Title: Martyrs' mirror : persecution and holiness in early New England /
Authors: Weimer, Adrian Chastain.
Publisher: Oxford University Press,
Year: 2011
Subjects: Martyrdom Christianity History.; Martyrdom Christianity History; Protestantism New England; Puritans New England.; Calvinism United States History.; Christian literature, American Puritan authors.; Puritans Religious life New England.; Puritans New England Religious life.; New England Church history.; New England Church history
Abstract: This book examines the folklore of martyrdom among 17th-century New England Protestants, exploring how they imagined themselves within biblical and historical narratives of persecution. Memories of martyrdom, especially stories of the Protestants killed during the reign of Queen Mary in the mid-sixteenth century, were central to a model of holiness and political legitimacy. The colonists of early New England drew on this historical imagination in order to strengthen their authority in matters of religion during times of distress. By examining how the notions of persecution and martyrdom move in and out of the writing of the period, the author finds that the idea of the true church as a persecuted church infused colonial identity. Though contested, the martyrs formed a shared heritage, and fear of being labeled a persecutor, or even admiration for a cheerful sufferer, could serve to inspire religious tolerance. The sense of being persecuted also allowed colonists to avoid responsibility for aggression against Algonquian tribes. Surprisingly, those wishing to defend maltreated Christian Algonquians wrote their history as a continuation of the persecutions of the true church. This examination of the historical imagination of martyrdom contributes to our understanding of the meaning of suffering and holiness in English Protestant culture, of the significance of religious models to debates over political legitimacy, and of the cultural history of persecution and tolerance.
Contents: Introduction: The pure persecuted church -- Martyrs and their books -- The lineage of separatist suffering -- Performances of martyrdom in the Antinomian controversy -- Baptists and the identity of persecution -- Quakers and the witness of suffering -- "Devilish enemies of religion" in King Philip's War -- Conclusion: Pain, power, and the martyr ideal.