The question about Evangelization

[Athanasiy]

I have meat the group of Evangelicals from the US , who arrived to the West Europe with a Evangelization trip.
They were offering the broshures and pamphlets on the city main squire by worning the passers by , about the danger of liberalism and the transgressions.
One thing seems strange that the language of wornings and preaching about Islam Religion was very provokative.
The West Europeans should beware of Islam , just because the Devol using this religion for his purpose .
And often they used the words to describe the muslims as the representators of terrorism , satan’s will and hell.

Is it possible to call this kind of preaching as an Evangelization ?
Is this Evangelization can convert the people to Christ in the spirit of love and God’s mission ?
Thank you.

 

[ArAnMike]

1Cor.13:

[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
[2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
[3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
[4] Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
[5] it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
[6] it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
[7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
[8] Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
[9] For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect;
[10] but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.
[11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
[12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.
[13] So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

All things must be done with love. A lot of times telling someone that they are going to hell puts them on the defensive and can create hatred. Besides, the judgement of who is going to hell is should be reserved to God alone. We should correct our fellow brothers, whether Christian, Muslim, or atheist, with love and caring, not by condeming them.

 

[puzzleannie]

Evangelization is spreading the gospel, the good news about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us. Anything else is politics, or propaganda, but it is not evangelization.

 

[Athanasiy]

Evangelization is spreading the gospel, the good news about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us. Anything else is politics, or propaganda, but it is not evangelization.

We believe that God became incarnate and died upon the cross and rose again . Yess.
It is only truth about God.
But we can not prove it mathematicaly or scientifically or even logically for the muslims.
I think this is the time as never before when Christians must look with respect at other religions and realize that God has been at work in them, too.
And we , preaching the Gospel should search the peacemaking ways which make us closer not the ways that brings hateness.
Muslims are also focusing on God from a different point of view , but God is quite sharply in focus.
So in my opinion, when the Evangelical preachers call them terrorists and the children of devol , the Evangelicals by doing this have the wrong way of preaching.
Islam is actually the peacefull religion , and the terrorism its just the wrong application of Islam.
In the religious dialog , the Evangelical way of preaching, in my opinion is not the God’s way to solve the problem

 

[Bennie_P]

Evangelization is spreading the gospel, the good news about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and what that means for us. Anything else is politics, or propaganda, but it is not evangelization.

Propaganda - you make it seem so dirty.

Sacred Congregation of Propaganda

The Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, whose official title is “sacra congregatio christiano nomini propagando” is the department of the pontifical administration charged with the spread of Catholicism and with the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs in non-Catholic countries.

 

[Bennie_P]

I have meat the group of Evangelicals from the US , who arrived to the West Europe with a Evangelization trip.
They were offering the broshures and pamphlets on the city main squire by worning the passers by , about the danger of liberalism and the transgressions.
One thing seems strange that the language of wornings and preaching about Islam Religion was very provokative.
The West Europeans should beware of Islam , just because the Devol using this religion for his purpose .
And often they used the words to describe the muslims as the representators of terrorism , satan’s will and hell.

Is it possible to call this kind of preaching as an Evangelization ?
Is this Evangelization can convert the people to Christ in the spirit of love and God’s mission ?
Thank you.

This sounds to more about politics then spreading the gospel, though such discussions may be needed, it should not be confused with spreading the gospel.

 

[Athanasiy]

This sounds to more about politics then spreading the gospel, though such discussions may be needed, it should not be confused with spreading the gospel.

I think that this wrong Evangelical Fundamentalists attitude has its reasons and roots in the false eschatological ideas promoted by the Scofield Bible.

We can not stigmatize all Muslims as terrorists.
In the muslim world all population has the prayer obligations which may be only our monks are able to observe regularly.
I mean the 5 times prayer. No matter where and when the prayer hour has come.
When they pray in the mosque , they don’t even dare to turn their heads aside.
They really worship God.

You can not as it seems in Jewish notion protest to God , or argue with God , or accuse God.
In Islam it is unacceptable and unthinkable.

I believe that the saving act of Jesus Christ is the main and only aspect of Revelation of God , but there are other forms to understanding of God.
While I myself affirm Christ as a manifestation of God and believe in Him , I know also that in the 21-st century as never before , we have to grow in proper multi-faith understanding.
In the religions dialog we have to be able to notice our mutual Theism and understanding the grounding inGod , and to search the peacemaking not the hatemaking ways.

 

[stbruno]

thefreedictionary.com/Proselytizing

Maybe a better word for it would be to proselytize.

 

[Athanasiy]

thefreedictionary.com/Proselytizing

Maybe a better word for it would be to proselytize.

I am more than sure that in some African countries , whatever religion is their state religion , if there the children are dying from famine or mulnutrition . Christ is more closer to those people than to any other people , whatever religion they belong.
Religion stands on the experience and interpretation of the experience - what people think they experience . The fact that it is an inner experience certainly makes it not easy to test. Some people test it differently . But the main thing is to understand that representators of all religion are brothers and sisters and our genuine sense of brotherhood must have a basis in the compassion and love , and only in the compassion and love.

The eschatology is very serious subject , especially when it is interpreted politically and , with materialistic theories.
The symbolic and spiritual meaning of the prophesies has to be understood properly .
I know definitely that God is against the chauvinistic , nationalistic and even neo-fascistic moods.
Well , it just my opinion

 

[Athanasiy]

The repentance is a matter which is between me and God.
I like the words of Oscar Wild , who says that ;
’ There are the two kinds of people , the ones who did a little and made a great deal of noise , the other , the people who did a great deal , and made no noise at all.’
Ok.
I liked the testimonies of those Evangelical; preachers.
They were very impressive .
The occured transformation in their life , if it is profound transformation according to their testimonies - just proves the fruit of repentance.
But when they talk about the end of the world events and interpreting them politically, by the future events on the middle east -they are just brainswashed.
The truth is condition of every judgement and decision. When I effect the peoples ability to know it - I sin against the truth.

Of course , I believe that there is the supremacy of God’s word and God’s will over the human moral reason.
Of course , those who obey Divine command must ’ humiliate ’ their intellects if God’s command runs counter to the dictates of reason and conscience.
That is the reason I believe that Abraham is not a murderer , but the’ father of faith’.
But there are the realities in the Scripture , which are bound by the time and culture , the trealities which are bound by the specific historical contexts.
Of course in many verses of the Scripture the prophesies have the literal sense.
But there are the realities in the Scripture which demand the understanding of the spiritual sense.
Also there are the realities which are related to the Israel as a God’s people , and the realities which has nothing to do with the modern state , no matter what apocaliptic mandate it would require , the realities which already happened long time ago.
And we can discover this by the proper exegesis , following the rules of sound interpretation.