Nothing happens by chance in the lives of people who belong to the Lord. Everything occurs according to the unfathomable but wise decree of our God. Such is the case with the stories in this book. Mennonitische Märtyrer was an attempt to collect information about the fate of Mennonite ministers during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. This compilation resulted in a two-volume set including biographical sketches, poems, and narrative accounts. Mennonite Martyrs now provides English-speaking people the opportunity to gain inspiration and make commitments because of the challenge that this "modern martyrology" brings. The stories of faithfulness, suffering, and death demand a response from the reader.

Here is a collection of accounts of more than 4011 Christians burned at the stake, of countless bodies torn on the rack, torn tongues, ears, hands, feet, gouged eyes, people buried alive, and of many who were willing to bear the cross of persecution and death for the sake of Christ.

Cover -- Half-Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- PART I: The Prehistory and Production of The Bloody Theater -- CHAPTER 1. Anabaptism: Origins, Spread, and Persecution -- CHAPTER 2. Memorializing Martyrdom before The Bloody Theater -- CHAPTER 3. Thieleman van Braght and the Publication of The Bloody Theater -- CHAPTER 4. The Bloody Theater: Martyr Stories and More -- PART II: Van Braght's Martyrology through the Years -- CHAPTER 5. The Bloody Theater Illustrated: The 1685 Martyrs Mirror -- CHAPTER 6. A North American Edition: The 1748-49 Ephrata Martyrs Mirror

Some four centuries ago, thousands of Christians died because they dared to refuse to join the state church in medieval Europe. Their reading of the Holy Bible and their consciences led them to believe that church membership should be a voluntary, adult decision. These believers died public, tortured deaths as martyrs. Many modern-day Christians claim these persons of courage as their spiritual ancestors. In the late 1600s, many of those scenes were etched on copper plates, some of which, still exist. Mirror of the Martyrs reproduces 30 of those etchings and tells the courageous stories of these people of faith.

Classic graphic accounts of more than 4,000 Christians who endured suffering, torture, and a martyr’s death because of their simple faith in the gospel of Christ. Includes more than 50 finely detailed etchings by noted Dutch artist Jan Luyken. Songs, letters, prayers, and confessions appear with the stories of many “defenseless Christians” who were able to love their enemies and return good for evil. This gigantic book calls believers to follow Jesus in all areas of life, even unto death. Come what may, true Christian commitment demands supreme discipleship and steadfast adherence to the teachings modeled by Jesus and his apostles. Written and published in 1659 by a Dutch Mennonite, Thieleman J. van Braght, to strengthen the faith of his fellow believers, and translated into German in 1748 at the time of the French and Indian War for the same reason. In 1886 Martyrs Mirror was translated into English to challenge generations of Christians in North America. Free downloadable study guide available here.

This volume reproduces hitherto neglected writings by seven late sixteenth-century Dutch Mennonite martyrs, which were originally published between 1577 and 1609, making readily available important new primary sources for scholars of the Radical Reformation.

Martyrs create space and time through the actions they take, the fate they suffer, the stories they prompt, the cultural narratives against which they take place and the retelling of their tales in different places and contexts. The title "Desiring Martyrs" is meant in two senses. First, it refers to protagonists and antagonists of the martyrdom narratives who as literary characters seek martyrs and the way they inscribe certain kinds of cultural and social desire. Second, it describes the later celebration of martyrs via narrative, martyrdom acts, monuments, inscriptions, martyria, liturgical commemoration, pilgrimage, etc. Here there is a cultural desire to tell or remember a particular kind of story about the past that serves particular communal interests and goals. By applying the spatial turn to these ancient texts the volume seeks to advance a still nascent social geographical understanding of emergent Christian and Jewish martyrdom. It explores how martyr narratives engage pre-existing time-space configurations to result in new appropriations of earlier traditions.