Approximately 2,500 Anabaptists were martyred in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Europe. Their surviving brethren compiled stories of those who suffered and died for the faith into martyr books. The most historically and culturally significant of these, The Bloody Theatermore commonly known as Martyrs Mirrorwas assembled by the Dutch Mennonite minister Thieleman van Braght and published in 1660. Today, next to the Bible, it is the single most important text to AnabaptistsAmish, Mennonites, and Hutterites. In some Anabaptist communities, it is passed to new generations as a wedding or graduation gift.
David L. Weaver-Zercher combines the fascinating history of Martyrs Mirror with a detailed analysis of Anabaptist life, religion, and martyrdom. He traces the publication, use, and dissemination of this key martyrology across nearly four centuries and explains why it holds sacred status in contemporary Amish and Mennonite households. Even today, the words and deeds of these martyred Christians are referenced in sermons, Sunday school lessons, and history books.
Weaver-Zercher argues that Martyrs Mirror was designed to teach believers how to live a proper Christian life. In van Braght's view, accounts of the martyrs helped to remind readers of the things that mattered, thus inspiring them to greater faithfulness. Martyrs Mirror remains a tool of revival, offering new life to the communities and people who read it by revitalizing Anabaptist ideals and values. Meticulously researched and illustrated with sketches from early publications of Martyrs Mirror, Weaver-Zercher's ambitious history weaves together the existing scholarship on this iconic text in an accessible and engaging way.
Preface Part I The Prehistory and Production of The Bloody Theater 1. Anabaptism 2. Memorializing Martyrdom before The Bloody Theater 3. Thieleman van Braght and the Publication of The Bloody Theater 4. The Bloody Theater Part II Van Braght's Martyrology through the Years 5. The Bloody Theater Illustrated 6. A North American Edition 7. Martyrs Mirror in Nineteenth-Century America 8. Martyrs Mirror in Twentieth-Century America Part III Contemporary Approaches to Martyrs Mirror 9. Tradition-Minded Anabaptists and the Use of Martyrs Mirror 10. Assimilated Mennonites and the Dilemma of Martyrs Mirror 11. The Most Usable Martyr 12. Going Global Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Index
""Shows how a single text can take on different meanings, infusing a cultural identity in an increasingly disparate and diasporic global community. The book is richly researched, it marks an ambitious project, and it offers new insight into the very foundation of Mennonite history.""
