The idea of a martyr is very present in Christianity.
A martyr is an individual who suffers or dies to defend his beliefs and convictions . In Western society, the concept is usually used to name someone who dies in defense of Jesus Christ and the Christian religion.
Christianity began to use the notion of martyr to refer to people who were tortured or shot for defending Christ and spreading their religious convictions. In the first three centuries after his crucifixion, those followers who were not willing to give up their beliefs were arrested and taken to the Roman circus . A place where they were thrown into the sand at the mercy of hungry lions; This was one of the most characteristic spectacles of the Roman Empire .
In the saints' calendar, a calendar kept by the Catholic Church with the patron saint dates of the various saints, there is a section known as martyrology , where those who died defending the principles of the gospel appear. It is worth mentioning that this book is ordered according to the date of celebration of its festivals and includes the martyrs generated by the ten great persecutions promoted by the Roman Empire .
Emergence of the idea of martyr
One of the teachings of Christ is the pursuit of perfection . And the church understands this and the love of God through one path: forgetting one's own life to make it available to ecclesiastical mandates. Thus, many followers of this institution became convinced that the only way to fulfill what their god expected of them was to put their existence aside to put it at the service of the Church; to such an extent that they did not even fear death.
In previous centuries, many embraced the cross, regardless of the consequences, in order to be loyal to this institution. Betting on that reward that the church promised them, eternal life . In this context, the idea of a martyr arose, for all those who were willing to give their lives for the gospel.
For Catholics, a martyr is an individual who was capable of everything to defend the word of Christ. They see him as a true example to follow and often use his name to evangelize those who live around them.
It can be said that he who dies to defend his ideas is a martyr.
Other meanings of the concept
In any case, the concept is not only used in a Christian context, but is related to the way in which people express their devotion to a certain ideology. You can be a martyr for defending your nation , religion or even an ideology . It could be said, for example, that Che Guevara was a martyr, because he died for socialist ideas, in the same way that Simón Bolívar was, because although he did not die in combat, he left his life in the fight for the liberation of the American peoples of the Spanish Empire.
The followers of Islamic fundamentalism are also martyrs since they give their lives to Allah and the ideas present in the Koran , the sacred book by which they are governed. Immolation is a requirement imposed on them if they wish to be part of the army . And its objective is to impose divine will and destroy the infidels.
From a colloquial point of view, and outside of issues related to beliefs , a martyr is an individual who suffers great suffering or who makes significant efforts to achieve something. Some examples may be: “Héctor is a martyr, he is only five years old and has to endure the confrontations between his parents,” “Pablo is not guilty: in reality, he is a martyr fighting against a situation that he did not seek.”