Ok, we are down to the nitty gritty now, and I need help refining and clarifying this abstract. Remember, be CONSTRUCTIVELY critical and help protect my oh-so-fragile ego...
This thesis asks: what kind of self is the Christian, as it is discovered in Christian martyrdom? It will be argued that Christian martyrdom provides a coherent and compelling narration of the self in terms of the narrative of the life and death of Jesus Christ: a narrative that orients the self in hope towards the good and turns the self towards recognition of and sacrificial service of other selves. It is established (following Balthasar) that martyrdom is the external representation in the lives of some of the inner reality of all Christian disciples. A number of modern secular accounts of selfhood and identity recognize the importance of martyrdom as a key point in the conflict of the meaning of human identity. However, as is shown from the work of Salman Rushdie and Charles Taylor, these accounts do not successfully describe the self as it is revealed in Christian martyrdom. Rushdie even questions the authenticity of a religiously-construed self. The thesis then (chapters 3-6) offers a description and an analysis of self-identity as it is informed by martyrdom, in conversation with T.S. Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral. Christian discipleship is not the path of establishing oneself through security, pursuing the good made possible through collaboration with earthly power, making oneself an identity through action according to some ideal, or even seeking earthly or heavenly renown. Christian selfhood is (rather) narrated against the experience of peirasmo,j (temptation/testing) and with reference to providentia dei. Both themes are explained Christologically (chapter 7). Martyrdom is not a witness to the innocence of the martyr, but rather to her vindication by the divine judge on account of Jesus Christ. Finally, it is argued that the Christian self is offered to others as an act of suffering persuasion.
