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Joshua Greene

Ms. Sinclair

LBST 2102

20 February 2018

The Devoted Won’t Suffer Alone

Shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ came many disciples who would be challenged by

their faith. In Rome there were many people who were hearing of God and Jesus and many people were

veering from the common religion of praising multiple gods and started praying to their one God, Jesus

Christ. This sudden change of religion was unwelcomed by the throne, who decided to execute all

followers of Christ. During this time many people were being questioned about their faith and their

responses would determine their fate. I had learned through reading The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua

and Felicitas that not all people had confessed their faith in Jesus, even if they did believe. Those few

who had confessed to be a follower of Jesus were then classified as Martyrs to their faith and must

suffer, not only their executors, but they will also suffer from their family and even the devil. Although it

may seem like a lot to take on, martyrs won’t face this suffering alone.

There was a lot of controversy within the Christion community of the time whether they should

confess their faith of not. According to an article by Fredrickson, she mentioned that some Catholics

wouldn’t deny their faith, but sacrifice under another religion to spare their lives. They believed that if

they sacrificed they would be sacrificing to fake gods, which aren’t real to them. This act of sacrificing to

gods that aren’t real was more common than what is shown, because we commonly observe the

radicals of this faith. Frederickson’s article stated that those who did confess to be followers of

Christianity were to become the “Heroic Minority” we call martyrs. Many martyrs were so devoted to

their religion that they wouldn’t see it any other way. This is seen in the beginning of the piece, where

Perpetua explains that as a vase cannot be called by any other name, so can she not be called anything
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but a Christian. During Clark’s passage she helps explain that most martyrs did not volunteer to be a

martyr, but when asked they could not, and did not, deny their faith. To follow up, Clark had added an

instance where someone volunteered themselves by yelling “Martyr Me” and shortly after being

punished would run away regretting their decision. This last example is a poor example of martyrdom

and made the devoted martyrs seem even more foolish by the opposing religion.

The heroic minority who became martyrs were punished by the Roman throne to be executed

and suffer death in an arena of wild beasts just as Jesus had suffered upon the cross. Just as Jesus had

suffered by many, the martyrs had to suffer by not only their executors, but also by their family and

even the Devil himself. This can be seen throughout the passage Perpetua’s father had pleated for her

to deny her faith and save her family. This suffering was hurting her by not being able to fully explain to

her family that this is the only option for her and they do not need to worry about her because she will

be ok. Additionally, from being tempted by her family, she was tempted to deny her faith by the devil.

During her martyrdom she had a vision of a ladder extending into the heavens which was guarded by a

dragon. She had even said herself that she realized the devil was in disguise of the dragon trying to deny

her of a better life in heaven, but after noticing that the devil was afraid of her intense faith that she

used him as the first rung to begin her climb on the ladder.

Although the path to martyrdom may seem brutal, as it was intended to be, these people didn’t

have to suffer alone; the martyrs were being protected by God. A key example of the martyrs suffering

being protected by faith is shown when Perpetua wakes up from her sleep after fighting the beast and

she doesn’t recall ever going to fight the beast. This passage suggests that she was not being harmed by

the beast, but that God may have been fighting through her body and took all the pain that came with it.

Not only were the martyrs blessed to have God fight through them and take the pain away the passage

stated that each person was killed in their most desired way. The passage shows that Saturus was

dreading a bear and when the bear was scheduled to be released it refused to come out of its cage.
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After talking with one of the soldiers, Saturus told him that he hasn’t been touched by any animal thus

far, but wanted to be killed by one bite from the leopard. During his battle the leopard was finally let out

he was quickly killed with one bite. This shows that God was trying to protect them from what they

feared. Lastly God had aided their sufferings from their families by helping the babies. He had gifted the

child with the ability to go without its mother’s milk, and gifted the pregnant girl deliver her baby before

her departure.

The told experiences of martyrdom are truly amazing in the since that their devotion to their

faith deny their confession to another religion under any circumstance. This devotion is further pushed

to the limit throughout their suffering of many things, but in the end it really isn’t that hard to see that

they are not fighting this battle alone, and with evidence they are fighting for a good cause that will

return them with eternal salvation through Christ.