Thieleman J. Van Braght
Thieleman J. Van Braght (1625-1664) was an Anabaptist who is best known for writing a history of the Christian witness throughout the centuries entitled “The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians who baptized only upon confession of faith, and who suffered and died for the testimony of Jesus, their Saviour, from the time of Christ to the year A.D. 1660” (1660).
Thieleman J. Van Braght, Martyrs Mirror
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26. Barnabas, Companion of Paul
Barnabas burned at Salamanca on Cyprus, A.D. 64 Barnabas, a Companion of the Apostle Paul, Dragged out of the City and Burned, at Salamina in Cyprus, A.D. 64. Barnabas, also called Barsabas, and surnamed Joseph, Joses, or Justus, was a Levite from Cyprus, full of the Holy Ghost. He was called the son of consolation, and such a one he indeed proved himself to the poor saints. Acts 11:24; 1:23; 4:36; Euseb. hist. Eccl. lib. 2. cap. 1. It is maintained that he was one of the seventy disciples of Christ, and from the multiplicity of his names we can see his renown and eminence; which latter he gained by his zeal and piety; for he brought Paul, after his conversion, to the apostles; and…
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25. The Apostle James, the Less
The Apostle James (the Lesser) stoned and clubbed to death, Jerusalem, A.D. 63 James, the Son of Alpheus, or Brother of the Lord, Cast Down from the Temple, Stoned, and Beaten to Death with a Club, A.D. 63. James the Lesser was the son of Alpheus, and Mary Cleophas, sister to the mother of Christ; he is called the Lord's brother. Matt. 10:3; Gal. 1:19. After proper instruction he was ordained an apostle by Christ, and sent out to minister to the Jews; wherein he acquitted himself well, until Christ's death. After that, he, with others, was sent out to preach the Gospel, which he did in the Jewish church. Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15. And although Peter, and James and his brother John, of whom…
Further Study
The Letter Of James To The Churches Of Jerusalem
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24. The Apostle Philip
The Apostle Philip stoned in Hierapolis, Phrygia, A.D. 54 The Holy Apostle Philip, Bound with His Head to a Pillar, and Stoned, at Hierapolis, in Phrygia, A.D. 54 Philip, a native of Bethsaida, in Galilee, had a wife and daughters of very honorable life. John 1:44; 12:21; Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 3. cap. 30; 31. He was found of Christ, and called as His disciple to follow Him; which he did so faithfully, that when he found Nathanael, he brought him to Christ, declaring to him, that he had found Him of whom Moses and the prophets had written, namely, Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah. John 1:45. From that time on, Philip constantly followed Christ, listening to His admonitions, and beholding the miracles He…
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23. The Apostle James, the Major
The Apostle James (the major) beheaded in Jerusalem, A.D. 45 James, the Son of Zebedee, Put to Death with the Sword, by Herod Agrippa, in Jerusalem, A.D. 45 James, surnamed the Greater, was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and a fisherman by occupation; but, Christ having called him to be His disciple, he abandoned fishing, and followed Christ. Matt. 4:21; Mark 1:19. He was instructed for a considerable time together with the other disciples in the duties of the apostleship, until he was properly sent out in that capacity. Matt. 10:2; Mark 6:17; Luke 6:13. He was endowed with the gift of working signs and miracles, and on account of this special gift he was one of the three surnamed Boanerges, that is, sons…
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22. Stephen
Stephen stoned outside Jerusalem, A.D. 34. Stephen, One of the Seven Deacons of the Church at Jerusalem, Stoned without the Gate of the City, by the Libertines, A.D. 34, Shortly after the Death of Christ. Stephen, which in Greek signifies a crown, was one of the seven deacons of the church at Jerusalem, a man full of faith and the wisdom of God. Acts 6:5. He was well versed in the holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, and very eloquent. It happened that there arose certain of the sect of the Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, and disputed with Stephen; and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned…
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21. John the Baptist
John the Baptist, Son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, Beheaded in the Castle of Machaerus, at the Command of Herod Antipas, A.D. 32 This John, surnamed the Baptist, because he was ordained of God to baptize the penitent, was the son of the priest Zacharias, and his wife Elizabeth; whose name was made known to his parents through the angel of God, before he was born. Luke 1:5, 13. When he was about thirty years old (about six months before the Lord Jesus Christ began to preach), in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberias Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor, and Annas and Caiaphas the high priests, he was called and sent of God, to preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,…
