THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JIM ELLIOT

Is He Considered a Martyr?

 

Ruth M. Both offers her description of a martyr by paralleling the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Thomas Becket.  In quoting Becket “…the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God.”  Thomas Becket was an Archbishop of the Catholic Church in the 1100s and is claimed as both a saint and a martyr by the Catholic Church.  Both shows the similarities between King and Becket in the moments leading to their deaths and the deaths themselves. The willingness of King and Becket is shown in the following quotations.  Becket on speaking of the knights who were sent to kill him: “The church shall be open, even to our enemies. Open the door.” Similarly, “Martin Luther King steadfastly refused a bodyguard.  He had no fear for the safety of his person and he openly practiced the nonviolence that he preached.” Thus they both lost their will in the will of God.  Jim Elliot fits the readiness to die qualification as well when he said, “When it comes time to die, make sure all you have to do is die.”  The deaths of many missionaries, including Jim Elliot, resemble the deaths of the martyrs mentioned above.

 

 

Specifically, Jim Elliot understood the danger of his mission. The violent nature of the Huaorani people was understood by the five missionaries before making contact with them. Alexander Olson of the University of Washington described a martyr as an “arbitrator of [one’s] people who was ‘sacrificed’ for the liberty, honor, and rights of [one’s] people.”  Although this description takes on a more secular view, it is still applicable to Jim Elliot’s death. Elliot sacrificed his life for rights of the Huaorani so that they could have the opportunity to live out their life in eternity with Christianity’s God.   As Elliot said “Our orders are: the Gospel to every Creature.” Thus, even in the recent times of religious deaths, Elliot can unequivocally be considered a martyr, much the same as Thomas Becket and Martin Luther King Jr. were.