Original scientific paper

Martyrdom in the thought of Marko Marulić

Mladen Parlov orcid.org/0000-0002-7248-3959 ; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split

Abstract

The author has divided the article in three parts. In the first part he speaks about theology of martyrdom and its reverberation in the thought of Marko Marulić. He points out that since the beginnings of Christianity martyrdom has been perceived as an expression of the most radical form of witnessing the faith in Jesus Christ. Martyr essentially means witness, who by the sacrifice of his own life witnesses that there are values greater than life itself. Therefore martyrdom is primarily the witness of three theological virtues: faith, hope and love. Also, martyrdom gives the witness of faith in eternal life, i.e. faith in God’s power to return the martyr a transformed life. In Christian theology of martyrdom martyrs are imitators of Jesus Christ. All these stresses, the author points out, can be found in the speech of Marko Marulić about martyrdom. He places the speech about martyrdom in the context of speech about the virtue of patience that the follower of Christ has to live. He also holds that a Christian martyr can stay steadfast until the end, until the sacrifice of his own life, because, before him, Jesus sacrificed himself for all of us. Therefore in the second part the author asserts that Marulić shows martyrdom not only as the most excellent form of witnessing love for God, Jesus Christ, but also for our neighbours, and that means that the virtue of martyrdom can be lived even in a time when there are no prosecutions. According to this humanist of Split, martyrdom is the deepest mystic dimension of Christian life. It is the expression of love that encompasses the heavens and the earth, God and man, including the torturers too. Martyrdom means to share in divine love which won evil and redeemed the world. Therefore, final victory and special reward in heaven is guaranteed to martyrdom. In the third part the author points to the relevance of speech about martyrdom.

Keywords

Marko Marulić; martyrdom; Jesus Christ; Christian; truth; love

Hrčak ID:

127856

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/127856

Publication date:

15.7.2014.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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