What will happen to the Christians who are being killed?

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oneofmany

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I read a news story about a Christian man who was forced to disavow his religion and recite a prayer to Allah saying he was the true God before he had his head cut off. Does God understand these people are not really disavowing their religion?

If a crazy man walked up to you and asked if you were Christian and you thought he would not kill you if you said no would it be ok to say no? After all it is a crazy man.

So many Christians now are being killed like that now and it is sickening.
 
I don’t know what happens to the Christians who say a prayer to Allah and then are killed anyhow. I guess it would depend on the prayer, as Allah is simply the muslim word for God. However, if a Christian is told to convert or die, he or she should sadly DIE. We are asked to stand up for Christ even if it costs us our very earthly life. This is the case of many of the martyrs we can read about in the “Lives of the Saints”
 
Starrsmother said:
I don’t know what happens to the Christians who say a prayer to Allah and then are killed anyhow. I guess it would depend on the prayer, as Allah is simply the muslim word for God. However, if a Christian is told to convert or die, he or she should sadly DIE. We are asked to stand up for Christ even if it costs us our very earthly life. This is the case of many of the martyrs we can read about in the “Lives of the Saints”
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I can only sadly agree with this true post. Let us hope that no-one, especially us weak ones, are asked to be martyrs, but if we are, that our courage will choose Christ above our lives.
 
If you’re going to lose your life regardless of whether or not you disavowed your faith, why do it? :confused:
 
God knows what’s in your heart, whether we accept him, or we reject him through sin. Jesus knew full well that those who came in his name and carried the cross would not only be persecuted but would probably face death…

Look at how all the apostles died, with the exception of one. If someone dies for Christ, and with Christ in their heart, my belief is they’re journey to heaven will be a whole lot easier than those of us who did not endure the suffering.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/268907_553165374722419_1955660035_n.jpg
 
paulrxp said:
God knows what’s in your heart, whether we accept him, or we reject him through sin. Jesus knew full well that those who came in his name and carried the cross would not only be persecuted but would probably face death…

Look at how all the apostles died, with the exception of one. If someone dies for Christ, and with Christ in their heart, my belief is they’re journey to heaven will be a whole lot easier than those of us who did not endure the suffering.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/268907_553165374722419_1955660035_n.jpg
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Yes, God knows what’s in our hearts, so if there is so little love for Him in our hearts that we are willing to apostasize to save our lives, He’ll know that.

I myself won’t judge the man killed, but I will say that each of us, myself included, needs to ramp up our prayers, not only for our own sakes but for the sakes of those who are facing this terrible and evil enemy.
 
oneofmany said:
I read a news story about a Christian man who was forced to disavow his religion and recite a prayer to Allah saying he was the true God before he had his head cut off. Does God understand these people are not really disavowing their religion?

If a crazy man walked up to you and asked if you were Christian and you thought he would not kill you if you said no would it be ok to say no? After all it is a crazy man.

So many Christians now are being killed like that now and it is sickening.
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Such a situation would be crunch time for the Christian. No, it would not be okay to say no, but you are within your rights to defend yourself or attempt to escape, but drying the Lord would be pushing it.
 
oneofmany said:
I read a news story about a Christian man who was forced to disavow his religion and recite a prayer to Allah saying he was the true God before he had his head cut off. Does God understand these people are not really disavowing their religion?

If a crazy man walked up to you and asked if you were Christian and you thought he would not kill you if you said no would it be ok to say no? After all it is a crazy man.

So many Christians now are being killed like that now and it is sickening.
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As an atheist I would assume the answer was very simple…your God is an omnipotent, omniscient being…surely he knows your true thoughts, and that the disavowal of your beliefs were not felt from the heart.
That is why I have a problem with things like Pascal’s Wager…would God let someone into his kingdom who only believed as they were scared of hell?
 
And we have no idea of the man’s internal repentance after saying those words.
 
prometheus1 said:
As an atheist I would assume the answer was very simple…your God is an omnipotent, omniscient being…surely he knows your true thoughts, and that the disavowal of your beliefs were not felt from the heart.
That is why I have a problem with things like Pascal’s Wager…would God let someone into his kingdom who only believed as they were scared of hell?
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I read somewhere that there are two types of fears: The imperfect and perfect fears.

Imperfect Fear
Disgusted of one’s sins because he/she fears God’s wrath

Perfect Fear
Disgusted of one’s sins because he/she loves God

It is possible for one to harbor both types of fears at once, and both types of fears have formed great saints.

Christ taught his followers to harbor a healthy fear of Hell, so aiming to do God’s will because you wish to save your soul isn’t ungodly.
 
Faxero said:
I read somewhere that there are two types of fears: The imperfect and perfect fears.

Imperfect Fear
Disgusted of one’s sins because he/she fears God’s wrath

Perfect Fear
Disgusted of one’s sins because he/she loves God

It is possible for one to harbor both types of fears at once, and both types of fears have formed great saints.

Christ taught his followers to harbor a healthy fear of Hell, so aiming to do God’s will because you wish to save your soul isn’t ungodly.
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Thanks for explaining that…although I will assume the two fears you speak of are theological, not psychological.

Harbouring both fears, to me, is perfectly acceptable…harbouring Perfect Fear, again is acceptable.
However it is the Imperfect Fear with which I have a problem…fearing wrath is not love! In fact it is anything but love, and I assume God wants to be loved and worshipped.
 
prometheus1 said:
As an atheist I would assume the answer was very simple…your God is an omnipotent, omniscient being…surely he knows your true thoughts, and that the disavowal of your beliefs were not felt from the heart.
That is why I have a problem with things like Pascal’s Wager…would God let someone into his kingdom who only believed as they were scared of hell?
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It is not a matter of entering the pearly gates. It is a matter of desiring to be with God through out eternity. It is as if we stand before God and He asks us to make the decision. Do we let go of our pride and say, “Have mercy on me a sinner.” or do we make the decision, as did Lucifer, “I will relinquish my power to no one but myself. I rejected you in life and I reject you now”

Questions like, “What will happen to Christians …”

Are, in my mind, foolish questions. No human knows what will take place at the time of judgment. You do not even know how you will answer. If, lets say you are mistaken, and God does exist, how do you think you would answer. If you denied God, and rejected His grace here on Earth, do you actually think you would embrace His grace then. Pride is the supreme sin. A person may very well say, “I would rather go the Hell than to admit that I was wrong.”
 
HelenRose said:
It is not a matter of entering the pearly gates. It is a matter of desiring to be with God through out eternity. It is as if we stand before God and He asks us to make the decision. Do we let go of our pride and say, “Have mercy on me a sinner.” or do we make the decision, as did Lucifer, “I will relinquish my power to no one but myself. I rejected you in life and I reject you now”

Questions like, “What will happen to Christians …”

Are, in my mind, foolish questions. No human knows what will take place at the time of judgment. You do not even know how you will answer. If, lets say, you are mistaken, and God does exist, how do you think you would answer. If you denied God, and rejected His grace here on Earth, do you actually think you would embrace His grace then. Pride is the supreme sin. A person may very well say, “I would rather go the Hell than to admit that I was wrong.”
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One more thought. We make decisions in our lives and while we are alive we can change but death seals us and who we are and the decisions we have made follow us. If we are steadfast in our anger and hate here on Earth we will be steadfast in our anger and hate in death.

Just like cold is the absence of heat. Hell is nothing more than the absence of God.
 
prometheus1 said:
As an atheist I would assume the answer was very simple…your God is an omnipotent, omniscient being…surely he knows your true thoughts, and that the disavowal of your beliefs were not felt from the heart.
That is why I have a problem with things like Pascal’s Wager…would God let someone into his kingdom who only believed as they were scared of hell?
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I like this answer best. Surprising isn’t it, from an atheist. I think you are closer to God than the rest of us.
 
I took the class on Church History and on the part of the prosecutions many Christians fell away from the faith and ran away so they would not be killed. After the persecutions were over they wanted to come back to the faith.

Many Christians were against letting them confess and be members again but the leaders were against that and let them come back. I guess God will have to sort that out on judgement day.
 
oneofmany said:
I took the class on Church History and on the part of the prosecutions many Christians fell away from the faith and ran away so they would not be killed. After the persecutions were over they wanted to come back to the faith.

Many Christians were against letting them confess and be members again but the leaders were against that and let them come back. I guess God will have to sort th out on judgement day.
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Please let us know what prosecution you are talking about. I would like to know the names of “the leaders” and what the situation was.

If you are talking about the Arian heresy which was settled by the Ecumenical First Council of Nicaea of 325, there were two school of thought as to how the handle those who had held the Arian belief.

Some “leaders” opposed their re-admittance into the Church other “leaders” did not oppose their re-admittance. I can’t find the source but I am sure that the "leaders’ who did not oppose their re-admittance won out in the end. And those who had repented were allowed back into the Church. I will research that further.

Athanasius of Alexandria opposed the Arian heresy and Arias was the author of the heresy.
 
HelenRose said:
Please let us know what prosecution you are talking about. I would like to know the names of “the leaders” and what the situation was.

If you are talking about the Arian heresy which was settled by the Ecumenical First Council of Nicaea of 325, there were two school of thought as to how the handle those who had held the Arian belief.

Some “leaders” opposed their re-admittance into the Church other “leaders” did not oppose their re-admittance. I can’t find the source but I am sure that the "leaders’ who did not oppose their re-admittance won out in the end. And those who had repented were allowed back into the Church. I will research that further.

Athanasius of Alexandria opposed the Arian heresy and Arias was the author of the heresy.
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I believe the poster is talking about the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire. Below is an article about what happened historically to them:

mdharrismd.com/2012/12/29/restoring-apostate-christians-during-the-roman-persecutions/
 
CB_Catholic said:
I believe the poster is talking about the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire. Below is an article about what happened historically to them:

mdharrismd.com/2012/12/29/restoring-apostate-christians-during-the-roman-persecutions/
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Thank you. I’ll read the article closely. On first glance it appears that Cyprian was the leader who opposed but then later changed his mind.

We are way off the intent of the original question. I just get a somewhat irritated when the word “leaders” of the Church is thrown about as if “see they are wrong again” In any case the history of the Church is far more complex than that.
 
"Cyprian harshly condemned the apostates, writing “How can they follow Christ, who are held back by the chain of their wealth? They are bond slaves of their money.” (Treatise 3, On the Lapsed). Despite his contempt, he saw the need to devise a way to appropriately bring them back into fellowship while not minimizing the seriousness of their crime.

That this issue divided the church is obvious. Many of those in the congregation whose loved ones died for their faith probably detested even the sight of the smug apostates and could not bear to worship with them. Still, the unity of the church was vital, and Cyprian’s plan to reconcile the apostates would help preserve unity. He wrote “Christ gave us peace; He bade us be in agreement, and of one mind.” (Treatise 1, On the Unity of the Church). As Jesus prayed in John 17, Cyprian highly valued unity in His church."

Perhaps we can still learn a thing or two about the leader.

Now back to the original question.

God alone knows that answer. The Church has made no proclamation as to who is in Hell. She only proclaims a few names of those who She is sure is in heaven.
 
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