UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES
The Newsletter of Contend for the Faith, Inc

1 Chronicles 12:32

JUNE 2003

Views on the Latest News: “Christian Terrorism” a Threat?

CHRISTIAN TERRORISM?

I’m sure that some who are opposed to conservative Christianity are just giddy at the prospect of making such a charge, smearing evangelicals as being of the same theological strain. Since the allegation is that Rudolph committed these crimes because of his opposition to abortion and homosexuality, Christians who likewise oppose these sins must also be potential terrorists. The Christian faith becomes guilty by association.

Michael Barkun, a political science professor at Syracuse University, is quoted in the Washington Post as saying that, based on what is known of Rudolph, it is likely “he can legitimately be called a Christian terrorist.” Voice of America writer Maura Jane Farrelly asserts that “Islam isn’t the only religion that’s been twisted and distorted to justify acts of terrorism.” She declares that the arrest of Rudolph is “an important reminder that ‘Christian Terrorism’ was in the United States long before its Islamic counterpart. . . .” Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts writes, “Is Rudolph a Christian terrorist? If [Osama] bin Laden is a Muslim terrorist, then isn’t the unavoidable answer yes?”

The problem with this charge is simply this: the term “Christian terrorist” is an oxymoron. It is like talking about a “patriotic traitor.” The two ideas are completely antithetical.

However, this fits conveniently into the distorted view among liberals in the media that Islam is really “a religion of peace” and that Christianity has spawned as much murder as Islam has. Both religions, we are told, have their “extremists” and dangerous “fundamentalists.”

But there is a crucial difference between referring to “Muslim terrorists” (which I think is a very valid term) and “Christian terrorists.” If a Muslim murders in the name of Allah, he is being consistent with the teachings and practices of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. However, when someone who professes to be a Christian murders in the name of Christ, he is being horribly inconsistent with the teachings and practices of Jesus. Muhammad said followers should kill their enemies; Jesus said followers should love their enemies.

When the basic teachings of each belief system are examined without distortion, it is very clear that they are worlds apart. None of the teachings of Jesus can legitimately be used by individuals as the basis for murdering others. There are many statements in the “sacred writings” of Islam that advocate doing just that.

No one who is a Christian (meaning one who has trusted in Christ for eternal life and is following His teachings) can terrorize people in the name of Christianity. Even if a truly redeemed person became so misguided that he murdered someone, his actions would not in any sense be “Christian.” Likewise, a traitor could not in any sense be a patriot. In both cases, he would be acting contrary to what he says he believes.

Eric Rudolph may be guilty of terrorism, but Jesus is not guilty of instigating it.

PRAISES AND THANKSGIVING

Thank you to all who donated toward a new copier machine that we needed. We were able to buy an excellent and versatile HP all-in-one scanner, printer, fax, and copier on sale.

We praise God for increased monthly support we have received in recent months. Thank you to all who have given financially and thank you to all who have prayed for this ministry. We appreciate it greatly.

www.ContendfortheFaith.org

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

UNDERSTANDING THE EXCLUSIVITY OF CHRISTIANITY: PART TWO

In our last issue, we looked at the exclusivity of truth. We saw not only that true statements are exclusive by definition, but also that all claims to truth (whether they are true or false) are unavoidably exclusive.

This time we will examine what the Scriptures have to say on this issue. There are dozens of verses in the Bible which either implicitly or explicitly refute the claims of Christian inclusivism

Jesus is the supreme authority and the greatest source concerning the exclusive nature of the Christian faith. Jesus proclaimed, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7:13-14).

This verse demonstrates two things. First, when Christians are called “narrow-minded” because of the views they hold concerning salvation, this is a good thing. Since truth by definition is narrow because it excludes all contradictory claims, Christians must be narrow in what they believe, and Jesus is in agreement. Second, it teaches that many will come to “destruction” because they have chosen the broad road that leads that way. Jesus disagrees with those who say all people (or almost all) will be saved.

Jesus also denied that everyone who has any measure of respect for Him will thereby be saved. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7:21-23).

Jesus did not mince words when it came to the number of ways by which one can get to heaven: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). He also said that He alone was the door to salvation: “Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and I will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:7-9).

When He was speaking to the unbelieving Jews who thought they had salvation because they were descendents of Abraham, Jesus disabused them of this notion by declaring, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. . . . He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God” (John 8:44-47). It would be hard to imagine a stronger denial of inclusive salvation for all regardless of belief.

In the third chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus says His mission was not to condemn the world but to provide salvation for it. He says everyone who believes into Him will be saved. That clearly implies that those who do not believe will not be saved. But just to make it crystal clear, Jesus said, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

The apostles of Christ were no less clear on the issue of exclusivity. When Peter was questioned by the Sanhedrin after healing a lame man in the name of Jesus, he responded by saying, “If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:9-12).

Paul was clear in his epistles that there was only one true message and one true Mediator who enables a person to receive eternal life. He warned people against being deceived by anyone preaching “another Jesus” or a “different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4). He admonished believers that if an angel or even Paul himself began to preach any other gospel “let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8-9). And he proclaimed, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).

Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, also affirmed the exclusiveness of Christianity when he exhorted believers to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). He declared there would be no additions to the body of doctrine already given by the apostles, thereby excluding the validity of later religions like Islam and Mormonism.

Because the message of Christianity is true and exclusive, because eternal life is available to anyone who will receive Christ as Savior, and because salvation is a free gift received by grace alone through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9), there is reason for people of every nation, tongue and tribe to rejoice. This exclusive message should be embraced and celebrated, not feared, criticized, and reviled. In a world in which the military of the United States has just removed dictator Saddam Hussein and his Baath political party from power in Iraq after more than 20 years of tyranny, there is no reason for political and religious liberals in America to have a greater fear of Baptists in Iraq than Baathists in Iraq.