To Share in the Body: A Theology of Martyrdom for Today’s Church

Western Christians may feel safe from being called to die for their faith, but Hovey (adjunct professor at the University of Redlands and Fuller Theological Seminary) explores the Gospel of Mark to find evidence that “every church is meant to be a martyr-church.” For Hovey, “all Christians [should] refuse to relegate the threat of martyrdom to the fringes of history or remote parts of the globe.” A martyr-church is one in which members acknowledge the essential opposition of the church to the world and the possibility that they, too, may die in Christian witness. In a dense theological inquiry, Hovey uses the events in Mark to demonstrate that martyrdom is an inextricable feature of the Christian message. Hovey’s inaccessible writing doesn’t draw on the lived experiences of actual Christians in danger or analyze the differing relations between the church and the “principalities and powers” around the world. By not engaging nonspecialist readers or considering the real-life contexts of martyrdom, Hovey has probably limited his book’s appeal to fellow theologians. (Feb.)