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Bible Dictionaries
Martyr
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or A witness, Matthew 18:16 Luke 24:48; in ecclesiastical history, "a witness, by the shedding of his blood, in testifying to the truth." Thus martyrs are distinguished from "confessors," properly so called, who underwent great afflictions for their confession of the truth, but without suffering death. The term "martyr" occurs only thrice in the New Testament, Acts 22:20 Revelation 2:13 17:6 . Since the time of Stephen, Acts 7:59 22:20 , myriads of martyrs have sealed the truth of Christianity by a painful death; which they willingly endured through faith, rather than to deny Christ, and which they often eagerly desired as a special privilege. It is doubtless possible to be put to death as a Christian, without real love for Christ, 1 Corinthians 13:3; but in general "the noble army of the martyrs" have borne a true and overwhelming testimony to the power and preciousness of faith in Christ; and their blood witnesses before God against their foes, especially against that apostate church which is "drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus," Revelation 17:6 .
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Martyr'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/m/martyr.html. 1859.
