Persecution Blog

The Cause for Conflict

There is no question that the New Testament writers believed Jesus to be the Lord. He alone is supreme and to Him alone we owe ultimate allegiance. What Jesus Christ teaches and commands has priority over all other teaching and authority, both in heaven and on earth. Contemporary followers of Jesus believe this as well.

Therefore, Christ’s command to preach and teach salvation in and through Him should be our highest priority. By obeying this mandate, Christ’s disciples can expect to face opposition. Teaching salvation through Christ alone is the most serious threat to the powers of darkness, directly confronting anything or anyone that would try to usurp Christ’s ultimate authority. Authorities and powers that submit to Christ’s authority (or at the very least don’t claim superiority over it) generally accommodate Christ’s mandate without interference. However, certain ideologies that control some human governments see freedom as a threat to their power. God’s people will seek to fulfill their calling whether governments concur with them or resist them. In reality, the resistance is against God rather than his people or the message. He is the One being rejected.

A common theme in the stories of faithful martyrs is that they die due to their allegiance to Jesus Christ. Those who are loyal to Him are seen as a threat to earthly kings and kingdoms. The early church father Tertullian testifies to this fact in The Apology: “It becomes evident that the crime laid to our charge consists not of any sinful conduct, but lies wholly in our name. If, indeed, any real crimes were clearly adducible against us, their very names would condemn us, if found applicable, so that distinct sentences would be pronounced against us in this wise: Let that murderer, or that … criminal, or whatever it be that we are charged with, be led to execution, be crucified, or be thrown to the beasts. Your sentences, however, import only that one has confessed himself a Christian. … Surely, surely, names are not things which deserve punishment by the sword, or the cross, or the beasts.”

While acknowledging the authority of governments, Christians look to a higher authority that ultimately requires us to obey God rather than man when the two are in conflict (Acts 5:29). The Christian continues to witness even if it is illegal to witness and will continue taking Bibles to believers even if Bibles are banned. It is a matter of priorities. God’s priorities.

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Image credit: "The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer" by Jean-Leon Gerome. Public domain.

 

Against All Odds: Amazing Tenacity

Those who work with persecuted Christians realize we have a lot to learn from them. One of the lessons recently impressed on my mind by the underground church in China is their tenacity to carry out the task of global evangelism. At a recent gathering of mission leaders, mission teachers, and missionaries I heard a presentation by a Korean missionary who works with the underground church in China to prepare missionaries who will be sent out by the Chinese underground church. His main role is to help train Chinese missionaries who will be sent cross-culturally within China and also into neighboring countries in Asia and beyond. He said that there is no shortage of candidates from the underground churches desiring to go out as missionaries.

Some of the motivation to go out as missionaries stems from missionary movements within the Chinese underground church.  The “Back to Jerusalem” missionary movement, which began in the 1980s, is a movement to send missionaries to all the Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim people who live between China and Jerusalem, for example. Similar indigenous missionary movements continue to inspire and motivate Chinese Christians to serve as missionaries and have so for a century.

As the Korean missionary spoke, I was struck by the profundity of it—that in spite of being under restrictions, harassed, and sometimes persecuted, the underground church is looking beyond its borders to carry the gospel cross-culturally. It is recruiting, training and sending out missionaries. Apparently this is not new. Scott W. Sunquist, Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies and Professor of World Christianity at Fuller Seminary, wrote that even though the early Jesus movement [the early church] was fragmented and persecuted, it managed to retain its zeal for missions.

An article titled “The Chinese Church: The Next Superpower in World Mission?” by Kevin Xiyi Yao reports that Operation World lists 20,000 cross-cultural missionaries from mainland China. This is probably a very conservative figure since it is hard to gather all the information from the underground church. The article also reports that a survey done by a Korean missiologist reveals that 90% of urban and rural ministers in China are concerned about missions. Over 40% of believers in urban churches are preparing to participate in mission. The writer says: “Chinese Christians have ample experience of persecution and suffering, and they are more ready to endure harsh conditions.” I would doubt whether the countries these missionaries are going to will welcome them with open arms. Their experience helps prepare them for difficult assignments.

As the missionary movement slowly dies in the West, those persecuted Christians with just about everything going against them (from the Western viewpoint) are picking up the mantle and seeking to fulfill God’s mandate—against all odds. How ready are we to accept the difficult assignment? Does our present situation make this prospect unlikely? What are we going to do about it?

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Being Christ to Our Enemies

Having experienced the presence and forgiveness of God prepares a person to forgive others and be a gracious influence in their lives. Gracia Burnham, along with her husband Martin, were abducted and held by Marxist guerillas in the Philippines. They were in captivity for a year. Martin lost his life in a rescue attempt by government forces. Gracia described Martin’s attitude and spirit during those days in the following terms:

“Martin gave evidence of what I might term the Jesus Syndrome: to walk through the midst of a cruel situation with poise and self-control, saying only what would edify and build-up. He was able somehow to bless those who meant us harm—not just a verbal pleasantry (the quick “God bless you…”) but in real and practical terms that left a lasting impact” (To Fly Again).

The point is clear that, as Christians, we cannot love the systems that perpetuate pain and evil but we can love our persecutors, as persons with eternal souls. We may not be able to change the system but we can be used to win that person to Christ and remove them from the domination of the evil system in which they are caught. Richard Wurmbrand writes that the Christians who have been in Communist prisons don’t have the smell of bitterness against Communists like the three Hebrew children who were delivered from the fiery furnace did not have the smell of fire or smoke in them (Tortured for Christ, 63). In spite of the rise of Islamic extremism, Communists are still the main persecutors of  Christians in the world.

Such a spirit or attitude is so radically different than what the world experiences that it can be used by God to bring them around to considering Christ. The life transformed by Christ and is Christ-like is a powerful tool for winning people to Christ. Richard Wurmbrand said that “to believe in Christ is not such a great thing. To become like him is truly great” (In God’s Underground, 135).

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Grace To Live in Evil Times

A part of Christian eschatology is the conviction and belief that evil will intensify in the last days (Cullmann, “Eschatology and Mission in the New Testament,” Theology and the Christian Mission, 46). This began at the Day of Pentecost when the church was born and continues until today. There have been times of relative peace and times of the intense manifestation of evil, but there is little doubt in the minds of many that the situation in the world is not getting better. It seems especially intense at the moment.

The good news of the kingdom preached by Jesus came in the middle of what was called ‘the present age.’ It is to be contrasted to the age to come. Jesus agreed with the apocalyptic thinkers of his time that evil will dominate this age. It will become so intensely evil that at the end complete chaos will reign. The conflict motif which is found in the Olivet Discourse and which characterized both Christ’s mission and the mission of his disciples will not be resolved until the age to come (Ladd, Presence, 327). If the kingdom was not present there would be no conflict; there would only be the total domination of powers of evil. But the kingdom is present and it resists Satan and his kingdom and it will do so until the age to come is ushered in.

There is a mentality in the Western world that things are going to gradually get better and better, and the fact that, in reality, there is more religious persecution today than ever, it is difficult for the Western church to accept the idea that things will gradually get worse, but it will be more evident as the present age draws to an end. There will be false messiahs (Lesslie Newbigin believes this will be in the realm of “messianic politics”) where deluded persons claim to be the messiah and have an agenda that ultimately represents the move away from God and toward evil. This will cause great suffering in the church but it also the occasion for the Spirit’s witness, which is to be given to all nations (Newbigin, The Open Secret, 38-39). The calling of the faithful is to proclaim that the “reign of God had conquered the power of evil.” As they proclaim this, the Holy Spirit will use the occasion of the faithful who endure their rejection as an occasion to witness to the nations (Newbigin, 39). Newbigin summarizes he scenario of the end times as follows: “The scenario leads on into a still more dreadful crisis where evil enthrones itself in the very city of holiness (Mark 13:14-33), and through the dissolution of the natural order itself (13:24-31) will come to the final triumph of God, which will be an act of pure sovereign power and grace. In his own time an in his own way God will fulfill his purpose. Therefore, those to whom the secret has been disclosed must be ready and watchful, faithful to the commission they have received (13:32-37).” (Newbigin, The Open, 39).

G.E. Ladd notes that Jesus in his Olivet Discourse said unmistakably that his disciples would be vulnerable to the “demonic evil that plagues this age.” The conflict would intensify and “would reach a convulsive end in the appearance of the Antichrist at the end of the age” (Th Last Things, 58). So the trials and persecution the church endures today which is the result of increasing conflict between the two kingdoms was recognized as being the normal outcome of such a conflict (65). Society will devolve to the point where the state or government begins to malfunction. It will no long be an instrument of law and order but will become a totalitarian system that “defies God and demands the worship of men.” People will no longer punished for doing evil but will suffer for doing good. “This is the demonic state” (comments on 2 Thessalonians, Last, 68). The deification of the state is an example of the ‘principle of lawlessness’ inherent in and the cause of social disintegration. The state, which was ordained by God to stand as a defense against the powers of chaos, will break down completely, allowing chaos free reign.

This sounds bleak and hopeless, except for the Kingdom of God from which God rules in our hearts grants us grace to live through these evil times and maintain our faith. Tribulation and distress will not separate us from the love and grace of God. Glory to God!

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

George Whitefield’s Theology of Persecution

George Whitefield is well-known as an evangelist who was part of the Evangelical Revival in England in the 18^th century along with John and Charles Wesley. Whitefield’s theology of persecution is explained in his famous sermon, “Persecution Every Christian’s Lot.”

Whitefield was not persecuted or martyred although there were some who ardently opposed Whitefield’s message. He was very active in preaching in England and America.

His theology is straightforward and biblical. He begins with the Lord’s warning to his disciples that they would suffer persecution in His name. This teaching and theme is picked up by the Apostle Paul who not only taught about persecution but also experienced it. He is able to point to his own experience with suffering and persecution to validate his teaching. The most prominent point Paul makes is that those who seek to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted. Paul explains why this is so and this becomes a major part of Whitefield’s sermon.

So, the foundational truth upon which Whitefield builds his sermon and theology is that persecution is a common experience for every godly person. Based on this truth, he asks three questions, beginning with what it means to live a godly life in Jesus Christ. Then he discusses the various kinds of persecution, and finally, “why it is that godly men must expect to suffer persecution?”

What does it mean to live a godly life in Christ Jesus? His answer is quite simple yet true and profound. To live a godly life is to “make the divine will…the sole principle of all our thoughts, works, and actions. With the affections on things above, their citizenship is in heaven, the world reacts against this theology, perhaps because of the misinformed belief that Christians are not concerned with this world so Christians are a liability rather than an asset to the advancement of the world’s agenda.

Regarding the types of persecution, Whitefield does not list various tortures or injustices as one might expect, but he begins much deeper than that. The first kind of persecution, he says, is from the heart. He says that the root of all persecutions is “heart-enmity.” These persons who harbor a secret evil-will against God and His kingdom.

The second type or degree of persecution is that of the tongue, which spews out all kinds of evil against God’s people. Whitefield regards evil-speaking as a high form or type of persecution. To speak evil of or slander God’s people is “highly provoking in the sight of God.” Jesus Christ will call them to account for their speaking. The third kind of persecution is when Christians are specifically targeted by religious authorities and treat genuine Christians cruelly “under the cloak of religion.”

The third major question Whitefield addresses is why godly men must expect persecution. Essentially the answer is two-fold. First, because it is taught by Christ and second, because it has been the experience of genuine Christians of every age, including the present one. Whitefield returns to the theme of heart enmity. Wicked men, he says, hate God and hate those who are like him. It is the pride of the heart that leads men, he says, to persecute Christ’s servants. Pride and envy cause them to turn to persecution.

Persecution of the same degree does not happen to all godly people. There are times when it is more peaceful and the persecution is less intense. All Christians must experience some degree of persecution.

Finally, if all Christians are to suffer persecution, are they presently suffering from persecution? No, they are not. Why not? Does our cowardice cause us to remain silent when we should speak? Are we ashamed of Christ?

To those who are contemplating becoming a Christian, are you ready to give up everything to God? Are you ready for the opposition that may come from your own household? Are you willing to endure hardness? When you put your hand to the plough, do you intend on not looking back? These are not easy questions, nor are they superficial.

The last section is directed toward those who are persecutors. Christ is allowing them to be able to persecute people but they will be held accountable at the judgment. The ominous question will be asked by Christ, “Why are you persecuting me?” The punishment for being a persecutor is vividly described.

In summary, we have one well-structured sermon from Whitefield to work with. Obviously it is not a full-fledged, thoroughly definitive theology of persecution. But it has value nonetheless.

The focal point of his theology is that godly people will suffer, following the words of the Apostle Paul. Stated succinctly, the godly life is centered on doing God’s will. That puts godly people in conflict with the world for many reasons.

Those contemplating becoming a Christian must answer a series of serious questions about their commitment. Are they willing to be persecuted and perhaps even die for Christ?

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Wang Ming-dao’s Theology of Suffering and Persecution

The story of Wang Ming-dao, one of twentieth century’s most famous Chinese Christians who suffered for his faith, is full of powerful victories and devastating defeats. He was a contemporary of John Sung and Watchman Nee, and had an outstanding ministry as a pastor and evangelist. He developed his theology midst strong resistance, persecution, and suffering. He wrote a series of sermons from which an elementary theology of persecution emerges.

Wang’s book of sermons, A Call to the Church, clearly articulates what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Like Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship, Wang also had a clear understanding of what true discipleship entailed and in both cases, Bonhoeffer and Wang were tested on the ideas they wrote about.

Obey God or Man?

The major question which occupied Wang’s mind and set the tone for the series of sermons was “Should Christians obey God or man?” The answer is that under normal circumstances Christians should obey both. The primary obedience is to God while obedience to man’s laws and regulations is perfectly proper as long as they do not conflict with God’s commands and precepts. If, however, the human laws do conflict then we have no alternative than to disobey these laws. Christians should obey these laws, not out of fear for man but out of fear for God who has commanded us to obey those in authority (24). Yet, Wang writes, “anyone who works for God should make an irrevocable decision whether to please God or to please man” (68).

Obviously it is not always “either/or.” Wang says that Christians should be exemplary in obedience to human laws and regulations (25), respecting all authority “conscientiously” (25). But sometimes disobedience is required. Under certain circumstances Christians should not submit to man, if human systems or laws conflict with God’s commandments and principles (26-27).

In the case of authorities, no one should interfere with the Christian who is witnessing or preaching the gospel. Preaching the gospel is commanded by the Lord and it is a mandate Christians cannot ignore so therefore no one in authority should interfere with the preaching of the gospel. Christians need not be afraid of authorities because God is with us (27, 105).

Old Testament Prophets Suffered for Being Obedient

Wang uses the prophet Micaiah as an example of one who was called by God to speak on God’s behalf who suffered for it. Micaiah was determined to be faithful to God and to not please men if it meant being unfaithful to God (56). He writes: “Because he was so faithful, courageous and fearless that he would not bow under the authority of King Ahab, nor seek to please men, he spoke what the Lord wanted him to speak” (35). He knowingly took the risk of displeasing King Ahab in order to please God (34).

Wang defines determination, the hallmark of all who suffer for doing God’s will, as follows: “to obey God’s will at any cost, asking nothing about the future” (80). These courageous and determined servants of God fill the pages of the Old and New Testaments.

The Courageous Apostles

In the Book of Acts, the story is told of apostles who were imprisoned but were led out of prison by an angel. Even though they were now free and able to run to a secret hiding place, they were told by an angel to go to the temple and preach the gospel. They had been explicitly told not to do this by the High Priest as he scolded them in a public forum but they responded by saying that they ought to obey God rather than man. They had no fear of the High Priest and did not hesitate to do what God told them to do (98).

Wang says that the path the church today should take should be the same path the apostles took. They were courageous, did not hold life dear, were not afraid of authorities, and were faithful unto death (27).

The Apostle Peter, who denied Christ, was not, according to Wang, “armed with the spirit of suffering.” But after he received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost he was then “armed with the spirit of suffering” which made him a bold spokesman for God (30). He was ready to suffer and did not try to avoid danger (30). Peter writes about those who have suffered having ceased from sin. Wang interprets this as showing that God allows suffering for our own good (30).

The same is true of Paul and Barnabas who risked their lives for the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither Paul not his co-workers seemed to count their lives as having any value (131).

Opportunity for Martyrdom

Not many believers actually have the circumstances that allow them to experience martyrdom. Yet, remarks Wang, “every Christian can be like these valiant, victorious men” so that even if they don’t have the opportunity for martyrdom, they can receive the same glory and rewards of the saints who did have the opportunity (139).

In reality, it depends upon the will of God. If he wishes for us to suffer for his name’s sake or to die a martyr, he will engineer the circumstances. It is not a matter of our doing or even seeking martyrdom (32). Generally speaking, as the Day of our Lord’s return draws closer and closer, Christians will suffer for their faith more intensely, says Wang (73). While some Christians, when facing persecution, will all they can to escape and will become afraid to confess Jesus’ name, they have no comprehension how noble and great in his name. They do not understand that to suffer for his name is a truly glorious thing (103). Wang says: “…nothing can compare with being put to death for the sake of the Lord’s name and word—which is much more beautiful, glorious and admirable” (137).

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Alister McGrath’s Theology of Suffering

About Alister McGrath

Alister Edgar McGrath is a theologian, priest, intellectual historian, scientist, and Christian apologist. He currently holds the Andreas Idreos Professorship in Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, and is Professor of Divinity at Gresham College. He is an Anglican priest, ordained within the Church of England. He holds a doctor’s degree in Molecular Biophysics as well as a doctorate in theology and one in Intellectual History. He was formerly an atheist.

Questioning God’s Goodness

In his introduction to the Second Edition to his book, A Journey through Suffering, McGrath begins with a discussion of the goodness of God being called into question since suffering exists in the world. He observes that Christianity, far from evading the pain and sorrow of suffering we find in this world, faces it head-on by “declaring that God himself knows what it is like to suffer and shares in our suffering” (1). The Christian faith, he asserts, focuses on “the image of pain and suffering,” that being the cross of Christ.

At first, suffering may seem to question God’s goodness (1), but a deeper understanding of the cross and Christ’s suffering makes us aware of God’s deep compassion and love for us. The essence of the gospel is that God loved us so much that he sent his Son into the world to suffer and dies for us.

The Christian’s viewpoint and outlook on suffering must be grounded on the self-revelation of God and “is not the product of despairing human imagination” (8). God suffers with us just as “we suffer when those whom we love suffer” (13).

The Suffering of Christ’s Followers

McGrath affirms that becoming a Christian in the New Testament meant to experience the suffering of God’s people (95). Very early in the New Testament writings it says that we will suffer just as Jesus suffered (John 15:20). Jesus learned obedience through suffering (Hebrews 5:8) and so shall we. It is a part of the process of spiritual growth toward maturity.

To be a Christian, then, means to suffer with and for Christ. In the process of being made more Christ-like, God must at times break us and then remold us into the shape of Christ. We must not seek out suffering on our own, we must allow God’s wisdom to guide our lives and bring on the suffering when it is right for us (92). Suffering is seen as a “potential mark of God’s favour and presence” (92).

Theology of the Cross

McGrath thinks that the finest discussion of this topic is by Martin Luther and his theology of the cross. Luther made the suffering of Christ and of his people the central focus of his theology of the cross. Any thought about the nature and purpose of God must be “grounded in the cross of Crist” (31). Martin Luther believes that the love of God is shown through the sufferings of Christ and not despite those sufferings. The Christian church came into being through these sufferings, it is presently sharing in his sufferings, and will finally share in his glory. God is present (although often hidden) in human suffering and is able to transfigure and transform it (32-33).

God and our Suffering

As McGrath so aptly says: “God decided to be hurt by our pain. God allowed himself to suffer” (21). God is moved by our sadness and pain much like Jesus who wept over the tomb of his friend Lazarus. The cross, of course, shows his extreme solidarity with the suffering of the world. God chose to experience and share our pain (21). God expects us to have the same commitment toward suffering as he had (9).

Dying with Hope and the Age to Come      

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ enables us who are believers and the followers of Jesus to die with hope, hope in our future resurrection and with the knowledge that suffering has no place in the coming kingdom (2). Christian suffering provides a window through which the world can look to see why we react to hardship, suffering, and dying as we do (88). It is important that we affirm to the world that things are not the way they are meant to be nor are they the way they will remain (96).

The sufferings of the present age will be ended at the coming of the kingdom of God in its fullness (Romans 8:18-25). The present sufferings are like birth-pangs and will usher in a new age, when the kingdom will come and every believer will experience bodily resurrection unto eternal life. This is the hope that keeps believers going in this life (36, 37).

Suffering, then, is not pointless. If we share the sufferings of Christ, we will see it leads to glory, a new blessed existence where suffering, evil, sin, and pain disappear. It is difficult to comprehend all that God has in store for his people (98-100).

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

More Than Ideology

The atrocities committed by terrorists against Christians are generally attributed to their ideology. Usually it falls into the category of radical jihadist ideology. While ideology may play a role of being a catalyst that spawns extreme violence, there is something deeper and darker that is the root cause of such evil acts. It is more than just a clash of ideologies—the infidel verses the jihadist.

Back in the late 1960s when the Western world was fascinated with secularism and rejecting any need for a supernatural realm, there was a theologian at Harvard Divinity School who saw things differently. Secularists would attribute violent acts against humanity (and the persecution of Christians) to social conflict caused by economic, cultural, or political factors but not by any intervention of the supernatural world. Arthur C. McGill, then Bussey Professor of Theology, saw things differently and from my perspective, he saw them correctly. His little book, Suffering: the Test of Theological Method, describes the origin of violence and suffering which eerily describes our contemporary situation.

McGill addresses the question how an omnipotent God can allow suffering and violence to pervade the world. He approaches the topic by examining the concept of power. He contrasts the two opposing powers in the world—the demonic and the power of God. What he gives to the reader is a very interesting analysis of the power of domination that causes the suffering of people (demonic) but contrasting this with the self-giving, self-expenditure of God as the expression of his power and love.

McGill begins his discussion with a description of violence. He writes: “When suffering is caused by an excessive application of power and there gives a person the experience of being twisted or crushed by that power, we have an instance of violence” (20). Suffering is the result of an abuse of power. This correlates with our topic of suffering for righteousness’ sake or for Christ but I think McGill had a wider view of human rights abuses and oppression and was not specifically thinking of the oppression of the church. Still, what he says gives insight into the dynamic of persecution and suffering.

The seriousness of violent suffering, says McGill, is not just one of the inevitabilities of life that people expect and learn to live with, but it is the “scandal” that “threatens to undermine all confidence in decent values that make life possible” (21). In many ways he has captured the psychological effect that terrorists seek to cause, and in some cases it is the intent of persecutors to demoralize the church.

If one were to poll at random people today, most likely they would have a negative view of power. McGill believes that most people think that the “most decisive manifestation of power exhibited today is destructive power” (47). These destructive powers, he says, have a very peculiar character. They intrude the human scene and then suddenly withdraw with such arbitrary suddenness that it is difficult to rationally define them. They seem to have no faces or names. They just erupt and disappear (47-48). Terrorists or persecutors swoop in, burn churches and homes, kill Christians, kidnap children and then disappear into the night.

McGill explains why Christians experience violence from the world. When a  Christian renounces the power of domination as his lord, he/she provokes the world to rise up in violence against him/her (114). The world reacts against Christians to inflict pain and suffering on them (114).

McGill describes demons as “that peculiar energy of destruction.” He is not denying that demons are spiritual entities but he is focusing more on the function of demons—the energy or power of destruction.

The energy of destruction accelerates and radicalizes human emotion. He writes: “the dynamic of hate…magnifies the hostility into inhuman proportions, until it becomes an insatiable rage” (48). This energy enters into the inner life of a person and carries them into “inconceivable excesses of brutality” (50). This sounds all too familiar as our world seems bent on further escalating violence, brutality, and inconceivable inhuman actions of terror and rage, often against Christians.

Although he does not address the issue clearly, McGill appears to disregard the idea of original sin or of personal evil embedded in the human soul. His emphasis is more on human evil being the result of enslavement to the diabolical kingdom (51). He does say that the evil of human sin is “not primarily [italics mine] his perverse will or corrupt nature.” That statement implies that he believes sin has corrupted human nature but that it is not enough to explain the extreme acts of evil we are seeing now days. No doubt the fact that humans are able to be enslaved by the diabolical kingdom factors heavily in extreme acts of brutality and even persecution. According to McGill, the New Testament teaches that demons are the source of oppressive power (87).

The question that often arises in the minds of people in the world is, in view of the terribly destructive forces we are seeing and experiencing, how can Christians say that God is the Lord of the world?

McGill answers the question by contrasting the powers of domination with God. He begins with the statement that Jesus, through both his teachings and actions, “stands forth as the advocate of love.” This love is defined as self-expenditure for another’s needs” (53). On the part of Jesus, it is his “deliberate and uninhibited willingness” to expend himself for others. Jesus is not telling humanity how to change or reshape their lives. He is telling them what their individual lives would become when and if they participated in God’s own life, which means that their lives become “a momentum of self-expending service” (59). Jesus reveals to the world that God’s Lordship and sovereignty does not consist in the domination of humanity but by giving his own life to and for them (93).

In one of the more descriptive passages of the book, McGill describes what was going on at the cross:

“In that event the entire energy of the world moves in unison to destroy Jesus and to prove that the power to deprive holds sway. The disciples desert, deny, and betray him. Jesus is whipped, mocked, and tortured. In the end he dies” (21).

But Jesus is not a passive victim but continues to be active in at least two ways. First, he offers all that he does and is to the glory of God and, second, he expends himself to serve he needs of his brothers, which shows the emptiness of satanic power (94). Redemption in Christ now means that humans are liberated from satanic power and they are, in turn, possessed by the power and presence of God (93).

The answer to the brutality of our age is defeating the diabolical kingdom through spiritual warfare in the form of prayer. We must kill the root, and evil ideology will wither and die.

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Johann Christiaan Beker’s Theology of Suffering

J. Christiaan Beker’s suffering and persecution came at the hands of German occupation forces of the Netherlands in World War II. Beker later immigrated to the United States to become a professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. He died in 1999. While not specifically suffering for Christ’s sake, he suffered at the hands of those who were idolatrous, adhering to the false religion of Naziism. This experience led him to investigate the meaning of suffering, not only because of the emotional and psychological damage done to him but also theologically. The “mystery of suffering” must somehow be reconciled with the Christian belief in “the goodness of the good creation.”

While Beker’s theology is not a full-fledged theology of suffering, he touches on some themes that are relevant to our topic. A summary statement of his theology might be “facing the reality of suffering but always with apocalyptic hope.” Beker’s passion is to reconcile seemingly contradictory or paradoxical ideas in the Bible related to suffering and God. How do you reconcile “the mystery of suffering” with the goodness of creation? Or, how do you reconcile invisible hope with concrete reality?

He begins with some foundational themes that help guide his thinking and set the parameters for his thought. The first is the meaning of apocalypse. It does not mean, as it the popular usage of the term, the doom of total destruction and the annihilation of mankind and total destruction of the universe; but is a time of the reversal of evil and the transformation of humanity and creation where God is finally and fully revealed.

The second theme has to do with the ‘normative pattern’ for Christians, which should be derived from the gospel. The present suffering of the church and the world is set in the context of hope in the triumph of God.

The third theme is the dogma of retribution which constitutes the basic moral order of the universe. If you do good, you will be blessed; if you do evil you will be punished. It is the substance of justice. But, it is not the last word. God has introduced mercy for those who do evil. What is not taken into account, says Beker, is the fact that the righteous could and would suffer. In fact, it would become a way in which God would seek to redeem the world. Sufferings and tribulations are really penultimate realities. They will not be permanent, not the ultimate, defining reality. Suffering, Beker believes, comes at the hands of human injustice which has its ultimate source in idolatry. “Idolatry,” he says, “is the source of absolute ideologies, human illusions, and pretensions” (61). He suffered at the hands of idolaters.

Beker takes up the question of theodicy, or the defense of a good God in the face of the reality of evil. For Beker, it is the question of tragic suffering that afflicts the innocent for no apparent reason that is an issue for him. Actually, God hates suffering, he says, and it is alien to his coming kingdom. The implication is that he allows it now for his own providential reasons.

So, whether we are facing persecution or trying to live a Christian life in a world hostile to Christian values, Beker has some substantive thoughts for us to consider and incorporate into our lives.

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Theology of Suffering, Persecution, and Martyrdom

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote The Cost of Discipleship I doubt that he realized that he would actually live out what he wrote. He had profound insight and foresight into what true discipleship actually meant. He was personally and theologically ready to pay the price for obedience to Christ and that was required of him. Perhaps no theologian has so faithfully lived out the premises of a theology of suffering, persecution, and martyrdom as did Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer’s clear and profound theological thinking not only allowed him to understand what true discipleship meant but also to assess what was going on in his culture (the rise of Nazi religion), and to appropriately respond to it. This is theology at its finest.

His theological thinking begins with what he feels is the most important spiritual principle—one that guided his life. Love and obedience defined his relationship to God and love is expressed in obedience. Obedience meant being loyal to God and rebuking idolatry, which meant, for him, rebuking Nazi religion. So, love expressed through obedience was his first theological premise.

Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12 that anyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted. Living a holy life is both a life principle and a foundation theological premise (the second premise) of his theology of suffering, persecution, and martyrdom. There will come a time, he says, when the confession of the living God will not only cause hatred against us but will result in ostracism from society. The world, he observes, cannot live side-by-side with us because what we say and do, whether we intend it to or not, is perceived by the world as condemnation on them.

The third theological premise is that of costly grace. The grace that we receive at salvation will cost us our lives, if we truly seek to be Christ’s disciple. Obedience to Christ is the definitive sign of true discipleship.

The fourth theological premise is that the followers of Christ give up all personal rights, especially in the face of injustice that comes about because of our faith in Christ. Christians intentionally choose to love their enemies and do not seek revenge for evil done to them but are ready even to die for Christ.

The fifth theological premise is that love is defined as loving one’s enemies. This is how evil is defeated. We endure the evil person, we do not inflict suffering on others, and we refuse to retaliate.

The life of obedience is not without rewards, the greatest of which we will receive in heaven, if we remain true and steadfast to the end.

There is no question that this is more than good theological thinking; it is a very practical guide to what it means to be a true disciple.

Roy Stults, PhD, is the Online Workshop Coordinator and Educational Services Coordinator for The Voice of the Martyrs. He graduated from Olivet Nazarene University (BA and MA), Nazarene Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Doctor of Missiology), and The University of Manchester (England) with a PhD (theology). A Vietnam veteran, Dr. Stults served as a missionary for 19 years and pastored U.S. churches for eight years. Prior to joining VOM, he was a Professor of Religion at Oklahoma Wesleyan University.