“One day in the next century that Church – tens of millions of Christians trained to die – will be released into global mission and our prayers for the fall of Islam will be answered.”I read this in a post some time ago, and now I've forgotten where, but it was full of optimism and statistics to prove that Christianity was going to overcome Islam.
Somehow, I got a different picture from this post and its encouraging statistics. First of all, statistics mean nothing. Sorry, but I don't pay them any attention. Only God has the means to measure how many human beings have come to know Him and have accepted His Son and are “trained to die,” whatever that means to you or me.
Second, I saw from comments left on this blog that the more important issue for most people was whether one is a post-millennialist or some other kind of philosopher. Don't ask me, because I just believe what the Word of God says and don't try to interpret, and I don't deal in labels.
What “prayers for the fall of Islam”? I would bet that if any Christians actually pray for the fall of Islam it is relatively few. Pray for the fall of what cannot stand? What kind of prayer is that? We already know that Islam is in the process of falling as we speak. It's not directly attributable to any Christian gang warfare strategy against Islam, though the availability of the Bible through the internet and all the other internet resources is certainly making headway. Yet these resources are not our claim to victory. Those who make use of them on their own initiative—the Arabs and other Muslims themselves—are far more responsible for the melt-down going on in Islam than we are.
Islam is falling right now not because of our statistics or our efforts. It is simply a false and backward politico-religious system whose time has finally come—for dissolution. The Information Age provided by the humanistic world system that cares nothing for our Christian faith has provided the platform for Islam's fall. We Christians may take credit for it, just like Catholics believe Pope John Paul II was responsible for the fall of Communism, but I think both interpretations are missing the mark.
People want to be free. They want to be happy. They want to live without constant fear for their lives. They want to know that they can raise a family and pass on their heritage to their descendants. The following of Jesus Christ is always possible in every situation, but with various costs. In Saudi Arabia, the cost is probable death. In America, the cost can be apostasy. Why? Because a church that is victorious in the world always becomes ‘Imperial Church.’
We know this, we who are Orthodox Christians. We Greeks have learned our lesson. The throne behind the altar in our churches can be sat in by no one but Christ or His earthly representative, the Christian Emperor. We expect ours to be sat in by Christ alone. Our last emperor went down on the walls of Constantinople in 1453, proving the vanity of worldly power. Some of the Russians haven't apparently learned that lesson well enough yet, despite the murder of their last emperor; many of them seem to be holding out for an earthly emperor to sit on the throne behind their altars.
Islam is dying. It's death throes are proclaimed in the violence of the Mujahideen. We will live to see the fall of Islam, but it won't be like the fall of communism. History never quite repeats itself. The Christian opportunity is never more present than in one's own household. Before we glory in the evangelization of the Islam-enslaved peoples, have we witnessed to ourselves?
Second, I saw from comments left on this blog that the more important issue for most people was whether one is a post-millennialist or some other kind of philosopher. Don't ask me, because I just believe what the Word of God says and don't try to interpret, and I don't deal in labels.
What “prayers for the fall of Islam”? I would bet that if any Christians actually pray for the fall of Islam it is relatively few. Pray for the fall of what cannot stand? What kind of prayer is that? We already know that Islam is in the process of falling as we speak. It's not directly attributable to any Christian gang warfare strategy against Islam, though the availability of the Bible through the internet and all the other internet resources is certainly making headway. Yet these resources are not our claim to victory. Those who make use of them on their own initiative—the Arabs and other Muslims themselves—are far more responsible for the melt-down going on in Islam than we are.
Islam is falling right now not because of our statistics or our efforts. It is simply a false and backward politico-religious system whose time has finally come—for dissolution. The Information Age provided by the humanistic world system that cares nothing for our Christian faith has provided the platform for Islam's fall. We Christians may take credit for it, just like Catholics believe Pope John Paul II was responsible for the fall of Communism, but I think both interpretations are missing the mark.
People want to be free. They want to be happy. They want to live without constant fear for their lives. They want to know that they can raise a family and pass on their heritage to their descendants. The following of Jesus Christ is always possible in every situation, but with various costs. In Saudi Arabia, the cost is probable death. In America, the cost can be apostasy. Why? Because a church that is victorious in the world always becomes ‘Imperial Church.’
We know this, we who are Orthodox Christians. We Greeks have learned our lesson. The throne behind the altar in our churches can be sat in by no one but Christ or His earthly representative, the Christian Emperor. We expect ours to be sat in by Christ alone. Our last emperor went down on the walls of Constantinople in 1453, proving the vanity of worldly power. Some of the Russians haven't apparently learned that lesson well enough yet, despite the murder of their last emperor; many of them seem to be holding out for an earthly emperor to sit on the throne behind their altars.
Islam is dying. It's death throes are proclaimed in the violence of the Mujahideen. We will live to see the fall of Islam, but it won't be like the fall of communism. History never quite repeats itself. The Christian opportunity is never more present than in one's own household. Before we glory in the evangelization of the Islam-enslaved peoples, have we witnessed to ourselves?
1 comment:
Thank you for these interesting thoughts. Islam is a system that deserves to crumble. It's showing major cracks, but how soon will it fall? Only the Lord knows. Maybe in the next year. Maybe not in our grandchildren's lifetimes. My prayers are for the growth of the real church, not for the destruction of Islam.
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