Re: The Early Christians: In Their Own Words

The early Christians were revolutionaries of the Spirit, heralds of the 
last judgment and the coming transformation; they had to be ready for 
martyrdom at any moment. Their witness meant they had to reckon with being

sentenced to death by state and society. Therefore, “martyrs” were those 
witnesses ready to die for their faith, those who bore this testimony 
before kings and judges with the steadfastness of soldiers of God. They 
were martyrs, that is “confessors,” even if they did not have to die. To 
give witness is the essence of martyrdom. Martyrs uphold the truth of
their 
testimony as eye-witnesses of the Lord and his resurrection. They see 
Christ and become his prophetic spirit-bearers. Through the Spirit, the 
blood-witness of the martyrs becomes part of the decisive battle waged by 
Jesus, the battle in which he himself died as champion and leader of the 
future. By dying, he finally judged and routed the hostile powers of the 
present age. Put to death by the most devout Jewish people and the Roman 
state, Christ fettered and disarmed the demons and their darkness through 
his cross. Since then, each new martyrdom – each new dying with Christ – 
becomes a celebration of victory over the forces of Satan.