In reading The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity I found myself reflecting some things that were less practical than they are theological. My main reflections were upon the intersection between suffering and glory, death and life, and execution with victory. As seen in each of the visions included in this work, it is from within the context of the lowest points of suffering that the highest points of glorification, victory, or conquest come. In regard to the first vision which includes the ladder that Perpetua ascends through her martyrdom, we see the juxtaposition between the dangers of this ladder, which are implicitly the abandonment of Christ and the refusal to become a martyr for His glory, with the success in her ascent toward the blessed paradise. As the world sees the danger and undesirable outcome to be the public execution in the amphitheater, the Christians saw this as the victory, with the saving of ones own life to be the danger to avoid. In regard to the second vision of her brothers translation to paradise from the place of torment, we see that Perpetua achieves the victory here in this sense within the context of her imprisonment, persecution, and suffering within the prison. In regard to her receiving her infant baby and with the encouragement of the Lord ad the fellowship of the church, her prison is described as having become a palace. This same theme comes across in each part of this book. All of this is fitting. For the martyrs followed Christ to the end, even in the same form of his death. Here it is just so as between Christ and His martyrs. As the world saw him as a failed Messiah, He was the victorious savior. As the world saw the cross as meaningless death, the church confessed it to be life everlasting. As the world saw the death of Christ as a cursed man being cursed by God. In truth it was the Fathers blessed gift of love to the whole world. The life and death of the martyrs is just so, a glorification that went unrecognized by the faithless emperors of pagan Rome. Yet in truth, they are the ones who receive the crowns.
