Classic graphic accounts of more than 4,000 Christians who endured suffering, torture, and a martyr’s death because of their simple faith in the gospel of Christ. Includes more than 50 finely detailed etchings by noted Dutch artist Jan Luyken. Songs, letters, prayers, and confessions appear with the stories of many “defenseless Christians” who were able to love their enemies and return good for evil. This gigantic book calls believers to follow Jesus in all areas of life, even unto death. Come what may, true Christian commitment demands supreme discipleship and steadfast adherence to the teachings modeled by Jesus and his apostles. Written and published in 1659 by a Dutch Mennonite, Thieleman J. van Braght, to strengthen the faith of his fellow believers, and translated into German in 1748 at the time of the French and Indian War for the same reason. In 1886 Martyrs Mirror was translated into English to challenge generations of Christians in North America. Free downloadable study guide available here . “This classic, gigantic work is the record of Christian faith and endurance from the first century to the Anabaptist persecutions in the 16th. Baptist, Brethren, Mennonite, and other descendants of the Anabaptist will be especially interested in these stories of men and women who died for their belief.” —CBA Marketplace ( Endorsement ) Martyrs Mirror is a record of the path of the early martyrs. The price of their own life, limbs, and blood was a gift they gladly gave to preserve what they believed to be a pure faith and the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Tortures, persecutions, and sufferings were endured with a fortitude and heroism that is unparalleled in history. Thieleman J. van Braght (1625-1664), an elder of the Anabaptist congregation in Dordrecht in the Netherlands, collected accounts of martyrdom, intending to enlarge a Dutch martyr book of 1631. When he finished in 1660 with the publication of Martyrs Mirror , he had doubled the size of the original. A large book of 1290 pages appeared. The author hoped that the book would inspire the reader to hold as tenaciously to the faith as did the Christian martyrs. The heritage of bloodshed and persecution for the sake of a clear conscience and a pure faith grounded in the Word of God is the heritage of the Christian church.