Polycarp, bishop of the church of in Smyrna.

His martyrdom stands as one of the most well documented events of antiquity.

Polycarp’s martyrdom is [a] historical reality. He died for one reason—his unyielding faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Yet Polycarp’s well-recorded death is only one of many lives that were given to reveal and proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ.

In light of the cruel and torturous deaths of the first and second generation Christians, all theories that Christianity is a fabricated myth, created for the personal gain of its followers, must be rejected.

Even today, many will die for a belief, but none will die for a lie. God allows the deaths of His saints not because He is a helpless or indifferent Lord, but because their deaths are powerful declarations of the free gift of life that is offered to us through the Person of Jesus Christ.

If you have any doubts about the truth of Christ as revealed in the Bible, reexamine the biblical text in light of the wilful deaths of nearly all of its writers, men who were eyewitnesses to Christ’s life and ministry.

Polycarp, like many other Christians to this day, was only able to die for Christ because he lived for Christ. His life was radically transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit—the desires, worries, pains and fears of this world no longer bound him. Polycarp’s life and death provides an inspirational example for all Christians.

He gave his earthly life for Christ, and in the midst of his sacrifice, he gained eternal life.

(Theopedia.com)