A Martyr’s Faith in a Faithless World by Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
I ordered this thinking it was a spin on Foxe’s Book of Martyr’s, perhaps updated a bit, or some other form of martyrology. It is not. There are accounts of five martyrs in the book, the most recent being the third century and the oldest being the account of St. Stephen in Acts 7. Although it is billed as a starting theological text for the curious, it is really more of a devotional. Around the unifying theme of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, each section begins with the account of a martyr and then contains several short devotionals or homilies.
They’re probably very good.
But I’m not very good at reading them. It’s a default in my character, that very rarely will a devotional from someone else stir me. I’m grateful that they exist, aware that a great many people – perhaps everyone else but me – really enjoys them and gets a lot out of them. I don’t.
So I’m not going to evaluate this book. The devotionals I did read (the first 4-5) were very fine. They are theologically oriented, asking the reader to consider various theological aspects of the parable of the sower. And it is well-grounded in Lutheran theology. Lord knows we all need more inspiration and grounding in our lives of faith, and this may be a wonderful resource for you.
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