After about 38 laborious years this book has finally come out. (Okay, that was a slight bit of hyperbole, but I wrote my chapter back in 2008. Many thanks to whichever one of you contributors slowed us down–was that you, Steve?) Nevertheless, it looks to be a promising book that provides a constructive grammatical framework for what has historically constituted Christian martyrdom, and what will, if anything, continue to be faithful accounts of blood-witnessing.
For more recent literature on the subject of Christian martyrdom, see Craig Hovey’s To Share in the Body: A Theology of Martyrdom for Today’s Church, Joshua Whitfield’s Pilgrim Holiness: Martyrdom as Descriptive Witness, and my very own The Purple Crown: The Politics of Martyrdom.
Now go get your Perpetua on!