The post that was quoted here has been removed
As a realist, I expect that Christianity will remain a major religion in the world for a long time. But if some Christians feel happier by indulging in paranoid fantasies of their imminent martyrdom, then that's their choice.
Well, what some of us do is consider the Scripture and some history.
The enemy of the church has attempted several means to rid the earth of the Gospel. At first he sought persecution from without. And the saying went out that "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the saints." In other words the more the saints were persecuted the more the faith of Jesus grew.
Executioners became believers as they witnessed how the Christians died - some praising and singing unto their Lord.
After a few centuries of this spotty yet intense persecution from the world towards the community of faith, the enemy changed tactics. The opposite was launched - to WELCOME the church - diluting her, mixing her up with the world.
This was a form of attack that the church has never fully recovered from on a large scale - the WELCOME MAT being placed out by the World - "We receive You NOW."
Between these two extremes we Christians are often tossed.
I am a US citizen. We have a lot of freedom here. But I envision that a time could come when this could change dramatically. It is not a matter of paranoia. It is a matter of not being over naive that God will allow what He needs to allow in order to obtain a refined, tested, enduring and maturing crop of believers in Christ.
His second coming is spoken of in terms of a marriage.
He wants to come back to a mature corporate "Woman" counterpart and not an immature teenage girl partner.
So Revelation 19 speaks of the Bride of the Lamb (the Redeeming God-man Jesus) preparing herself.
Persecution is one of the means to furnish the incentive for such preparation of the Wife of the Lamb to meet her Bridegroom.
Originally posted by josephwThere will always be Christians left in the world. Even after the rapture. Because that's when the 144,000 will get busy to bring as many as they can who are left to the Gospel. Even in the heaviest persecution of the last days there will be newcomers brought to Christ. This is what overcoming is all about.
Much sooner.
Soon there will be no Christians left in the world.
3 edits
The post that was quoted here has been removed"...by about 2070. Afterward, Islam is expected to become the world's most popular religion..."
I don't know about Islam being the most popular although I understand it, if it as taken to also mean "populous." Its growth will be in people born to the faith in southern Africa and Indonesia, together with a general retreat from religion of non-Muslim Europeans. South America is, more and more, only nominally Christian, although the influence of Pope Francis is tbd.
What I wonder about, and will not live to see, is how the 21st century will change Islam, and how Islam will change the world. The closest historical analogy might be the Crusades? Or perhaps we are still working out something more recent?
1 edit
Originally posted by josephwCan't happen soon enough for me. Maybe then there will be peace.
Much sooner.
Soon there will be no Christians left in the world.
Unlikely since there are so many Muslim sects also at each other's throats.
I have always said I want freedom FROM religion not freedom OF religion.
I want to move to a planet where I don't have to say what religion I am to get a job or to not be shunned because of some other religious belief or a non-religious belief.
The whole thing makes me sick that people would fight over imaginary gods.
"MY imaginary god is a LOT stronger than YOUR imaginary god so I am going to kill you because of it".