Le Dieu Néant: Théologies négatives à l'aube des temps modernes. Jan MiernowskiLa famine spirituelle (sermon inédit sur Esaïe 55). Jean Calvin
Any cross-confessional study that takes martyrdom as its underlying theme runs the risk of collapsing difference between faiths and traditions, especially when martyrs, whether Anabaptist or Catholic, went to their deaths in similar ways and according to the same biblical models. Gregory counters this with a fascinating analysis of anti-martyrologies, or polemical works which exposed the false martyrs of the "other side," and condemned followers who, in Miles Huggarde's famous phrase, saw "the holy ghost in the likeness of a dove" when they were actually witnessing the flutterings of fire-roused pigeons around the execution stake (329). In this sense, "the denunciation of false martyrs," Gregory writes, "should be seen in precisely the same light as the celebration of true martyrs," since both true and false are inextricably linked through a process of inclusion and exclusion from a particular creed's canon; moreover, since "the deaths of fellow believers reinforced divergent doctrines," martyrdom was thus a "point where traditions coalesced" at the same time that it caused those traditions to differ profoundly from one another (339-41). In creating a new perspective in the understanding of early modern martyrdom, Gregory sets out to slay a great deal of methodological dragons, though his weapon tends to be bludgeoning at times as it destroys other approaches which offer up insights into the social and gendered aspects of martyrdom. Nevertheless, Gregory has succeeded in his big, brilliant book to prove himself equally adept at theology and textual analysis as he is at forging new historical directions; above all, he succeeds in shining a light into the souls of his martyrs, as they followed the words of Jesus to "be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life." SARAH COVINGTON John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York