Once we faced Lions . . .
Now we’re afraid our neighbors might think we’re weird. A Christian ministry founder says he believes American Christians are not ready for persecution. I wonder what was his first clue? [HT: Dispatches]
Now we’re afraid our neighbors might think we’re weird. A Christian ministry founder says he believes American Christians are not ready for persecution. I wonder what was his first clue? [HT: Dispatches]
With a hat tip to UM-Insight, I saw a great cartoon and some excellent commentary on the Wesley Brothers blog. Maybe you think you, too, need a Disciplan. Here’s a quote: We don’t engage in these practices to prove anything. Selfless practices do not make me more worthy of God’s love. Rather, they prepare my…
Peter Kirk has been involved in some extended debates about the atonement, and you can read about it here and here. Peter has written some good stuff on understanding the atonement. I have generally just been saying that we must recognize our ways of explaining the atonement as metaphors, and not as the reality. A…
I will be dealing frequently with issues of date and authorship while discussing Paul. The reason for this is that there is a considerable variation in what books scholars believe that Paul wrote, so while giving perspectives, I need to deal with the differences in the books attributed to Paul and what picture emerges of…
I encountered a question recently that I’d like to explore a bit. The question comes in three parts, or perhaps with three perspectives. When God commanded the Israelites to look to the bronze serpent to be healed, was God commanding idolatry? Why would God give this command? Was this a good command? It’s easy to…
I was happy to see this forum take place, though I only had time to watch a portion of it as it played. (I must note also that I am resistant to watching major political debates this far from the election.) The major reason is simply that there have always been many more people of…
Chris Eyre has started a series of comments (What Price Apologetics? and Christian Apologetics) on the Consider Christianity Series by Elgin L. Hushbeck, Jr.. Chris is somewhat critical of the series, and I thought he would provide a good starting point for discussion of it. Note that I own the publishing comany (Energion Publications) and…
With a hat tip to UM-Insight, I saw a great cartoon and some excellent commentary on the Wesley Brothers blog. Maybe you think you, too, need a Disciplan. Here’s a quote: We don’t engage in these practices to prove anything. Selfless practices do not make me more worthy of God’s love. Rather, they prepare my…
Peter Kirk has been involved in some extended debates about the atonement, and you can read about it here and here. Peter has written some good stuff on understanding the atonement. I have generally just been saying that we must recognize our ways of explaining the atonement as metaphors, and not as the reality. A…
I will be dealing frequently with issues of date and authorship while discussing Paul. The reason for this is that there is a considerable variation in what books scholars believe that Paul wrote, so while giving perspectives, I need to deal with the differences in the books attributed to Paul and what picture emerges of…
I encountered a question recently that I’d like to explore a bit. The question comes in three parts, or perhaps with three perspectives. When God commanded the Israelites to look to the bronze serpent to be healed, was God commanding idolatry? Why would God give this command? Was this a good command? It’s easy to…
I was happy to see this forum take place, though I only had time to watch a portion of it as it played. (I must note also that I am resistant to watching major political debates this far from the election.) The major reason is simply that there have always been many more people of…
Chris Eyre has started a series of comments (What Price Apologetics? and Christian Apologetics) on the Consider Christianity Series by Elgin L. Hushbeck, Jr.. Chris is somewhat critical of the series, and I thought he would provide a good starting point for discussion of it. Note that I own the publishing comany (Energion Publications) and…
With a hat tip to UM-Insight, I saw a great cartoon and some excellent commentary on the Wesley Brothers blog. Maybe you think you, too, need a Disciplan. Here’s a quote: We don’t engage in these practices to prove anything. Selfless practices do not make me more worthy of God’s love. Rather, they prepare my…
Peter Kirk has been involved in some extended debates about the atonement, and you can read about it here and here. Peter has written some good stuff on understanding the atonement. I have generally just been saying that we must recognize our ways of explaining the atonement as metaphors, and not as the reality. A…
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I have mixed feeling about this. I’d like to think that I’m ready to suffer persecution for my faith but who really knows what I’d do in the face of the threat of torture or painful death?
The ‘but….’ to my comment is this: I feel that many Christians cry ‘persecution’ where there is nothing other than a removal of previous privileges or unexamined presuppositions of ‘Christians Good / everyone else evil’
For instance, in the UK, there was an email circulating amongst Christians (I received a few from fellow ministers and was asked to pass it on) saying that our post office was suppressing knowledge of ‘religious’ Christmas stamps so that they could claim in a few years’ time that no one wanted them. An enquiry by another minister friend of mine to the post office received a denial along with a pointer to the post office’s website where they were clearly being marketed along with the ‘secular’ Christmas stamps.
For me, these sorts of ‘false claims of persecution’ are both an offence against truth – which Christians should defend – and they are risk fomenting a sort of ‘habit of persecution’ where none exists.
Not having ‘the upper hand’ is not the same as ‘being persecuted’ as any genuinely persecuted individual will tell you.
I’m in agreement with this and with your whole comment. That was really my point. Christians here in America (I won’t speak for your side of the pond, though it sounds like you’re saying things are similar) are complaining about minor annoyances and about people not liking them. If they complain about that, and call it persecution, what will happen if it gets real?
I grew up overseas with my missionary parents, and I recall once fleeing our home because people were on the way who were threatening to kill us. I still don’t think that was anything like was is going on in Darfur, for example, but it gives me enough perspective to cringe when someone thinks they’re persecuted because their “Merry Christmas” wasn’t appreciated.