Who is a Martyr?
The English word martyr is a translation and almost transliteration of the Greek word martur, which simply means “witness.” The Greek concept of martur witnesses for their beliefs despite the risk since he or she is certain of what they are witnessing. A martur, in other words, is a brave witness to what they clearly understand. In modern parlance, a martyr is killed for their religious or secular beliefs.
A Shaheed/shahid is a Muslim who dies in defence of their faith. Shahid is the subject of Jihad (struggle), and in Islam, there is an inner or personal struggle (the daily practice of Islamic beliefs and rituals focusing on one’s relationship with God) and struggle-jihad to protect Islam (which is a responsibility for every Muslim to defend his god and religion which some Islam extremists have abused in their acts of terror). While Islam includes roughly seven categories of martyrs: According to Mirqat-ul-Mafatih, vol. 4, pages. 39, Taht-al-Hadees 1561:
“In this blessed Hadees, it is stated that martyrdom, which is a great rank, is attained in other forms as well, besides giving your life-fighting in the way of Allah Almighty. Remember that sacrificing your life fighting in the way of Allah Almighty is referred to as the ‘Shahadah Haqeeqiyyah’ i.e. real martyrdom, whereas other forms of martyrdoms are considered ‘Shahadah Hukmiyyah’ i.e. legal martyrdom.”
According to the Catholicculture.org “Fr Ashley explains:
“Martyr’ is often used loosely for anyone who dies for the sake of any cause. But the Christian cause is objectively true, and not a subjective illusion, as are many of the causes for which persons die sincerely but deludedly. Thus those who die for the sake of fanatical religious cults, as terrorists, or for their glory, however sincere, are not genuine martyrs but are objectively suicides. Nor are those who die for a noble but merely human motive, as the parent who dies to save a child, or a soldier for his country, since such virtuous acts can pertain simply to the order of natural virtue. The sacred name of martyr belongs only to one who renders testimony to divine truth. A heretic in good faith who dies for Christ may be counted among the martyrs, but a contumacious heretic who dies for his sect is not a martyr because he does not testify to divine truth but a (false) human teaching.”
The first thing to consider is whether we are asked to die for God or to a God who died for us. Christianity is a movement centred on an empty tomb of a God who died and resurrected for his people, patterned after the Cross of a hanging and bleeding God dying for his people. Christianity celebrates Christ and only Christ. Only his blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins as well as the salvation of our souls from eternal damnation. It makes no difference who was killed because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
Christianity does not honour the dead because it has just one hero, the living God who died and was risen for it. Hebrews 11 is not a list of Christian martyrs, but of believers in the one who gave his everlasting life to secure our eternal life, Jesus Christ. Because Christianity is a life movement, there is no room for the dead.
Secondly, what were the martyrs of Namugongo and elsewhere witnessing? Were they seeing God/Jesus or religious heresy in the name of Jesus as it was passed down to them by religiopolitical missionaries? Is it possible that the Martyrs died for these missionaries’ extremist religious cults, just as some misguided Muslims blow themselves up in acts of terrorism in the name of Allah? Was the kingdom executing those who refused to denounce their religion or those who switched allegiances? The distinction (between religious views and political convictions) is very clear, and every analyst should bear it in mind to ensure that we understand the Kingdom’s stance on the so-called martyrs’ position. The reasons why your persecutors are killing you must be understood, and how correct your belief system is also important in determining your martyrdom.
Again, from the Catholicculture.org;
“The great moral theologian, Dominic Prummer O.P., says: Acts of Fortitude. . .these acts reach their peak in martyrdom. Martyrdom is the endurance of bodily death in witness to the Christian religion. Therefore three conditions must be verified for martyrdom: a) actual death; b) the infliction of death by an enemy out of hatred for Christianity. c) The voluntary acceptance of death. — Therefore the following are not genuinely martyrs: those who die by contracting the disease in their care of lepers, those who suffer death for natural truths or heresy, or who [indirectly] bring about their death to safeguard their person. — The effect of martyrdom is the remission of all sin and punishment since it is an act of perfect charity. According to Catholic doctrine, martyrdom renders the soul of the martyr worthy of immediate entrance into heaven. The Church prays to the martyrs but has never prayed for the martyrs.”
The claims here are as follows;
a) Acts of fortitude reach their peak in martyrdom
b) The effect of martyrdom is the remission of all sin and punishment since it is an act of perfect charity.
c) According to Catholic doctrine, martyrdom renders the soul of the martyr worthy of immediate entrance into heaven.
d) The Church prays to the martyrs but has never prayed for the martyrs.
These claims from the Catholic website are not theologically supported by Biblical doctrine. These are positions of a particular religion, not Christian theology as we know it from the Bible. Martyrdom is not taught in the Bible as a Christian act of bravery. It does not state that martyrdom results in the forgiveness of sin and punishment. The Bible does not teach that the road to heaven is through martyrdom, nor does it imply that Christians should pray to the martyrs who have died. We are forced to choose between Christianity and missionary imperialistic religions and positions on belief and worship.
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimages are an ancient tradition practised by ancient belief systems. It was once a pagan practice before being adopted by modern religions. Judaism and other ancient religions mystified certain locations, people, and artefacts that all worshippers were directed to. In the Old Testament, all Jews were required to walk from wherever they were to the meeting tent in the desert (Numbers 8:9; Joshua 18:1) and, during the monarchical era, to the temple (2Chronicles 7:1-16; 1Kings 12:25-33). Those who could not make the trek had to worship facing the direction of those geographies (Acts 2:5-6).
A pilgrimage is a spiritual journey undertaken by religious people. Those who believe in pilgrimage have three categories of pilgrimages: moral, geographical, and interior. If you deny yourself through ceremonies such as fasting to serve God and others, you are on a journey. That is the moral journey. Interior pilgrimage is when a person concentrates on their inner self through meditation and yoga-like routines, which may result in them leaving their geography and travelling to other places. The third is the most prevalent, Place Pilgrimage.
A religion mystifies specific places (shrines), and people, and sets aside specific dates based on religious occurrences in the site pilgrimage. Religious individuals are morally obligated to visit these places for both spiritual and physical reasons (wealth and health). Pilgrimages are practised by all religions, including Catholicism, Anglican, Islam, and Pentecostalism because all these religions have holy locations, sacred objects, and saints that are venerated.
Christianity, on the other hand, lacks all of these. Christianity does not need us to visit Jerusalem, the sites where Jesus and the apostles journeyed, Jesus’ grave, and so on. As the Jesus of Faith (God incarnate), Jesus of Nazareth (historical Jesus) does not matter, and hence his grave, the hill upon which he was crucified, his cloth, and the locations he did what and what are not significant to us Christians and thus have no spiritual importance at all. Christianity does not worship a God to whom we make pilgrimage, but rather a God who made pilgrimage to us. God came to us from heaven, not the other way around.
What the Bible says
What the Bible says about martyrs should be based on careful Bible study. It is one thing to cite Bible verses to argue one’s conclusion; it is quite another to use these scriptures in their right context to deduce a meaning even for the current circumstances. Biblical literalism and symbolism have resulted in biblical abuse to the point that individuals have a verse for everything. It will not surprise us to find people supporting idol worship with Bible passages and martyrdom.
Martyrdom, on the other hand, is not a word in the Bible, nor is the concept or practice itself. For example, when the Assyrians attacked and slaughtered Israelites because of their belief systems, the Israelites did not commemorate the deceased as saints, and the Jews did not mystify the places where such people were killed. Neither did the Philistines do the same when the Israelites murdered them for idol worship in some cases.
The Babylonian King builds an Idol for worship in Daniel 3, and the three Jewish boys reject it. He decides to kill them as a result. It was the god of Judaism vs the Babylonian god in this episode, and three Hebrew boys were willing to die without surrendering their faith in the Jewish god. When the Kingdom of Buganda witnessed this new religious system, was it their gods or the monarchy itself that was most at risk, given the impact that the missionaries had on the kingdom youths? It is important how we respond to that question.
In Acts 7, Stephen was killed by a religion (Judaism) for proclaiming Jesus to be God and the true Messiah. He no longer qualifies as a martyr because his persecutors did not issue an ultimatum. Secondly, the early church never mystified him as a saint through whom God’s blessings would flow, nor did they mystify his stoning site as geography to pilgrims. If you ask Steven, he did not die for his beliefs or his master; he was killed for his belief system, and most importantly, he was killed by a religious system.
Many people were killed during the Christian crusades, some as pagans because of their divergent viewpoints on existing religious doctrinal beliefs, and others for not believing in the gods these religions advanced; should we celebrate those who were right but persecuted and killed by the then and now wrong religions? Religion killed Galileo because he was correct, and the religion was wrong. He is never regarded as a scientific martyr.
Christianity is a belief system in which God dies for his believers, not the other way around. “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next,” Jesus warned (Matthew 10:23). Furthermore, if we read through the book of Acts, we discover that the early church was constantly fleeing terrible persecution (Acts 8:1; 9:25, 30; 14:6; 17:10, 14). It’s one thing to be persecuted for your views to the point of death, and it’s quite another to be recognized as a martyr and then worshipped as a conduit of divine blessings long after you’re gone. Such an exercise and belief are not Christian and cannot be justified in the Bible through proper Bible study. We are not called to martyrdom, but to the Cross, where our Creator and Redeemer has made the ultimate sacrifice.
Finally, according to Hebrews 10:11-15, no one else can represent us before the heavens since their sacrifice cannot wash away our sin or our helplessness (V. 11). Only Jesus died for us and offered a perfect sacrifice that was sacrificed forever (V. 12), and by that one sacrifice, he perfected those who believe (V.14). Our martyrdom and pilgrimages will not add anything to our deliverance but will instead lead us away from it. We are not called to witness our own death or to ecstatically display our devotion to God in painful ways. The witness (martur) is the Holy Spirit, not us (V. 15).
God bless you,
I invoke TRUTH, WISDOM and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest M.I.T White (+256-775 822833)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
Questioning to Believe and Believing to Live
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 