Prisoners in Church History
The most recent blogs from Captive Faith.
Origen was the son of a martyr and himself suffered imprisonment and torture late in life. A teacher and theologian, he wrote on persecution as one who had witnessed it and who was prepared to experience it. Although he suffered for his faith, contemporary church leaders condemned some of his teachings because they veered into heretical territory. Continue reading “Origen’s take on persecution”
Basil Malof (born William Fetler—he changed his name because Fetler had been forced on his grandfather by German occupiers) was a successful Protestant evangelist in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), and publisher of the first religious journal in Latvia, Kristigais Vestnesis (Christian Herald). Converted at fifteen, he was baptized at night because the Orthodox Church persecuted evangelicals. Continue reading “Sentenced to Siberia”
When Elisha Paine preached as a Baptist, Massachusetts authorities threw him into a dirty prison at Worcester for unlicensed preaching (February 1743). He refused to post bond, believing to do so was to comply with an unbiblical and corrupt system. After his release in May, he continued to preach in that area for two weeks, then preached throughout New England from July into December. By the end of the year had given over 240 sermons. Continue reading “Elisha Paine and the Freedom to Worship”
In July 1900, Boxers martyred “Blind Chang” at Chaoyang, China.
Formerly an alcoholic, thief, gambler, and member of the notorious gang known as Vegetarians, he had become blind after expelling his wife from their home and forcing his daughter into prostitution. He made his way to a mission station where he was given a place to stay. There he heard the gospel and was transformed by the power of Christ. Continue reading “Fifty Captives Freed for a Blind Man”
[Imaginary portrait of Tertullian.]
[Adapted from text by Roy Stults from his unpublished Historical Perspectives on a Theology of Suffering, Persecution, and Martyrdom] Tertullian was a prolific Christian writer of the early third century—an apologist (defender of the faith) and theologian. (Among his contributions to theology was the term “Trinity” to explain the Bible’s teaching on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.) Persecution and martyrdom were often discussed in his apologetic writings. He shared some themes of earlier apologists but expanded the literature by introducing new themes that he wove into a unique argument to meet the situation of his day. Continue reading “Tertullian’s Thought on Persecution and Martyrdom”
Ditchfield, in Books Fatal to their Authors, mentions several Bible translators who paid dearly for their efforts. One translator who escaped punishment by the skin of his teeth was Arias Montanus, who produced a Polyglot Bible at the command of King Philip II of Spain, but was denounced for it to the pope because he had strayed from the Latin Vulgate. Montanus pleaded his case in Rome where the pope eventually pardoned him. His work, however, was placed on the Index Expurgatorius to which he had, in his day, added others’ works. Continue reading “The Price Some Paid for the Bible”
Although three years old, this account in The Christian Post of Father Jacques Murad, a Christian Syrian priest, is interesting as an example of the threats Christians experience in the Mid East. ISIS Hostage Feels “Born Again” After Witnessing Christian Captives’ Strong Faith. He tells of hundreds of Christians who endure captivity and risk death for refusing to convert to Islam.
During the Middle Ages, Arabs, Moors, and Berbers captured many Christians and worked them as slaves or held them for ransom in North Africa. In 1415 the Portuguese captured the city of Ceuta, which for centuries gave them a toe-hold in North Africa. Robert Bridges, poet laureate of England from 1913 to 1930, made use of these historical facts in setting a blank-verse drama titled The Christian Captives. The story is a tragedy of thwarted love in five acts.
The desire of the King of Fez to regain Ceuta after the Portuguese invade Tangier is a central theme of the play. The Christian captives appear in the story as a chorus, introducing an Islamic princess to Christianity. They serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations between the Christians and the Muslims in an otherwise improbable tale. Continue reading “Christian Captives in North Africa”
Issue 121 of Christian History, Faith in the Foxholes, mentions some of the captives who are also featured on this site. Among its articles is Kaylena Radcliffe’s A war story: “There is no pit so deep God’s love is not deeper still,“ which won second place in its category at the recent Evangelical Press Association meeting. Follow the link and read for yourself how two women were bound by suffering in World War II.
A few months ago, Christian History published issue #123, devoted to Christians in prison. Although we mentioned it on Facebook, we’ve been remiss calling attention to it on this site. Some of the material from these pages made its way into the magazine as well as much new material. Preview a copy below, and order it for yourself at Captive Faith in the Christian History Institute store. One of its articles, “Paradoxes of Prison,” by this site’s webmaster, even won an award from the Evangelical Press Association.