If, as Tertullian taught, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, in a liberal society church growth has to find its inspiration elsewhere. Western society was built partly on the premise that people shouldn’t have to suffer for their faith. That’s why talk of martyrdom often seems exotic or irrelevant in churches in the U.S.
Church leaders in many parts of the world, including General Secretary Samuel Kobia of the World Council of Churches, expressed relief and joy at the freeing of three members of Christian Peacemaker Teams held hostage in Iraq.
The North American group Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) says it will continue its work in Iraq despite the murder of one of four team members abducted months earlier.
The body of American Quaker peace activist and CPT member Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Virginia, was discovered March 9 in Baghdad by U.S. troops. His death was announced the next day.
The peace activist apparently had been tortured before his death, officials said. No reason has been given for his murder. “Our work continues,” Kryss Chupp, a spokesperson for the organization, said in a later interview.