For three or four months now, when on my lunch break, I have been reading the book Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, edited by Grinton Berry.  There have been many editions of the original book down through the years. This one is quite short (409 pages) compared to the original, however, “nothing essential has been omitted.”

Most of the martyrs recorded here are from the 1500’s, perpetrated by the Catholic Church in England.  It was quite enlightening and shocking to read all the gruesome stories.  So many true believers were held in damp, smelly dungeons and then burned alive at the stake. Why? Because they refused to believe in the Catholic doctrine and so were labeled a heretic.

This book gave me light to what evil has existed in world history, but I have also been so encouraged and blessed by those who refused to recant and who courageously marched…