Paul Middleton is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Chester, UK. He has published extensively on the topic of martyrdom, especially in early Christianity, as well as in Judaism and Islam. He is the author of Radical Martyrdom and Cosmic Conflict in Early Christianity; Martyrdom: A Guide for the Perplexed; and The Violence of the Lamb: Martyrs as Agents of Divine Judgement in the Book of Revelation.

"Overall, this volume presents a needed correction to the sensationalist studies of martyrdom that have dominated the topic since the dawn of the 'War on Terror.'"—Journal of Jesuit Studies, Volume 8: Issue 1"A good Companion helps you to realise how multi-faceted a topic is and to explore several new dimensions of an area of study hitherto only skimmed. This one does exactly that."—Anabaptism Today 3.1 April 2021"This substantial and impressive volume delivers to readers dozens of compelling and diverse approaches to studying Christian martyrdom, the foci of which collectively span more than two millennia, virtually the entire globe, and an unexpectedly wide array of cultural and religious traditions."—Church History, Volume 9: Issue 4, December 2021

• List of Contributors viiiAcknowledgments xiiiList of Abbreviations xvI. Introductory Matters 11 Introduction 3Paul Middleton2 Creating and Contesting Christian Martyrdom 12Paul MiddletonII. Early Christian Martyrdom 313 The Roman Persecutions 33James Corke-Webster4 Martyrdom and Persecution in the New Testament 51Paul Middleton5 Early Jewish and Christian Martyrdom 72Jan Willem van Henten6 Martyrdom in Roman Context 88L. Stephanie Cobb7 Themes and Intertextualities in Pre-Nicene Exhortations to Martyrdom 102Paul A. Hartog8 Early Christian Theologies of Martyrdom 120Jane D. McLarty9 Augustine and the Remaking of Martyrdom 135Annemaré Kotzé10 Legenda aut non legenda? The Quest for the Literary Genre of the Acts of the Martyrs 151Danny Praet11 Martyrdom and Gender 184Robert Paul Seesengood12 Martyrdom and the Creation of Christian Identity 199Matthew ReclaIII. Martyrdom in the Medieval and Reformation World 21513 Early Christian Martyr Cults 217David L. Eastman14 A Middle (Byzantine) Martyr: The Power and Point of Productive Suffering 236Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen15 Bohemian Martyrdom at the Dawn of the Reformation 255Thomas A. Fudge16 Does the Cause make the Martyr? Sebastian Castellio and John Calvin Debate the Execution of Michael Servetus 271Nicholas Thompson17 Anabaptist Martyrdom 287Lloyd K. Pietersen18 England’s Eusebius: John Foxe and the Acts and Monuments 305Sarah Covington19 The Elizabethan Martyrs 322Victor Houliston and Aislinn Muller20 The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Nation: Martyrdom in Reformation England 338Susan RoyalIV. Martyrdom in Global Perspective 35521 Martyrdom in Roman Catholic Perspective 357Lawrence S. Cunningham22 The Franciscans 365Christopher MacEvitt23 Christian Martyrdom in Asia: Bearing Testimony to the Love of God 381Peter C. Phan24 Christian Martyrdom in Korea 406Franklin Rausch25 Christian Martyrdom in Africa 421Kevin Ward26 “Dying Well” in Latin America: Christian Martyrdom, Religion and Politics 437María Soledad Catoggio27 Martyrdom in Modern America 454Scott W. HoffmanV. Legacies of Martyrdom 46928 Martyrdom Discourse in Contemporary U.S. War-culture 471Kelly Denton-Borhaug29 Digital Representations of Martyrdom 485Jonas Kurlberg and Jolyon Mitchell30 The Legacy and Future of Christian Martyrdom 501Michael P. JensenIndex 514

Paul Middleton is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Chester, UK. He has published extensively on the topic of martyrdom, especially in early Christianity, as well as in Judaism and Islam. He is the author of Radical Martyrdom and Cosmic Conflict in Early Christianity; Martyrdom: A Guide for the Perplexed; and The Violence of the Lamb: Martyrs as Agents of Divine Judgement in the Book of Revelation.

"Overall, this volume presents a needed correction to the sensationalist studies of martyrdom that have dominated the topic since the dawn of the 'War on Terror.'"—Journal of Jesuit Studies, Volume 8: Issue 1"A good Companion helps you to realise how multi-faceted a topic is and to explore several new dimensions of an area of study hitherto only skimmed. This one does exactly that."—Anabaptism Today 3.1 April 2021"This substantial and impressive volume delivers to readers dozens of compelling and diverse approaches to studying Christian martyrdom, the foci of which collectively span more than two millennia, virtually the entire globe, and an unexpectedly wide array of cultural and religious traditions."—Church History, Volume 9: Issue 4, December 2021

• List of Contributors viiiAcknowledgments xiiiList of Abbreviations xvI. Introductory Matters 11 Introduction 3Paul Middleton2 Creating and Contesting Christian Martyrdom 12Paul MiddletonII. Early Christian Martyrdom 313 The Roman Persecutions 33James Corke-Webster4 Martyrdom and Persecution in the New Testament 51Paul Middleton5 Early Jewish and Christian Martyrdom 72Jan Willem van Henten6 Martyrdom in Roman Context 88L. Stephanie Cobb7 Themes and Intertextualities in Pre-Nicene Exhortations to Martyrdom 102Paul A. Hartog8 Early Christian Theologies of Martyrdom 120Jane D. McLarty9 Augustine and the Remaking of Martyrdom 135Annemaré Kotzé10 Legenda aut non legenda? The Quest for the Literary Genre of the Acts of the Martyrs 151Danny Praet11 Martyrdom and Gender 184Robert Paul Seesengood12 Martyrdom and the Creation of Christian Identity 199Matthew ReclaIII. Martyrdom in the Medieval and Reformation World 21513 Early Christian Martyr Cults 217David L. Eastman14 A Middle (Byzantine) Martyr: The Power and Point of Productive Suffering 236Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen15 Bohemian Martyrdom at the Dawn of the Reformation 255Thomas A. Fudge16 Does the Cause make the Martyr? Sebastian Castellio and John Calvin Debate the Execution of Michael Servetus 271Nicholas Thompson17 Anabaptist Martyrdom 287Lloyd K. Pietersen18 England’s Eusebius: John Foxe and the Acts and Monuments 305Sarah Covington19 The Elizabethan Martyrs 322Victor Houliston and Aislinn Muller20 The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Nation: Martyrdom in Reformation England 338Susan RoyalIV. Martyrdom in Global Perspective 35521 Martyrdom in Roman Catholic Perspective 357Lawrence S. Cunningham22 The Franciscans 365Christopher MacEvitt23 Christian Martyrdom in Asia: Bearing Testimony to the Love of God 381Peter C. Phan24 Christian Martyrdom in Korea 406Franklin Rausch25 Christian Martyrdom in Africa 421Kevin Ward26 “Dying Well” in Latin America: Christian Martyrdom, Religion and Politics 437María Soledad Catoggio27 Martyrdom in Modern America 454Scott W. HoffmanV. Legacies of Martyrdom 46928 Martyrdom Discourse in Contemporary U.S. War-culture 471Kelly Denton-Borhaug29 Digital Representations of Martyrdom 485Jonas Kurlberg and Jolyon Mitchell30 The Legacy and Future of Christian Martyrdom 501Michael P. JensenIndex 514

Paul Middleton is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Chester, UK. He has published extensively on the topic of martyrdom, especially in early Christianity, as well as in Judaism and Islam. He is the author of Radical Martyrdom and Cosmic Conflict in Early Christianity; Martyrdom: A Guide for the Perplexed; and The Violence of the Lamb: Martyrs as Agents of Divine Judgement in the Book of Revelation.

"Overall, this volume presents a needed correction to the sensationalist studies of martyrdom that have dominated the topic since the dawn of the 'War on Terror.'"—Journal of Jesuit Studies, Volume 8: Issue 1"A good Companion helps you to realise how multi-faceted a topic is and to explore several new dimensions of an area of study hitherto only skimmed. This one does exactly that."—Anabaptism Today 3.1 April 2021"This substantial and impressive volume delivers to readers dozens of compelling and diverse approaches to studying Christian martyrdom, the foci of which collectively span more than two millennia, virtually the entire globe, and an unexpectedly wide array of cultural and religious traditions."—Church History, Volume 9: Issue 4, December 2021

• List of Contributors viiiAcknowledgments xiiiList of Abbreviations xvI. Introductory Matters 11 Introduction 3Paul Middleton2 Creating and Contesting Christian Martyrdom 12Paul MiddletonII. Early Christian Martyrdom 313 The Roman Persecutions 33James Corke-Webster4 Martyrdom and Persecution in the New Testament 51Paul Middleton5 Early Jewish and Christian Martyrdom 72Jan Willem van Henten6 Martyrdom in Roman Context 88L. Stephanie Cobb7 Themes and Intertextualities in Pre-Nicene Exhortations to Martyrdom 102Paul A. Hartog8 Early Christian Theologies of Martyrdom 120Jane D. McLarty9 Augustine and the Remaking of Martyrdom 135Annemaré Kotzé10 Legenda aut non legenda? The Quest for the Literary Genre of the Acts of the Martyrs 151Danny Praet11 Martyrdom and Gender 184Robert Paul Seesengood12 Martyrdom and the Creation of Christian Identity 199Matthew ReclaIII. Martyrdom in the Medieval and Reformation World 21513 Early Christian Martyr Cults 217David L. Eastman14 A Middle (Byzantine) Martyr: The Power and Point of Productive Suffering 236Brenda Llewellyn Ihssen15 Bohemian Martyrdom at the Dawn of the Reformation 255Thomas A. Fudge16 Does the Cause make the Martyr? Sebastian Castellio and John Calvin Debate the Execution of Michael Servetus 271Nicholas Thompson17 Anabaptist Martyrdom 287Lloyd K. Pietersen18 England’s Eusebius: John Foxe and the Acts and Monuments 305Sarah Covington19 The Elizabethan Martyrs 322Victor Houliston and Aislinn Muller20 The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Nation: Martyrdom in Reformation England 338Susan RoyalIV. Martyrdom in Global Perspective 35521 Martyrdom in Roman Catholic Perspective 357Lawrence S. Cunningham22 The Franciscans 365Christopher MacEvitt23 Christian Martyrdom in Asia: Bearing Testimony to the Love of God 381Peter C. Phan24 Christian Martyrdom in Korea 406Franklin Rausch25 Christian Martyrdom in Africa 421Kevin Ward26 “Dying Well” in Latin America: Christian Martyrdom, Religion and Politics 437María Soledad Catoggio27 Martyrdom in Modern America 454Scott W. HoffmanV. Legacies of Martyrdom 46928 Martyrdom Discourse in Contemporary U.S. War-culture 471Kelly Denton-Borhaug29 Digital Representations of Martyrdom 485Jonas Kurlberg and Jolyon Mitchell30 The Legacy and Future of Christian Martyrdom 501Michael P. JensenIndex 514