Brown, Alease2023-03-022023-03-022019Brown, A. (2019). Martyrdom, violence, and dignity. Estudos Teologicos, 59 (1) , 133-151. http://dx.doi.org/10.22351/et.v59i1.36182237-6461http://dx.doi.org/10.22351/et.v59i1.3618https://hdl.handle.net/10566/8497This article reconsiders historically based arguments for Christian martyrdom, subjecting the tradition to an analysis suited to liberation of the marginalized. It begins with a description of the historical development of scholarship on martyrdom. From there, the essay analyzes Moss�s arguments regarding the discursive use of the image of the martyr, alongside Recla�s arguments regarding the Christian martyr as autothanatos, one who enacts self-death. Moss and Recla demonstrate the simultaneous fabrication and erasure of violence from the narratives of martyrdom. The article reconciles these opposing conclusions by applying the contextual lens of honor/shame to the analysis of martyrdom. Doing so reveals that, more than attempts to emphasize violence and/or suffering, martyrs, as culturally marginalized persons, represent for early Christians, the ideal Christian life- -attitude of the marginalized, which is that of making radical claims of and to human dignityenMartyrdomViolenceReligionCultureHumanityArticle