works in progress

the martyrdom of polycarp

"For the fire, assuming the form of a vault, like the sail of a vessel filled with the wind, defended the body of the martyr roundabout; and it was in the midst of the flame not like flesh burning, but like bread being baked, or like gold and silver glowing in the furnace."

The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 15:2
a letter from the church in Smyrna to the church in Philomelium

The Book of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church

"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church" - Tertullian c. AD 150-229 (Christian father and apologist, alive during the 4th and 5th Roman persecutions, wrote "Apologeticus", 197 AD )

Despite efforts by the Roman Empire to snuff out the early Church & the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Christians martyred in the Roman colosseums for the peoples entertainment, the number of followers continued to multiply. If a sect could have been snuffed out within 200 years of it's conception it would have during the Roman persecutions. However the Gospel of Jesus Christ was, and is, unstoppable. The persecutions in Rome only served a fuel and fan to spread the Gospel like wildfire throughout the world.

This illustration was an effort to depict the ages of the Church that grew out of the deaths of the early Christians.

persecuted church thumbnails.

These were some thumbnail sketches from reading Foxe's Christian Martyrs. They were on scrap printer paper, so i'm pretty sure they will be lost in my piles of papers within the next few weeks.

This one is burning at the stake:

This one is about going to be with Christ after martyrdom:


This one is about mob attacks on children and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that this earth is not their home: