Alma: Martyrs

There are few martyrs in The Book of Mormon and even fewer (if any) of the self-sacrificing variety. Nearly all those killed for their faith go down fighting.

In many ways, martyrdom is a medieval tradition, far less popular in the ancient world (which gave more credence to honorable suicides for worldly reasons) or the modern one (which puts a higher value on living to fight another day). Martyrdom as a sacrifice for one's belief took off in the early C.E. years before Constantine when Christians could still prove their devotion by giving up their lives (rather than taking government jobs). It continued at a lesser rate throughout the Middle Ages. The Protestant Reformation almost entirely upended it.

During the Reformation in England, martyrs came about on both sides: Protestants (under Queen Mary) and Catholics (under Queen Elizabeth). Both sides perceived martyrdom as the ultimate argument: How can one argue with THAT? Consequently, both sides realized that the martyrdom of someone in the opposing religion had to somehow be called into question, especially if the martyr went down with style.

Martyrdom was used differently and similarly by Catholics and by Protestants. For Catholics, it was an indicator of sainthood (and somewhat easier to prove than miracles). To Protestants, it was an indicator of confidence in one’s elected status. For both, it was an example to others.

But the problem of good people sticking to “wrong” doctrines to the point of death continued. Both sides, therefore, increasingly took the position that martyrdom was about conscience: integrity regarding one’s beliefs rather that treason against a seated monarch.

The end result was useful to the doctrinal arguers since determining whether a martyr REALLY believed what he/she said while dying is an unending (and unsolvable) debate. From a later perspective, however, this focus on conscience became an integral part of the modern age.

Nineteenth-century American readers would have perceived Gideon’s death in Alma 1—Gideon is slain by the self-aggrandizing Nehor—as less about a martyr’s final words and more, quite dramatically, about an old man’s final stand:

7 [B]ut the man withstood him, admonishing him with the words of God.

8 Now the name of the man was Gideon; and it was he who was an instrument in the hands of God in delivering the people of Limhi out of bondage.

9 Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God, [Nehor] was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him. Now Gideon being stricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was slain by the sword.

Nehor is then tried for a specific crime rather than for his overall bad behavior. In both the ancient world and the modern one, Gideon would not be a Saint but, rather, a honorable fighter whose death guaranteed the justified punishment of the offender.