Blessed Victors: Theology of Persecution in the Third Century Church

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The late second through third centuries saw the remarkable confluence of the early churchs developing identity, theological understanding and praxis, with a period of opposition and intermittent persecution from the world around it. Theology necessarily engaged with the persecution experience, as the church considered the goodness and providence of God, the Name to be confessed and the purposeful outcome of the antagonism they faced. Ruth Sutcliffe argues that the early fathers theological understanding of the role of persecution in the Christian life informed their exhortations to individual and communal response, contributing to the churchs remarkable survival and growth through this period.

Four great thinkers of this era Clement and Origen of Alexandria and Tertullian and Cyprian of Carthage each have much to contribute to a theological understanding of Christian persecution, and Sutcliffe explores their widely different perspectives, intellectual milieu and experiences. She explains these differences and similarities in terms of their use of the Scriptures, in conversation with their own contexts and agendas; concluding that their differences in approach to persecution can be explained theologically, and that these differences offer a unique window into their respective thought. Despite such differences, Sutcliffe stresses that the early church did have a fundamentally coherent theology of persecution which speaks to the worldwide church today.

Reviews

Timely and insightful. In Blessed Victors Sutcliffe makes a significant contribution to current debates about how best to understand ancient Christian martyrdom by situating the phenomenon in larger theological frameworks. Experts in the field and those more generally interested in the subject of persecution need this book. -- David E. Wilhite, Baylor University, USA
Blessed Victors breaks new ground in the study of early Christian theology. It recovers the thought of four great early Christian teachers as they lived and led through persecution showing that fundamental Christian convictions led to persecution, but also sustained believers through that and were shaped by it. This fascinating and careful study demonstrates the continued relevance of voices from the Christian past. -- John McClean, Christ College, Australia
By her detailed surveys of the treatment of martyrdom in four major Christian writers of the third century, Ruth Sutcliffe effectively responds to recent questioning its central role in Christian practice. Her analysis of Cyprians efforts to deal with the effects of a well-documented persecution updates the prior scholarly literature and moves beyond it by the comparisons with the social contexts and religious perspectives of Clement, Origen, and Tertullian. -- J. Patout Burns Jr., University of Notre Dame, USA
Given all that has been written on martyrdom, its surprising that the theology of persecution has been so neglected. Sutcliffe situates these key early Greek and Latin authors in their contexts and deftly examines the similarities and differences in their thought. I hope this book will be read not only by those interested in early Christianity, but also by theologians who need to grapple with this significant area of doctrine. -- Edwina Murphy, Australian College of Theology, Australia

Author Bio

Ruth Sutcliffe holds a PhD in historical theology. She teaches theology and church history part time, including in the Majority World as a field partner with Theologians without Borders and a short term worker with CMS Australia. She is a 2023 Senior Fellow with Anglican Deaconess Ministries.