10 Christian Martyrs

      I’m not putting these in any particular order.

     1. Polycarpbecame a Christian at a rather young age. He was said to have seen the apostle John when he was a child. When he was older he became a bishop in Smyrna, a Roman town at that time. The Roman empire was trying to abolish Christianity at that time. When Polycarp was 86 a group of Roman soldiers came to his door, his friends tried to persuade him to run but Polycarp replied ”God’s will be done,”and gave his life for his Lord. Polycarp is the first Martyr after New Testament time.                                                       

     2. St. Marcellinus was a priest towards the end of the Christian Persecutions in Rome (around A.D. 304) He was imprisoned just before his execution, and in that time he brought his jailer to Christ.

     3. Jan Hus was burnt at the stake in 1372  for what the Catholic church called heretical views.

     4. William Tyndale was born in 1494. He is est known for translating several portions of the Bible into English. Some of Tyndale’s translation eventually made it into the King James Version of the Bible witch is still widely accepted as an accurate translation. After He was arrested in 1535, Tyndale spent about a year in jail before being tried for heresy and burnt at the stake in 1536.

     5. Patrick Hamilton, a Scottish Reformer, traveled to Europe where he met many of the European reformers. He returned to Scotland and resumed preaching. Later Hamilton was tried for heresy by James Beaton and was burnt at the stake in St. Andrews.

     6. George Wishart like Patrick Hamilton, was a Scottish Reformer. He was born in 1513 and later attended the University of Leuven. When he was older he taught New Testament Greek as a schoolmaster until he was investigated for allegedly committing heresy in 1538 but recanted around 1539. In 1542 he became a student Corpus Christi College. He returned to Scotland in 1543, and in 1544 He traveled across Scotland preaching the Gospel. In December 1545 he was arrested and handed over to David Beaton in December 1545. Wishart was executed in January 1546 by being burnt at the stake.       

    7.Thomas Cranmer was the Archbishop of Canterbury. He promoted many major reforms when Edward came to the throne. But when Mary I took the throne she convicted Cranmer of treason, and heresy. He was imprisoned for over 2 years and made many recants, but on the day he was to be executed he took back all of his recants before being killed.

     8. William Hunter left London after losing his job because of his beliefs and returned to live with his parents. He got into an argument while reading the Bible at Brentwood Chapel. He rebuked the belief that during the communion service the bread and wine actuallyturned into the body and blood of Christ. He was taken before the local justice and eventually to Bishop Bonner in London. He refused both treats and bribes and never recanted his rebuke of the communion bread and wine. He was eventually sent back to Brentwood to be burnt at the stake. He died as a martyr on March 27th 1555 at the young age of only 19.

     9. Laurence Saunders was educated at King College. When the Reformation began Saunders resigned as a merchant and began to preach. On Sunday October 15 1553, He preached against the popish religion. He said that England was lukewarm in her worship of Christ. He was arrested that same day by order of the Bishop of London. A few months later he was lead barefoot to where he was burnt at the stake.

    10. Margaret Ball was born in 1515. She Died of deprivation in a dungeon for her beliefs in 1584.

     One thing that all of these martyrs had in common is their love of Christ and their willingness to endure the ultimate test of a Christians loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ.