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coreycook90
Guest
Why does God allow Christians to be persecuted?
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Butaperson
Guest
Because of free will. If Christians were not allowed to be persecuted, ever, free will would be obstructed and the world would go off balance. We choose to follow God’s commandments, there is no invisible force making it impossible to not do so.
And also, it may be odd to think about, but imagine the rewards they will reap in heaven. God does not test us more than we can handle. He grants strength to those with heavy burdens. And the ones who do not give up, and trust in God that they will be relieved, and bear their burden with faith, will receive the highest places in heaven. Things look unfair on earth, and they are, but justice will always come. God is always right and fair and every person will get what he deserves.
And also, it may be odd to think about, but imagine the rewards they will reap in heaven. God does not test us more than we can handle. He grants strength to those with heavy burdens. And the ones who do not give up, and trust in God that they will be relieved, and bear their burden with faith, will receive the highest places in heaven. Things look unfair on earth, and they are, but justice will always come. God is always right and fair and every person will get what he deserves.
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Dorothy
Guest
Our Lord Jesus Christ reminded us that we would be hated because of him.
He supplies the grace, if we receive it, to endure to the end.
He supplies the grace, if we receive it, to endure to the end.
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ChurchSoldier
Guest
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” While having become somewhat trite due to use by those who have little chance of having their blood spilled, it is true. The church thrives in times of persecution.
When saying yes to Christ means putting your property and personal safety in jeopardy, one thinks deeply before being baptized or publicly reciting the Niceness Creed. It makes for a smaller but much more powerful church.
Pax
When saying yes to Christ means putting your property and personal safety in jeopardy, one thinks deeply before being baptized or publicly reciting the Niceness Creed. It makes for a smaller but much more powerful church.
Pax
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SJacob7
Guest
I suggest reading the book of Job. Now there was a guy that was dealt a bad hand but never lost faith.
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Shin
Guest
When Christians are persecuted they show their virtue which is of everlasting value.
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Cricket2
Guest
You are so correct. Sometimes I think a persecution is just what is needed. People can get to comfortable with their relationship with God, when nothing is risked by having that relationship. We don’t need to be killed outright, but we can risk our jobs in the name of doing what is moral, give up our safety, convenience and time for the sick, weak, or marginalized of our society, even have family disown us because of our faith. When people have to consider the cost of their faith, and then are still willing to move forward, they make for better Christians and followers of Christ.
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coreycook90
Guest
I agree with the response about free will.
God gives everyone free will, and this free will gives people the option to act with evil or righteousness.
It glorifies God when people , out of free will, choose to love and serve Him.
It also glorifies God when he exercises righteous judgment on the wicked and ultimately condemns them to Hell.
Correct?
God gives everyone free will, and this free will gives people the option to act with evil or righteousness.
It glorifies God when people , out of free will, choose to love and serve Him.
It also glorifies God when he exercises righteous judgment on the wicked and ultimately condemns them to Hell.
Correct?
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Todd977
Guest
I suggest you read 1 Peter for insight as it seems to have been written to encourage persecuted Christians.
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Telstar
Guest
I think, first of all, God allows persecution as a test of our faith in Him. If we truly believe what we claim to believe, then no persecution could ever keep us from holding onto that belief. The early Martyrs of the Faith are perfect examples of those who would rather die horrible deaths, than to deny their faith in God. Very few of us will ever be tested to that extreme, but there are many other forms of persecution that can still test our faith in God.
Being ridiculed for what we believe is one of the most common forms of persecution in this day and age. Having friends or family members make fun of us, or even disown us, because we refuse to believe what they believe, can be extremely difficult for us to bear. That’s when we sometimes have to make a choice, between making family and friends happy, or making God happy. Persecution also tests our love and patience, as well as other virtues, whenever we have to deal with those kinds of situations. Persecution can either help us to grow stronger in our faith, or it can completely break us away from God. That choice is ours to make. If our faith is true, then we should be willing to suffer any loss to remain faithful to God.
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coreycook90
Guest
God gives everyone free will, and this free will gives people the option to act with rebellion or righteousness.
From the Catechism:
1743 “God willed that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel (cf. Sir 15:14), so that he might of his own accord seek his creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him” (GS 17 § 1).
1744 Freedom is the power to act or not to act, and so to perform deliberate acts of one’s own. Freedom attains perfection in its acts when directed toward God, the sovereign Good.
1745 Freedom characterizes properly human acts. It makes the human being responsible for acts of which he is the voluntary agent. His deliberate acts properly belong to him.
1746 The imputability or responsibility for an action can be diminished or nullified by ignorance, duress, fear, and other psychological or social factors.
1747 The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in religious and moral matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of man. But the exercise of freedom does not entail the putative right to say or do anything.
1748 “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1).
Providence and the Scandal of Evil:
324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.
310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. 174 But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world “in a state of journeying” towards its ultimate perfection. In God’s plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection. 175
Providence and the Scandal of Evil:
324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.
310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. 174 But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world “in a state of journeying” towards its ultimate perfection. In God’s plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection. 175
From the Catechism:
1743 “God willed that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel (cf. Sir 15:14), so that he might of his own accord seek his creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him” (GS 17 § 1).
1744 Freedom is the power to act or not to act, and so to perform deliberate acts of one’s own. Freedom attains perfection in its acts when directed toward God, the sovereign Good.
1745 Freedom characterizes properly human acts. It makes the human being responsible for acts of which he is the voluntary agent. His deliberate acts properly belong to him.
1746 The imputability or responsibility for an action can be diminished or nullified by ignorance, duress, fear, and other psychological or social factors.
1747 The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in religious and moral matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of man. But the exercise of freedom does not entail the putative right to say or do anything.
1748 “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal 5:1).
Providence and the Scandal of Evil:
324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.
310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. 174 But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world “in a state of journeying” towards its ultimate perfection. In God’s plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection. 175
Providence and the Scandal of Evil:
324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life.
310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. 174 But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world “in a state of journeying” towards its ultimate perfection. In God’s plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection. 175
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bmonk
Guest
We might ask why God allowed Jesus, his only-begotten Son, to be condemned and executed. If they treat the Master so, what will they do to the servants? (see Matt 10:24-25)
God allows us to use our free will, even in evil ways–God does not give us a gift and then immediately take it away again!
There are two questions in persecution: why do the persecutors act in such violent ways, and how is the person suffering persecution to act? We cannot change the persecutors directly–unless, of course, we are the ones persecuting others, which should not be–but we can control our response and take Jesus and the saints as our model.
God allows us to use our free will, even in evil ways–God does not give us a gift and then immediately take it away again!
There are two questions in persecution: why do the persecutors act in such violent ways, and how is the person suffering persecution to act? We cannot change the persecutors directly–unless, of course, we are the ones persecuting others, which should not be–but we can control our response and take Jesus and the saints as our model.
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Church_Militant
Guest
I always consider the lives of the early church where, for the first 3 centuries were routinely persecuted and killed. If they could hack it, I figure I can too because we have the same Holy Spirit within us and we have their examples as well as that of Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ Himself. As they did.
It’s happening right now in many places around the world and even here in the West, though ours is more subtle. I don’t know which is actually easier to bear or to deal with, but both are threats to our religious freedoms and morals as well as our lives and souls. We must really be diligent about prayer for help and protection.
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