Is Cassie Bernall a Martyr? An Orthodox Christian Answer

• Background:
• This is a response to a private question about the heroic actions of
• Cassie Bernall, who was one of the victims in the Columbine high school
• massacre. According to an article in the Boston Globe on 04/24/99
• (written by By Eileen McNamara):

• "She walked into Columbine High School on Tuesday morning, a promising

• student. She was carried out more than 24 hours later a Christian
• martyr. ''Do you believe in God,'' one of the heavily
• armed gunmen asked the shy blond girl reading her Bible in the library
• while her school was under siege. ''Yes, I believe in God,'' she replied
• in a voice strong enough to be heard by classmates cowering under nearby
• tables and desks. The gunman in the long black trench coat laughed.
  ''Why?'' he asked mockingly. Then he raised his gun and shot and killed
• 17-year-old Cassie Bernall. "
• ...

• April 18/29 1999

• Dear .......

• Christ is risen!

• I am just getting back to you about your question. There is no doubt

• that her story is inspiring, and should warm the heart of all Orthodox
• Christians. To determine whether Cassie should be supplicated as a martyr,
• we must cautiously look at church tradition. The faithful are slow to absolutely
• declare such things, unless there is overwhelming evidence. God reveals
• His righteous ones in His time, and we Orthodox Christians wait patiently
• for His will to be done.

• Cassie was not in the church when she died, after her heroic confession.

• The best answer I can give to your question, therefore, is that God knows
• about her. We
  do not judge one way or the other, because the fate of those who die
• outside the church is unknown to us. The church speaks authoritatively
• about those within her bosom, who are shown by God's providence to be righteous,
• and does not even comment about those outside of her.

• I personally think it is a great temptation to dwell on the state of

• righteous people who die outside the church. I leave the question
• alone - I have found that people tend to look at things in an overly emotional
• way, and make great compromises about the faith because of their emotional
• state.

• The demons who push ecumenism are always present when we ponder such

• such questions, ready to pounce like a lion, and obliterate the very real
• lines that exist
  between the true faith and false religion. As a minister of the true
• gospel, I must try to make sure that those I teach live rightly and believe
• rightly, in all things. I try to encourage balance on issues such as this,
• because there is much to be lost if a person compromises their faith because
• of external evidences. Unfortunately, too many Orthodox already have
• lost the ability to discern where the church is, and where it is not, and
• this lack of ability imperils them greatly.

• There are some who would argue that Cassie was "baptized in her blood",

• which is a common expression in the church, and occurs in many of the lives
• of the holy martyrs. There is a significant difference between Cassie's
• courageous and sincere confession and that of a formerly pagan martyr who
• confesses Christ and is immediately killed. In the latter case, these newly
• Christian martyrs had observed the exploits of true Christian martyrs,
• and their confession brought them from a false religion into the church.
• Cassie already professed a faith in Christ, which was fervent, but
• also based on numerous errors and heresies. Her confession was in
• belief in God, but many people believe in a "Christian God"! The demons
• also believe and tremble. Belief in God is not a sole criterion for salvation,
• but belonging to the body of Christ, that is, the church is. Cassie's firm
• belief, which we absolutely admire, in her religion was most likely
• based on the bible only, however, the bible does not save. It only points
• to Christ, and His church, which DOES save.

• In the aftermath of the publication of this short essay, the author

• received email from Fr David Moser which helps explain the true Orthodox
• opinion about martyrdom: "In the sacred history of the Church up until
• this century and the wave of the New Martyrs of Russia, the martyrs were
• killed and tortured by people who themselves believed in God and were persecuting
• the holy martyrs because they would not alter their belief in the true
• God to conform their belief to that of their persecutors. Hence a
• simple belief in God does not by itself define a martyr in the Orthodox
• sense of the word. In fact a simple belief in Jesus Christ does not
  either define a martyr for there are many martyrs on our calendar who
• are noted as being martyred by the Papists - and so we have people who
• believe in Jesus Christ being killed by others who believe in Jesus Christ
• for the single reason that they would not change their belief in our Lord
• Jesus Christ to conform to the ideas of another (ie. the Pope of Rome and
• his followers). Going even further back in history we have many martyrs
• who were similarly killed at the hands of Arians or at the hands of the
• iconoclasts - all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. Hence it becomes
• obvious to me that the simple confession of a belief in God and subsequent
• murder for that statement is not a definition of martyrdom, but rather
• one who gives his whole life for the True Faith."
• ¹

• Cassie is a HERO, and I rejoice because of her confession. As a pastor,

• I pray that my flock would make such a confession. I cannot pray to her
• as a martyr, and I cannot deny that she is a martyr, and is blessed. I
• simply (as an Orthodox Christian, obedient to the church), cannot answer
• the question, and am content with this. God knows.

• Footnotes:
  

• 
  
• 1.
• Email of Fr
• David Moser, St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church, Boise, Idaho -
• moserd@micron.net