Book of Martyrs
Here are a few names of Christian martyrs. There are hundreds and even thousands of unnamed others who lost their lives at the same time as those listed here. Though their names are unknown to us, they are well known to God (2 Cor. 6:9).
| Name | Means of Death | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen | Stoned | 34 |
| James the Great | Beheaded | 44 |
| Philip | Crucified and stoned | 54 |
| Matthew | Beheaded | 60 |
| James the Less | Stoned, beaten | 63 |
| Mark | Dragged | 64 |
| Peter | Crucified upside down | 69 |
| Paul | Beheaded | 69 |
| Matthias | Stoned | 70 |
| Andrew | Crucified | 70 |
| Thaddaeus | Arrows or javelin | 70 |
| Bartholomew | Flayed, crucified | 70 |
| Thomas | Speared | 70 |
| Simon the Zealot | Sawn in half | 74 |
| Luke | Hanged | 93 |
| Ignatius | Torn by lions | 107 |
| Polycarp | Stabbed | 155 |
| The Romans had threatened Polycarp with beasts and with fire, but nothing would make him turn against Christ. They lit the pyre, which sprang up quickly. But even the fire wouldn't touch him as it formed an arch around Polycarp's body. In the end, the Romans commanded an executioner to stab him. A great quantity of blood put out the remaining flames. | ||
| Justin Martyr | Beheaded | 165 |
| Origen | Tortured | 254 |
| Cyprian | Beheaded | 258 |
| Theban Legion | Put to the sword | 286 |
| This legion of 6,600 soldiers from Thebes declined the Roman emperor's order to help exterminate their fellow-Christians. Their statement when told they would be killed: "We have arms in our hands but do not resist, because we would rather die innocent than live by any sin." | ||
| Alban | Beheaded | 304 |
| Sebastian Soldiers | Frozen | 320 |
| Telemachus | Gladiator's sword | 404 |
| Boniface | Ambushed | 755 |
| Alphage | Bludgeoned | 1012 |
| Bishop Gellert | Stabbed | 1046 |
| William Swinderby | Burned | 1401 |
| Jan Hus | Burned | 1415 |
| Jerome of Prague | Burned | 1416 |
| John Oldcastle | Hanged/burned | 1417 |
| Catherine Saube | Burned | 1417 |
| Henry Voes | Burned | 1523 |
| Patrick Hamilton | Burned | 1527 |
| George Wagner | Burned | 1527 |
| John Frith | Burned | 1533 |
| William Tyndale | Burned | 1536 |
| Tyndale was condemned to death for translating the Bible into English. As he was secured to the stake, surrounded by brush and logs, he was heard to say, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." Three years after his death, all printers and sellers of books were ordered by the king to provide for the "free and liberal use of the Bible in our own material and English tongue." | ||
| George Wishart | Burned | 1546 |
| Lady Jane Grey | Beheaded | 1554 |
| Hugh Latimer | Burned | 1555 |
| Petrus Ramus | Mutilated | 1572 |
| Nagasaki Martyrs | Crucified | 1597 |
| Twenty-six Christian men, nineteen of them Japanese, were arrested. Following a month-long winter march, the men were crucified. It is said that when the column of prisoners saw their crosses, they each embraced theirs, and one of the condemned asked that his hands be nailed to the crossbar. For the rest, chains and iron straps kept the men suspended until a squad of executioners finished the work by pushing spears into their chests. | ||
| Mary Dyer | Hanged | 1660 |
| James Guthrie | Hanged | 1661 |
| Richard Cameron | Beheaded | 1680 |
| John Paton | Hanged | 1684 |
| John Williams | Speared/eaten | 1839 |
| Theophane Venard | Beheaded | 1861 |
| Robert Thomas | Shot | 1865 |
| Thomas was on a mission to smuggle Bibles into Korea. He was caught and died offering a Bible to the soldier who killed him. The soldier wallpapered his house with the Bible, and his nephew was converted and became a pastor. | ||
| Namugongo Martyrs | Burned | 1886 |
| Lizzie Atwater | Hacked by swords | 1900 |
| James Chalmers | Clubbed | 1901 |
| Chrysostomos | Tortured/shot | 1922 |
| John & Betty Stam | Beheaded | 1934 |
| Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Hanged | 1945 |
| Bonhoeffer returned to Nazi Germany to preach, and continued to preach and write even after imprisoned. He was hanged at the direct order of Hitler. | ||
| Jim Elliot | Speared | 1956 |
| Paul Carlson | Shot | 1964 |
| Wang Zhiming | Public execution | 1973 |
| Chet Bitterman | Shot | 1981 |
| Yona Kanamuzeyi | Shot | 1994 |
| Antonio Revas | Shot | 1998 |
| Graham Staines | Burned | 1999 |
| Staines was conducting an open-air evangelistic camp. His sons (ages 7 and 9) were with him. After Graham and the boys had retired for the night in their station wagon, a group of militant Hindus attacked them with clubs and set fire to the vehicle. Trapped inside his car by the mob, the missionary died holding his boys. | ||
—Information taken from Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs, published by Bridge-Logos Alachua, FL 32615.