The Coming Christian Persecution
The Coming Christian Persecution

Author: Thomas D. Williams

Publisher: Crisis Publication

Published: 2023-03-21

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781644134450

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The age of martyrs is not a thing of the past … Churches burned. Christians beheaded. Faith communities driven underground. Governments forcing silence upon those who profess fidelity to the Gospel. These experiences are not confined to members of the early Church or to the missionaries and converts in far-off pagan lands centuries ago. The persecution of Christians is happening right now-and it is closer to home than you may realize. Moral theologian and news analyst Dr. Thomas Williams incisively juxtaposes the still relatively unknown global Christian persecution of today with that of previous epochs, describing it in its various forms and providing insight into what it means for the Church and for society at large. Dr. Williams shows how Christian persecution has been with us since the time of Jesus, and how modern attacks against Christians spring from six primary sources: atheism, radical Islam, Hindu nationalism, totalitarianism, academia, and Satanism. He provides valuable advice on how these outrages can be remedied and explains what Christians can do to prepare for what is to come.

Storm Warning
Storm Warning

Author: Donald S. McAlvany

Publisher: Hearthstone Publishing

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9781575580487

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As the black clouds of persecution grow ever closer, a small remnant sees it coming and are preparing for it. However the vast majority of Americans, Christian, and traditionalists remain in a deep sleep . . . as if a blindfold of deception, confusion, and delusion were placed over their eyes.

When Faith Is Forbidden
When Faith Is Forbidden

Author: Todd Nettleton

Publisher: Moody Publishers

Published: 2021-03-02

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 0802499465

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Winner of the ECPA Book Award Journey alongside Persecuted Christians Take a 40-day journey to meet brothers and sisters who share in the sufferings of Christ. When Faith Is Forbidden takes you to meet a Chinese Christian woman who called six months in prison "a wonderful time," an Iraqi pastor and his wife just eight days after assassins' bullets ripped into his flesh, and others from our spiritual family who've suffered greatly for wearing the name of Christ. Each stop on this 40-day journey includes inspiration and encouragement through the story of a persecuted believer. You’ll also find space for reflection and a suggested prayer as you grow to understand the realities of living under persecution—and learn from the examples of the bold believers you'll meet. For more than 20 years, Todd Nettleton (host of The Voice of the Martyrs Radio) has traveled the world to interview hundreds of Christians who’ve been persecuted for the name of Christ. Now he opens his memory bank—and even his personal journals—to take you along to meet bold believers who will inspire you to a deeper walk with Christ.

Christian Persecution in Antiquity
Christian Persecution in Antiquity

Author: Professor of Church History Wolfram Kinzig

Publisher:

Published: 2021-09-15

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 9781481313889

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For centuries into the Common Era, Christians faced social ostracism and suspicion from neighbors and authorities alike. At times, this antipathy erupted into violence. Following Christ was a risky allegiance: to be a Christian in the Roman Empire carried with it the implicit risk of being branded a traitor to cultural and imperial sensibilities. The prolonged experience of distrust, oppression, and outright persecution helped shape the ethos of the Christian faith and produced a wealth of literature commemorating those who gave their lives in witness to the gospel. Wolfram Kinzig, in Christian Persecution in Antiquity, examines the motivations and legal mechanisms behind the various outbursts of violence against Christians, and chronologically tracks the course of Roman oppression of this new religion to the time of Constantine. Brief consideration is also given to persecutions of Christians outside the borders of the Roman Empire. Kinzig analyzes martyrdom accounts of the early church, cautiously drawing on these ancient voices alongside contemporary non-Christian evidence to reconstruct the church's experience as a minority sect. In doing so, Kinzig challenges recent reductionist attempts to dismantle the idea that Christians were ever serious targets of intentional violence. While martyrdom accounts and their glorification of self-sacrifice seem strange to modern eyes, they should still be given credence as historical artifacts indicative of actual events, despite them being embellished by sanctified memory. Newly translated from the German original by Markus Bockmuehl and featuring an additional chapter and concise notes, Christian Persecution in Antiquity fills a gap in English scholarship on early Christianity and offers a helpful introduction to this era for nonspecialists. Kinzig makes clear the critical role played by the experience of persecution in the development of the church's identity and sense of belonging in the ancient world.

The Myth of Persecution
The Myth of Persecution

Author: Candida Moss

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2013-03-05

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0062104543

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In The Myth of Persecution, Candida Moss, a leading expert on early Christianity, reveals how the early church exaggerated, invented, and forged stories of Christian martyrs and how the dangerous legacy of a martyrdom complex is employed today to silence dissent and galvanize a new generation of culture warriors. According to cherished church tradition and popular belief, before the Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in the fourth century, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. These saints, Christianity's inspirational heroes, are still venerated today. Moss, however, exposes that the "Age of Martyrs" is a fiction—there was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches. The traditional story of persecution is still taught in Sunday school classes, celebrated in sermons, and employed by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get Christians and, rather, embrace the consolation, moral instruction, and spiritual guidance that these martyrdom stories provide.

Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy
Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy

Author: Geoffrey Ernest Maurice De Ste. Croix

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2006-09-28

Total Pages: 407

ISBN-13: 0199278121

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This volume brings together seven seminal papers by the great radical historian Geoffrey de Ste. Croix, who died in 2000, on early Christian topics, with an especial focus on persecution and martyrdom. Christian martyrdom is a topic which conjures up ready images of inhumane persecutors confronted by Christian heroes who perish for the instant but win the long-term battle for reputation. In five of these essays Ste. Croix scrutinizes the evidence to reveal the significant role ofChristian themselves, first as volunteer martyrs and later, after the triumph of Christianity in the early fourth century, as organizers of much more effective persecutions. A sixth essay pursues the question of the control of Christianity through a comprehensive study of the context for one of theChurch's most important and divisive doctrinal decisions, at the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451); the key role of the emperor and his senior secular officials is revealed, contrary to the prevailing interpretation of Church historians. Finally the attitudes of the early Church towards property and slavery are reviewed, to show the divide between the Gospel message and actual practice.

Safely Home
Safely Home

Author: Randy Alcorn

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Published: 2011-07-29

Total Pages: 502

ISBN-13: 1414361254

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Is this the day I die? Li Quan asks himself this question daily, knowing that he might be killed for practicing his faith. American businessman Ben Fielding has no idea what his brilliant former college roommate is facing in China. He expects his old friend has fulfilled his dream of becoming a university professor. But when they are reunited in China after twenty years, both men are shocked at what they discover about each other. Thrown together in an hour of encroaching darkness, both must make choices that will determine not only the destinies of two men, but two families, two nations, and two worlds.

The Persecuted
The Persecuted

Author: Casey Chalk

Publisher: Sophia

Published: 2021-11-23

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9781644135501

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For 2,000 years, the persecution of Christians has taken place wherever the Church has been present -- essentially, in every corner of the world. More than 260 million Christians around the globe are facing some form of persecution right now, and that number continues to climb each year. The Persecuted is an astonishing book that tells the real-life stories of brave Christians who are suffering intimidation, oppression, and violence right now as they resolutely live out their Faith in Muslim lands. The author, Casey Chalk, shocked by what he saw as a journalist living overseas, presents with skill and sensitivity these riveting stories that he witnessed firsthand. This global tour of Christian persecution will take you from the slums of Karachi, where Islamic extremists harass and kill beleaguered Christians, to the bustling, exotic streets of Bangkok, where Christians hide in fear while awaiting adjudication of their refugee applications. You'll meet brave Christians who escaped Muslim persecution to make a new life in the Netherlands, and others who slipped away only to become trapped in Russia. Casey tells the stories of Christians who were tortured and, in some instances, killed in Muslim nations -- and then lays out a strategic plan for rescuing as many as possible from their plight. Chalk also addresses other fundamental issues, explaining why Islam's radicals feel they must declare war on Christianity and why they persist in enslaving the Christians in their midst. He also explains how they have managed to get away with this appalling conduct in the face of powerful international organizations--and the Catholic Church herself--spotlighting the persecution and calling for its end. These harrowing stories bring you face-to-face with fellow Christians enduring the ultimate test in distant lands. They will strengthen your faith and also prepare you for what may lie ahead here in the West if we fail to heed the advice given in this timely and important book.

The Global War on Christians
The Global War on Christians

Author: John L. Allen, Jr.

Publisher: Image

Published: 2016-03-15

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0770437370

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One of the most respected journalists in the United States and the bestselling author of The Future Church uses his unparalleled knowledge of world affairs and religious insight to investigate the troubling worldwide persecution of Christians. From Iraq and Egypt to Sudan and Nigeria, from Indonesia to the Indian subcontinent, Christians in the early 21st century are the world's most persecuted religious group. According to the secular International Society for Human Rights, 80 percent of violations of religious freedom in the world today are directed against Christians. In effect, our era is witnessing the rise of a new generation of martyrs. Underlying the global war on Christians is the demographic reality that more than two-thirds of the world's 2.3 billion Christians now live outside the West, often as a beleaguered minority up against a hostile majority-- whether it's Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia, Hindu radicalism in India, or state-imposed atheism in China and North Korea. In Europe and North America, Christians face political and legal challenges to religious freedom. Allen exposes the deadly threats and offers investigative insight into what is and can be done to stop these atrocities. “This book is about the most dramatic religion story of the early 21st century, yet one that most people in the West have little idea is even happening: The global war on Christians,” writes John Allen. “We’re not talking about a metaphorical ‘war on religion’ in Europe and the United States, fought on symbolic terrain such as whether it’s okay to erect a nativity set on the courthouse steps, but a rising tide of legal oppression, social harassment and direct physical violence, with Christians as its leading victims. However counter-intuitive it may seem in light of popular stereotypes of Christianity as a powerful and sometimes oppressive social force, Christians today indisputably form the most persecuted religious body on the planet, and too often its new martyrs suffer in silence.” This book looks to shatter that silence.

The Politics of Persecution
The Politics of Persecution

Author: President Mitri Raheb

Publisher:

Published: 2021-09

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9781481314404

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Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has been a recurring theme since the middle of the nineteenth century. The topic has experienced a resurgence in the last few years, especially during the Trump era. Middle Eastern Christians are often portrayed as a homogeneous, helpless group ever at the mercy of their Muslim enemies, a situation that only Western powers can remedy. The Politics of Persecution revisits this narrative with a critical eye. Mitri Raheb charts the plight of Christians in the Middle East from the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 to the so-called Arab Spring. The book analyzes the diverse socioeconomic and political factors that led to the diminishing role and numbers of Christians in Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan during the eras of Ottoman, French, and British Empires, through the eras of independence, Pan-Arabism, and Pan-Islamism, and into the current era of American empire. With an incisive exposé of the politics that lie behind alleged concerns for these persecuted Christians--and how the concept of persecution has been a tool of public diplomacy and international politics--Raheb reveals that Middle Eastern Christians have been repeatedly sacrificed on the altar of Western national interests. The West has been part of the problem for Middle Eastern Christianity and not part of the solution, from the massacre on Mount Lebanon to the rise of ISIS. The Politics of Persecution, written by a well-known Palestinian Christian theologian, provides an insider perspective on this contested region. Middle Eastern Christians survived successive empires by developing great elasticity in adjusting to changing contexts; they learned how to survive atrocities and how to resist creatively while maintaining a dynamic identity. In this light, Raheb casts the history of Middle Eastern Christians not so much as one of persecution but as one of resilience.