Notice Concerning the Following Martyrs Noted by P. J. Twisck for the Years…

We have not been able to obtain sure or clear information about the confession of faith of the martyred persons of whom we shall presently speak; so we dare not count them all indiscriminately among the true and orthodox confessors of the true faith; especially since the sword of persecution then came upon all who bore the Christian name (as had been the case before, indeed, often), in places where such persecutions occurred. People were also not examined so very closely with regard to this or that disputed point of the faith (I speak of those who were seized by the heathen), for these were things the persecutors knew nothing about, while it was quite different with those who fell into the hands of the papists mentioned above. The people were simply asked whether they would sacrifice to the idols, renounce Christ, and so on. Hence the reason that in the confession of the martyrs who suffered among the heathen, little is said about disputed matters of faith which are now discussed among Christians; but this is treated more fully elsewhere.

The negligence of the writers of those times, the absence of the art of printing, and the violence of persecution, which caused people to flee and roam about, are also no small reason why so little can be brought forward concerning the confessions of the martyrs. This has been more fully explained in our account of baptism.

Therefore we hold, according to the judgment and nature of love, that among the martyrs of whom we shall speak there were, if not all, at least some, who saw the matter rightly, and whose martyrdom had a good confession for its foundation; but to accept them all, or to go deeper and more fully into the matter, we do not think advisable, for the reasons already mentioned.

In order, then, to present the matter in the briefest and simplest manner, we shall follow the account of P. J. Twisck, as being a summary of what the ancients have recorded concerning it.