“Martyr-makers” want God’s obedient people to be like them, and obey earthly rulers instead of God.
Question 1: “What did Eleazar do in 2 Mc 6:18-31 when ‘martyr makers’ wanted him to disobey God?”
Answer: “Their ruler wanted every Jewish person to disobey God and eat pork. ‘But preferring a glorious death to a life of defilement, he spat out the meat, and went forward of his own accord to the instrument of torture, . . ‘”
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Question 2: “What did the ‘martyr-makers’ do?”
Answer: “‘Those in charge of that unlawful ritual meal took the man aside privately, because of their long acquaintance with him, and urged him to bring meat of his own . . . and to pretend to be eating some of the meat of the sacrifice prescribed by the king; in this way he would escape the death penalty, and be treated kindly because of their old friendship with him.’”
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Question 3: “What did Eleazar do?”
Answer: “‘But Eleazar made up his mind in a noble manner, worthy of his years, the dignity of his advanced age, the merited distinction of his gray hair, and of the admirable life he had lived from childhood; and so he declared that above all he would be loyal to the holy laws given by God.’”
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Question 4: “What did Eleazar do after he said that?”
Answer: “Eleazar ‘went immediately to the instrument of torture.’”
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Question 5 is fascinating! “What did his nearby ‘friends‘ do when Eleazar showed that he was more obedient to God than they were?”
Answer: “‘Those who shortly before had been kindly disposed, now became hostile toward him because what he had said seemed to them utter madness.’”
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Question 6: “What does that great change in attitude tell us about the nature of every ‘martyr-maker‘ in The Bible?”
Answer: “‘Martyr-makers’ choose to worship the provider of their pay, privilege, and pensions. They hate those who obey God instead of Caesar. Catholics know we must beware of nearby ‘martyr makers’. They are neighbors who try to ‘help’ by getting us to ‘bear false witness’.
‘Martyr-makers’ do worse than ‘stab us in the back’. They want to ‘stab us in the soul’.”
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Simple reasons to be among: “You are My friends if you obey My commands.” catholicfundamentalism.com
