Henry Voes, Johann Eck, & Lampertus Thorn (1523)

These brave Christians were the 1st to die as Protestants.  They were Augustinian monks, same as Martin Luther, who took to Luthers new found faith & freedoms. They would be the 1st to be killed for simply disavowing the papacy, the communion substance as literal, and all other church teachings that had zero scriptural base.  They did not and was killed July 1, 1523. The prosecutors urged that the accused "return" to faith, and would have pardoned each one for just a word of agreement. They were told Martin Luther led them astray and their response was, "Yes, we were led astray by him, as were the apostles led astray by Christ." The prosecutors asked, have you no fear at breaking the pope's edict? Their answer, "We believe God's commandments, and not human statutes." They would be burned to death!
Martin Luther was overcome with sorrow for them and would state, "The cause we defend is no longer a simple game, it looks for blood, it seeks for life." Obviously, Christianity isnt a game at all but his point was, these religious leaders entered a new kind of evil, as Christ faced 1400 years earlier!  Question, if your religion is so correct, why do you feel the need to kill anyone who opposes your ideas? Is that how God handles His business?  What seems so clear as satans tactics is only clear because God has opened our eyes.  We would have been doing the killing if not for Jesus, this I'm sure of!