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artyrs
Mirror, compiled in A.D. 1659,
by the Dutchman, Thieleman J. van Braght, is a massive book of 1,158 pages,
published by the Mennonite Herald Press of Scottdale, Pennsylvania. What Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is to the
Evangelical church, Martyr’s Mirror is to the Anabaptist tradition. There is much to learn from both classic
books.
We in the rich, affluent, world have almost
completely lost any sense of what it means to be a witnessing church, a church
of martyrs. Our actions beg the
question, “Do we have the necessary faith to be a martyr?”
Can we comprehend why a
defenseless person would be deliberately killed when his or her only guilt was
an uncompromising faith? Perhaps we
have forgotten what it was like for our spiritual ancestors.
James Brenneman
wrote, “We need to realize that
suffering for righteousness’ sake is part of what it means to mirror Christ to
the world” (“From Flaccid Whiners to Authentic Witnesses,” Gospel Herald,
October 22, 1996, pp. 1-3, 8). Many
Christians today may doubt the truth of that statement. Menno Simons, the
Anabaptist who founded the Mennonite Church of the Brethren, suggested six
measures for discerning whether a church is truly following Christ: (1) The true Church holds to the Word of God
as its only standard for belief and practice;
(2) A faithful Church practices baptism and communion in the way the
early Christians did; (3) Christ’s followers show love for their neighbors; (4)
A faithful Church expects persecution; (5) The true Church boldly confesses
Christ “in the face of cruelty, tyranny, fire, and the sword”; (6) A faithful
Church brings forth the fruits of Christ. (From Harry Loewen and Steven Nolt, Through
Fire and Water: An Overview of Mennonite History, Herald Press, 1996, pp.
77-78.)
The first part of Martyrs Mirror records
accounts of believers’ baptisms and sufferings from the first through fifteenth
centuries. The second part has accounts of the martyrs in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries.
Here is the account of one of the more than 4,000
martyrs catalogued in Martyrs Mirror, the story of Dirk Willems.
“In the year 1569, a
pious, faithful brother and follower of Jesus Christ, named Dirk Willems, was
apprehended at Asperen, in Holland, and had to endure severe tyranny from the
papists. But as he had founded his
faith not upon the drifting sand of human commandments, but upon the firm
foundation stone, Christ Jesus, he, notwithstanding all evil winds of human doctrine,
and heavy showers of tyrannical and severe persecution, remained immovable and
steadfast unto the end . . . .”
“Concerning his
apprehension, it is stated by trustworthy persons, that when he fled he was
hotly pursued by a thief-catcher, and as there had been some frost, said Dirk
Willems ran before over the ice, getting across with considerable peril. The thief-catcher following him broke
through, when Dirk Willems, perceiving that the former was in danger of his
life, quickly returned and aided him in getting out, and thus saved his
life. The thief-catcher wanted to let
him go, but the burgomaster, very sternly called to him to consider his oath,
and thus he was again seized by the thief-catcher, and at said place, after
ever imprisonment and great trials proceeding from the deceitful papists, put
to death at a lingering fire by these bloodthirsty, ravening wolves, enduring
it with great steadfastness, and confirming the genuine faith of the truth with
his death and blood, as an instructive example to all pious Christians of this
time, and to the everlasting disgrace of the tyrannous papists” (p. 741).
Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people revile you
and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my
account.” Do people who are not
persecuted miss a blessing? How can we
keep the memory of our spiritual ancestors alive without making idols of the
martyrs? These and more profound
questions may come to mind as you read Martyrs Mirror. — adapted from an article by J. Daniel Hess.
Martyrs Mirror by Thieleman J. van Braght, is available from Giving
& Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849 for a suggested donation of
$35. You may also borrow it for free
from Sharing Library, PO Box 581, Granville, OH 43023. New Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is
available for a suggested donation of $12.
The original Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is available on our website
at, www.giveshare.org/library/foxes/index.html.
Few believers have not, at one time or another,
faced trials and persecutions. We might
not all be burned at the stake, but we individually have our problems to
overcome. Giving & Sharing would
like to compile first hand accounts of trials and persecutions of God’s
people. If you have a true account you
would like to share with others, please submit your article to: Richard C.
Nickels, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY 82718, E-mail: giveshare@vcn.org.
Please make your account as brief and clear as
possible. Let us know if you wish to
withhold your name. After telling the
event, let us know what you learned from this trial and persecution, and how
others can benefit. Subject to our
discretion, and possible editing for clarity and brevity, we will publish your
story at www.giveshare.org/persecution. We pray that these accounts will be of great
inspiration to God’s people.
What is the spiritual purpose of studying the lives
of Christian martyrs? The brother of
Thieleman van Braght wrote a poem (Martyr’s Mirror, p. 1139), which
ended with this verse:
Yet, well I know
that thou, like Christ, must ever onward go,
And teach the world the word of God, while
traveling here below.
To show the world what we should bear, and what the
martyrs bore:
Thou wast, by studying God’s blest word, impelled
to work the more.
— by Richard C. Nickels W