Horror and a Blind Eye
I recently read a news article from the Washington Post about Saudi Arabian school text books. I am sure that most people who read this article responded with horror or disdain. From a couple random blogs:
One can see how this sort of teaching is a recipe for terrorist violence.
As long as such hate-filled rhetoric is posed as religious truth, extremist and takfiri ideologies will have a fertile field in which to take root and grow.
Certainly, in light of the terrorism coming from the countries in the Middle East, this type of thought is understandable. But, I question the haughty righteousness of those people criticizing these teachings.
Consider these words from otherwise well meaning Christians (only one was taken from a fundamentalist group):
Most people are unsaved. This is confirmed in the Scriptures. Only a few inherit eternal life. When an unsaved person dies, they perish to a place called hell. In hell, they are tormented day and night in the flame. Their tongue, in some manner, is set on fire. ... Finally, they are cast into the eternal lake of fire, which was prepared for Satan and his angels. This is called "the second death." There they will be tormented day and night, for ever and ever. There will never be any hope of escape. There will never be any hope of release. This is the eternal destiny of most people.
Hell is the reason why we are so eager to share the Gospel. The only antidote for hell is the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot be happier than when someone becomes saved.
The only people who have done good in God's sight are those who have received the righteousness of Christ; while they were still living on earth, they became saved.
It is an awful thing to contemplate, but if we die unsaved, there is no hope and no possibility of salvation.
If you believe in Hell, not just abstractly, but practically, if you believe the lost die and go to hell, if you believe your neighbors, your children, your parents and those you work with will die and go to Hell, let me ask you this? When was the last time you gave out a tract? When was the last time you preached on the street corner? I mean, if you really believe those people down at the bus stop, waiting for the bus, are going to die and go to Hell, when was the last time you stood there and spoke to them?
If you do believe in Hell, you need to find a street corner and preach on the subject of Hell. Build the church. Get people saved. Get them baptized. Get them serving God, so that they can win others. Do you really believe in Hell? Then it is time to get busy.
Hell is literally the second death, for the sinner will be forever separated from God, and, inasmuch as Gehenna is a place of darkness, this separation will doubtless isolate him from the companionship of unsaved friends as well.
150,000 People Will Die Today
The counter to the side is ticking off the number of people who have died since you opened this webpage. [a javascript weblet counting off a death a second] The vast majority of those people are entering Hell. Christ commanded his followers to share the Gospel with those who are perishing... who have you shared with today?
I think that this is enough! Before you make sweeping judgments about how evil another group of people are, take a good look at what you yourself believe. Let me juxtapose some words into the first grade version of Islamic hate doctrine (changes in italic):
" Every religion other than Christianity is false."
"Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words (Christianity, hellfire):
Every religion other than ______________ is false. Whoever dies outside of Christ enters ____________."
Would your first grade students get the answer right? And believe it?
There are people who are "fed up" with the way modern journalism tends to be saying "we're just as bad as they are". Well, in this case, we are.
Next time you are tempted to rail against another religion for intolerance, don't turn a blind eye to your own beliefs, and perhaps feel a little horror for what you profess to believe as well.
On a related subject, Adnan Siddiqi speaks about friendship between Muslims and non Muslims, including verses from the Quran and the Bible.
by Susie @ 2:09 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I think the idea of literal Fire and Brimstone needs to perish. It belongs in the dark ages. It is from unenlightened times, and is a ploy to coerce people into submission. That is not to say there is no punishment for the unrighteous or "unsaved" but that it is not a literal eternity in a lake of fire.
thanks for mentioning my post.If you gothru the Biblic verses which i mentioned in my post,they appear literally violent towards non-Bible followers.Dont you think?
...And also violent towards followers of "the bible". Count how many Israelites are killed by the Lord- it's a lot.
A lot of people ignore most of the Old Testament, because it's really long, and it poses a lot of tough questions - especially for believers of the trinity, like 'Why would Jesus have had all those people killed?' or 'Why didn't he just forgive the guy who tried to steady the ark (his heart was in the right place, and that's what counts, right?) instead of striking him dead?'.
Did you know, back in the day, in the north countries, the bible was changed quite a bit (although temporarily) to reconcile with their views on life. Jesus became a mighty warrior, The shepherds were watching stallions by night when the angels appeared to them at the birth of Christ and so on. This just shows that people will see what they want to see, and that we really shouldn't put such blind faith in a book like the bible which has had the hands of man all over it.
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