Testimony of martyrs
The word martyr, from the Greek, means witness; but
those who testified for Truth were so often persecuted
unto death, that at length the word martyr
was narrowed in its significance and so has
come always to mean one who suffers for his convictions.
The new faith in the Christ, Truth, so roused the hatred
of the opponents of Christianity, that the followers of
Christ were burned, crucified, and otherwise persecuted;
and so it came about that human rights were hallowed
by the gallows and the cross.
