Question

What might we conclude Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Perpetua and Felicitas, and Polycarp believed as the moment of death approached?

They believed God would not let them die.
They believed Christians would rescue them.
They believed they deserved to die.
They believed if they died God would forgive their sins.
They believed Jesus is truly Lord of all.

Answer 1

Best fits: they believed Jesus is truly Lord of all, and that dying for Christ put them right with God (martyrdom brings forgiveness/assurance of salvation).

Reject or qualify the others:
- "They believed God would not let them die." — No. They expected persecution and accepted death when it came; they trusted God to be with them (and to receive them), not to necessarily spare them from dying.
- "They believed Christians would rescue them." — No. These accounts show martyrs refusing rescue or not expecting fellow Christians to save them; they sought to witness to Christ even unto death.
- "They believed they deserved to die." — No. They treated their deaths as unjust persecution and as a grace/baptism rather than as deserved punishment.

Evidence: Ignatius asked to be allowed to be "God’s wheat" (to be broken for Christ); Justin and other second‑century writers treat martyrdom as the supreme witness and a form of cleansing; Perpetua/Felicitas’s diary shows visions of heaven and confident forgiveness; Polycarp greets death with affirmation of Christ as Lord and confidence in eternal life.