The martyrdom of thousands in the first three centuries of the church who were willing to face death rather than burn incense to Caesar or a pagan idol, is the strongest evidence for the truth of the claims of the New Testament. Men who had recently been afraid to be seen with Jesus when he hung on the cross on Golgotha were willing to bet their very lives on the conviction that he was raised from the dead and that his victory had procured their own hope for life beyond death.