13 Christian Martyrs, Their Stories, And Their Faith

The Modern Era: 1600 AD – Present

Well into the 21st century, Christianity remains the most persecuted group in the world, if not in America certainly elsewhere. From continued violence in Syria to Iranian frustrations, our brothers and sisters around the world still suffer for the Gospel.

Magdalene of Nagasaki

From the early 1500s until the early 1600s, Japan was a flourishing ground for Christian missionaries, and some estimates put as many as 500,000 Japanese Christians by the year 1600. However, this heavy cultural influence found little favor in Japan’s ruling establishment, the Tokugawa Shogunate. By 1630, Christianity was outlawed, and followers worshiped in secret as the “Hidden Christians.” In the early stages, Magdalene was born to Christian parents in Nagasaki, and apprenticed herself to several successive Augustinian friars and aided them in spreading the Gospel as an interpreter. Her parents were martyred when Magdalene was around nine years old (probably part of the The Great Martyrdom of Nagasaki), as were several of her teachers. No longer in hiding, Magdalene came in a simple religious habit, and proclaimed herself a Christian to the authorities. She died willingly at the age of 23.

The Whitman Massacre

Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa led the first wagon train from the American east into the Oregon territory, where they established a mission and medical clinic in the Walla Walla Valley in modern-day Washington state. With Dr. Whitman unable to prevent the spread of smallpox, surrounding tribes grew restless. On November 29, 1847, an allegiance of Cayuse and Umatilla Native Americans ransacked the Whitman mission and killed 12 of its settlers, including the Whitmans.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Too young to be ordained by the national German church, Bonhoeffer sought further education in America, where he was introduced to social justice in the stream of Christian theology. He crusaded for justice throughout his life while developing a deep Lutheran theology while serving as a youth secretary for a body that would become the World Council of Churches. When the Nazi regime swept into power, the young pastor tirelessly promoted the welfare of Jews and the resistance of the Nazi order and the personality cult springing up around Adolf Hitler. He traveled to England, the US and eventually back to Germany. Though a pacifist, Bonhoeffer saw the evil in the Nazi regime and participated in a plot to assassinate the fuhrer for the sake of justice. He was arrested, imprisoned and eventually executed. An eyewitness account tells of Bonhoeffer, not yet 40 years old, on his knees in prayer even as the noose was put around his neck.