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Behind a gruesome ISIS beheading video lies the untold story of the men in orange and the faith community that formed these unlikely modern-day saints and heroes.
Silver Medal, 2020 Benjamin Franklin Awards, IBPA
Bronze Medal, 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards
In a carefully choreographed propaganda video released in February 2015, ISIS militants behead twenty-one orange-clad Christian men on a Libyan beach.
In the West, daily reports of new atrocities may have displaced the memory of this particularly vile event. But not in the world from which the murdered came. All but one were young Coptic Christian migrant workers from Egypt. Acclaimed literary writer Martin Mosebach traveled to the Egyptian village of El-Aour to meet their families and better understand the faith and culture that shaped such conviction.
He finds himself welcomed into simple concrete homes through which swallows dart. Portraits of Jesus and Mary hang on the walls along with roughhewn shrines to now-famous loved ones. Mosebach is amazed time and again as, surrounded by children and goats, the bereaved replay the cruel propaganda video on an iPad. There is never any talk of revenge, but only the pride of having a martyr in the family, a saint in heaven. “The 21” appear on icons crowned like kings, celebrated even as their community grieves. A skeptical Westerner, Mosebach finds himself a stranger in this world in which everything is the reflection or fulfillment of biblical events, and facing persecution with courage is part of daily life.
In twenty-one symbolic chapters, each preceded by a picture, Mosebach offers a travelogue of his encounter with a foreign culture and a church that has preserved the faith and liturgy of early Christianity – the “Church of the Martyrs.” As a religious minority in Muslim Egypt, the Copts find themselves caught in a clash of civilizations. This book, then, is also an account of the spiritual life of an Arab country stretched between extremism and pluralism, between a rich biblical past and the shopping centers of New Cairo.
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View Table of ContentsThis book isn’t just gore and violence – it’s a love-letter to the oldest church in the world, written by a man who seeks to understand its broader culture and the lives of these particular peasant men who gave their lives on the shore that day.
Firstly, read this book to gain insight from a man seeking Truth about 21 men who showed such devotion to Jesus that they died speaking to Him at the hands of their murderers. Secondly, read this book because you'll learn more about the Coptic religious men and women in Egypt and the potential for terror that their faith steeps in on a daily basis. Thirdly, read this because it will change you from within and make you see that we, too, need to embrace the courage that God calls us to live.
I cannot believe this book was translated from German in to English. That fact, merged with the gorgeous prose of a nonfiction text, earns it five stars.
However, beyond the technical beauty of the book, there is the journey of a man in awe of the faith of other men. The book… is a testament to what we were called to be: firstly: disciples, secondly: prophets, and thirdly: teachers. The author manages to show, not tell, that order of our faith. He does so through his journey researching the example of these men who lived that.
Standing up for what one believes has many consequences – including, at times, death. This book looks at the 21 Coptic Christians who were executed in February of 2015 and examines various aspects of martyrdom.… There comes a time when a person must make decisions or will have decisions made for them that will test the depths of their beliefs. The question is whether a person will face the consequences, whatever they may be, in a valiant way.
Informative, contemplative, timely, and incredibly relevant in the modern global struggle of coexistence among ideologies. Mosebach combines rich personal elements with historical detail and contemporary research to give a spotlight look at an episode and country that has already been forgotten by far too many.
The Coptic Church has been a footnote in my church history. Through this book, I realized that I need to reconsider that outlook. Might they be one of those parts of the body of Christ worthy of greater honor? Might there be gifts they have been entrusted with, as well as an important history, that the rest of the church needs? Above all, if we are entering a post-Christian world, they may have much to teach us of how, then, we might live…and die.
Coptic Christians are constantly under threat for their faith. There are dangers on a daily basis but these brave souls have put their faith in God, and trust him through everything. For the 21 brave men who were executed, simply for being Christian, their faith supported them through the end of their lives. They took a stand, and they were killed for their faith. Martin Mosebach is helping their story and courage to live on – and to be shared with many others.
Mosebach describes the men’s family lives, their church, and beliefs with such clarity that the reader experiences the journey alongside the author. You look at the photographs and see these 21 men as individuals in unity in their faith. He talks about them, their beliefs and outlook on martyrdom with the deepest respect, but with a warmth and humaneness that draws you closer. At the same time, he teaches and instructs as he uncovers facts and information about the Coptic martyrs that are astounding. He brings history into the present day without it being a history lesson.
The 21 is an extraordinary commemoration of the contemporary martyrs of Egypt and of the Church and community that formed them. But at the same time it stands as a stern challenge and rebuke to us who have so much more than the Copts – at least as the world understands it – yet, as we must confess to our shame, have allowed our faith to dwindle away.
The 21 is not only about a story of the martyrdom, but it recounts the state of Christian persecution in the Middle East in general. Even in the midst of persecution, Christians are still boldly living the faith. Mosebach brings Tertullian’s quote, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of faith,” into 21st century definition.
Epilogue: An Invisible Army
Acknowledgments
