a Christian and condemned to death. On his way
to execution, Nicephorus stopped him and made one last attempt to ask his
forgiveness but Salpricius merely turned his back. When he was about to be
beheaded, however, the priest lost his nerve and offered to sacrifice to the
gods in order to save his life. He was immediately released, whereupon
Nicephorus openly declared himself to be a Christian and was executed in place
of Salpricius.
