Eighteen Persons Burned at Salzburg

These eighteen persons, besides many others, were kindled with zeal in the fear of God, and had turned to God from the world and its idolatry, and had been baptized upon faith in Christ, entering into obedience to His holy Gospel. The adversaries could not endure this. These eighteen were therefore arrested, and at last, since under many tortures they devoutly held to their faith, they were all sentenced to the fire and burned, on the same day, at Salzburg, about the year 1528. They left the following as a memorial:

"O God of heaven, watch over Your sheep, who are such a little flock, that they may not depart from You, or be led astray. Keep them under Your protection, and deliver them from this lamentable distress; for the beast pursues them even to death, which they must suffer, for they are thrown into harsh prisons, where they, in the death of the dungeon, sing praises to the Lord, and magnify Him with heart and mouth. Acts 16, verse 25. O Lord, therefore have compassion, and let this complaint of ours come before You. Come quickly, and help us poor children, and sustain us in Your will. They would drive us from You, and they press us very hard with their great power and pomp. O God, grant us Your divine power; we have no other Lord in heaven and earth than You. First Corinthians 8, verse 6. Grant us what we desire of You. The Lord Christ sends out His messengers, and through them offers us His heavenly kingdom, which the world derides; but we have accepted the Lord's kingdom and His grace with great joy and satisfaction; therefore the priests roar and rage against us, and hate us terribly. They have greatly hidden the truth for more than five hundred years, and led the multitude of men astray with false doctrine; they trample the Word of God under their feet, and it is despised by them. O Lord, grant that they may amend their steps and do Your will.

"And is what has been witnessed at Salzburg not a lamentable matter; namely, that eighteen persons were burned together on the same day, only for the doctrine of Christ, whom they confessed to be the only Lord? They would not honor the image, nor worship the beast. They would not receive their words, nor the mark of antichrist into their hand or on their forehead. Therefore they could neither buy nor sell in the land; but they held to Christ, and received His mark, and their names are written in the book of life (Psalm 69, verse 28); as Christian soldiers they, through grace, obtained the crown." Second Timothy 4, verse 8.

Thus they were burned with fire, and are now awaiting everlasting joy.