On the Glory of Martyrdom. 1
Argument.--The Glory of Martyrdom,--Namely, What Martyrdom Is, How Great It Is, and of What Advantage It is. By Similitudes, and by Argument Deduced from the Daily Deaths, the Author Exhorts to a Joyous Submission to Death for Christ's Sake. 2 Among the Benefits of Martyrdom He Maintains that Without Experience of the Universal Suffering that Prevails, the Propitiation of Christ Crowns Martyrs in Such a Way that His Saying About the Very Last Farthing is Not Applicable to Them.
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[Erasmus doubts as to the authorship, judging from the style. Pamelius is sure it is Cyprian's.] ↩
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In place of reward, he sets before them not only security from the fear of Gehenna, but also the attainment of everlasting life, describing both alternatives briefly in a poetical manner. He points out, that to some, martyrdom serves as a crown, while to others who are baptized in their own blood, it serves as redemption. Finally, when from the Scriptures he has stirred up his readers to confession of the name of Christ, he asks them to remember him when the Lord begins to honour martyrdom in them, since the Lord is known not to deny such as they when they ask Him for anything. ↩
