In Rome in A.D. 165, two men named Carpus and Papylus stood before the proconsul of Pergamum, charged with the crime of being Christians. Not even torture could make them deny Christ, so they were burned alive.
In the fifth century, Melania the Younger and her husband, Pinian, distributed their enormous wealth to the poor and intentionally practiced the discipline of renunciation. They also suffered for their faith.
In Water from a Deep Well, Gerald Sittser opens to us the rich history of spirituality. The author let us gaze at the practices and stories of believers from the past who had the fierce thirst for God. Many believers paid the ultimate price and became martyrs.