Witness through suffering : an inspiration from the early church for contemporary Christians

Abstract

In the early Church era, when suffering was inflicted by the State, faithful Christians chose to follow Christ’s footsteps and endured torture, exile, and martyrdom for their own good and for the rest of the community. Likewise, nowadays people who experience some kind of distress caused by illness can turn such a painful experience into a fruitful one when they turn to God and entrust him with their suffering. Present-day experiences of many Christians are a testimony of this. This dissertation will seek to demonstrate that if suffering is accepted and is used in function of one’s journey of inner growth, it can enhance one’s courage, faith, and hope, empowering the person to become a living witness in times of trial. Models from the early Church and the contemporary era will be analysed to highlight their concrete witness experience of courage, faith, and hope during their suffering. The relation between the two kinds of models is that ultimately the body that is torn apart in persecution and martyrdom as well as the body that is torn apart by sickness will be glorified in eternity.