The marvel of martyrdom : the power of self-sacrifice in a selfish world / Sophia Moskalenko and Clark McCauley.

9780190939526 (electronic book)

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019.

English

1 online resource.

BL626.5 .M67 2019

302.5

'The Marvel of Martyrdom' is about how martyrs can change the world and how self-sacrifice can change lives. The text starts with famous and influential martyrs, such as Jesus and Gandhi. But the pinnacles of martyrdom can only be reached via the plains of everyday selflessness. Every martyr examined began with smaller forms of self-sacrifice familiar to everyone - every parent, every lover, every friend. Every famous martyr succeeded in challenging injustice by appealing to people's capacity to appreciate self-sacrifice and to follow in the martyr's footsteps with sacrifices of their own. Unravelling how martyr stories spread from a few witnesses to millions of people, the authors consider martyrdom and self-sacrifice together in cases of notable martyrs (Andrej Sakharov) and less-well known ones (The Heaven's Hundred), fake martyrs (Horst Wessel), and fictional ones (Harry Potter).

'The Marvel of Martyrdom' is about how martyrs can change the world and how self-sacrifice can change lives. The text starts with famous and influential martyrs, such as Jesus and Gandhi. But the pinnacles of martyrdom can only be reached via the plains of everyday selflessness. Every martyr examined began with smaller forms of self-sacrifice familiar to everyone - every parent, every lover, every friend. Every famous martyr succeeded in challenging injustice by appealing to people's capacity to appreciate self-sacrifice and to follow in the martyr's footsteps with sacrifices of their own. Unravelling how martyr stories spread from a few witnesses to millions of people, the authors consider martyrdom and self-sacrifice together in cases of notable martyrs (Andrej Sakharov) and less-well known ones (The Heaven's Hundred), fake martyrs (Horst Wessel), and fictional ones (Harry Potter).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on January 7, 2019).

Oxford scholarship online.

Print version: 9780190689322