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I believe that St. Thomas, one of the 12 apostles was the first to be martyred for Christ. Plus, the case can be made for John the Baptist as the original martyr -- [[Image:50 star flag.png|14px]] [[User:Jpatt|jp]] 00:49, 23 August 2008 (EDT)

I believe that St. Thomas, one of the 12 apostles was the first to be martyred for Christ. Plus, the case can be made for John the Baptist as the original martyr -- [[Image:50 star flag.png|14px]] [[User:Jpatt|jp]] 00:49, 23 August 2008 (EDT)

:The earliest Christian historians Africanus and [[Eusebius]] unhesitatingly state that according to Christian tradition handed down from the earliest eyewitnesses apart from the witness of the Book of Acts [[Stephen]] was indeed the first to be killed. (Their extant writings in English translation are accessible online). They only confirm the account in Acts, acting as independent historical witnesses. I should be very interested in a citation of the authoritative source for the assertion that the martyrdom of [[Thomas the Apostle]] preceded the stoning of Stephen. Traditionally, the [[Holy Innocents|Innocents of Bethlehem]] were martyred by [[Herod]] ''because of Christ'' years before John the Baptist was beheaded by him (Matthew 2:16). ''Semper Fi!'' --[[User:Dataclarifier|Dataclarifier]] ([[User talk:Dataclarifier|talk]]) 01:33, 3 January 2017 (EST)

:The earliest Christian historians Africanus and [[Eusebius]] unhesitatingly state that according to Christian tradition handed down from the earliest eyewitnesses apart from the witness of the Book of Acts [[Stephen]] was indeed the first to be killed. (Their extant writings in English translation are accessible online). They only confirm the account in Acts, acting as independent historical witnesses. I should be very interested in a citation of the authoritative source for the assertion that the martyrdom of [[Thomas the Apostle]] preceded the stoning of Stephen. Traditionally, the [[Holy Innocents|Innocents of Bethlehem]] were martyred by [[Herod]] ''because of Christ'' years before John the Baptist was beheaded by him (Matthew 2:16). <br>''Semper Fi!'' --[[User:Dataclarifier|Dataclarifier]] ([[User talk:Dataclarifier|talk]]) 01:33, 3 January 2017 (EST)