The Martyrdom of Perpetua

In honor of women’s history month, we focus on an amazing woman who was martyred in 203 A.D. Her name is Perpetua. She was a 22 year old, well educated, newly married noblewoman and mother. She lived in Carthage during severe persecution under Caesar. Her account of her martyrdom, later completed by another, is one of the first pieces of writing composed by a Christian woman.

Her mother was a Christian and her father was a Pagan. He begged her to denounce the name of Christ to save her life. In her own words:

“Father, said I, Do you see (for examples) this vessel lying, a pitcher or whatsoever it may be? And he said, I see it. And I said to him, Can it be called by any other name than that which it is? And he answered, No. So can I call myself nought other than that which I am, a Christian.”

Honestly this woman blows Mulan, Merida, Captain Marvel, and Wonderwoman out of the water with her courage. She puts the godless, supposedly “strong” women of our current society to absolute shame with her modesty and bravery.

The rest of her story is amazing and I am excited to share it with you. It has been heavy on my heart for the past few weeks. There are few positive role models for women in this world. I am seeing a disturbing trend among Christians to water down the truth, hop on band wagons that Jesus didn’t tell us to, rip pages out of the precious, Holy word of God, and exchange the truth for a lie.

We must decide.

Will we bow to the pressures of an anti-Christ culture, nefarious political agendas, false doctrine and wickedness?

Will we love the truth of God’s word and allow it to pierce the hearts of sinners, or will we water down the truth to make sinners comfortable?

Do we love Jesus as much as we say we do?

Will we be women like Perpetua, and men like the Apostles, willing and ready to die for the Name and Glory of Jesus Christ?

Do we fear God, or man?
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Sources:
Perpetua, V. (1996, April). Medieval Sourcebook: St.Perpetua: The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity 203 ( W. Shewring, Trans.; P. Halsall, Ed.). Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/perpetua.asp
The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas (H. Musurillo, Trans.). (1998, April). Retrieved March 28, 2021, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/perpetua.html