I subscribed to
Voice of the Martyrs' free monthly newsletter a few weeks ago, and yesterday I received some information. One pamphlet describes Bible smuggling and answers Christians who believe Bible smuggling shouldn't be done because of Romans 13 and similar verses. To demonstrate the ridiculousness of these concerns, the author describes the following hypothetical situations.
"When the mother of Moses was lovingly hiding her baby in the basket (Exodus 2), one of her church officials knocked on her door and convinced her that her act was "illegal." Realizing her sin, she surrendered Moses to the authorities. He was killed and the Jews remained in slavery.
"When Joseph and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were sneaking Him out of Bethlehem at night (Matthew 2), their friends, representing various religious institutions, reminded them that King Herod would be displeased by their illegal act. They surrendered Jesus. He was murdered with the rest of the children. The angel who had warned and instructed them was informed upon by some irate seminary professors and was tried in abstentia and given a five-year prison sentence.
"The first few centuries of Christians were very embarrassed that they were called atheists for not worshipping Caesar. They listened to some theological experts who unrestrictedly embraced a few Bible passages about government authority. They turned in their lists of members, gave up their secret (scroll copying) print shops, revealed the addresses of their catacomb meetings and stopped smuggling Bible texts out of respect to the emperor who claimed to be God. In a few months, Christianity ceased to exist.
"During two jailbreaks set up by God (Acts 5 and 12), the apostle Peter told surprised angels that he must respect the authorities and return to jail. The Christians praying with Rhoda never learned of his miraculous release.
"When Paul was being lowered in the basket over the wall (Acts 9), one of the men above had second thoughts and grabbing the rope said, "Wait a minute fellas, are you sure this is legal? Didn't Paul want us to give the authorities our spiritual rights, too?" Paul didn't get a chance to answer. When the basket jerked to a stop, he had fallen out and broken his neck.
"When the jailer took the apostle Paul into his home after the earthquake (Acts 16), Paul told him that God had made a mistake and they must return to the jailhouse."
Comments (9)
This whole mentality about "We must obey men rather than God." is merely a coward's way out of obedience to the Word of God. It's always been the same story.
Humm? I hope you don't get arrested for posting it, or put on some government list. Oh, wait, i just remenbered, your probably on several list already.
God bless you!!
Heroic!
I thought of something along the lines of "Rahab never hid the spies, and..."
awesome.
Thanks Emliy!
I used to get their newsletter when I was in school. It had some heart rending stories of the kind of persecution that people the world over suffer for the gospel, even today.
I have that same pamphlet on my bookshelf!
Well done. Great entry.
I find it interesting that this organization fails to mention Israel among the countries persecuting Christians. I distinctly recall the siege of the Church of the Nativity in 2002. At least one priest was murdered by Israeli "church snipers" when his head became visible through a window. Free passage to Sunday worship is now tightly controlled in the name of "security".
Could it that there's something less than honest about "the Voice of the Martyrs"? Perhaps they have a different agenda than the one they claim.