Posted on 01/14/2015 3:31:28 PM PST by Faith Presses On
...would it help the Church here more, or hurt it?
Which Church?
/johnny
won’t effect Muslims I bet
IMHO, if you mean the social construct, it would hurt it. If you however, mean the true ‘Church’ - the Body of Christ, in persecution and distress and tests of Faith, His Grace and Strength are made perfect in our weakness - so absolutely would help the true Church.
The invisible one. I guess another way to put it would be to substitute “the cause of Christ,” for “the Church.”
They’d never do that. They would just outlaw Biblical Worship.
Persecution often grows a church as I experience overseas. But given the amount of apathy, indifference and Osteenification of the Church - I have some doubts whether or not the Church as an institution will endure in this country.
Perhaps among some individuals - but given the Christian Church’s surrender of our culture to abject hedonism, I doubt the church at large will do anything but what it has been doing the last 40 years - redefine, capitulate and render itself lukewarm.
organized religion might die and surrender to the world, but Christ’s church (all of us believers) will still be here, even if it means secret house churches and stuff
Don’t give O any ideas, okay?
Anything. If the government found out about it, there would be trouble.
The more I think about it, it also doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. If any major power or group is behind the Sony and Pentagon hacks, I would guess China first to both. Underneath the consumerism they still seem to be led by a brutal regime opposed to Christianity.
Already happening.
Can’t feed homeless
Can’t play loud chimes, or loud music
Can’t gather in homes (parking problems, large groups)
Can’t get building permits (Protect Temecula Wine Country)
Can’t refuse gay marriage
Can’t preach The Bible (Canada)
And more ...
Can molest kids
OK OK /s over.
True Church will be distilled out of the social church.
China model will emerge.
God wins in the end.
They may want to outlaw Christianity, but I'm not giving them much hope.
/johnny
This is hypothetical and most likely not possible to do like you say ... but having said that and going with the hypothetical ... it would definitely be a big setback. It would take a while before true Christians could develop some kind of underground infrastructure ... and in the meantime, anti-Christian sentiment would gain the ascendency.
BUT, you could come up with one hypothetical after another and just spin your wheels in your head with all the scenarios.
“It is what it is” right now and that is all that matters.
God winning in the end was never in question.
Whether we hold onto our faith, overcome ourselves, this world and Satan and finish the race is the question.
Because in America, we have a very perverse and skewed view of Whom God and Christ are, and it does not always fit within our own paradigm of culture and experience.
And that is where anger at God, bewilderment and questioning your faith cometh to the fore.
Been there.
Done that.
I doubt they would attempt ban worship anytime soon, but they will attempt to force religion into an entirely private sphere by setting up obstacles to the participation of believers in what has been called “the public square.”
It would help the TRUE church.
Too much *religious* activity can keep people from focusing on making disciples.
Too many churches have become too ingrown, busy with their own *programs* to help themselves, and trying to justify them by claiming they can be used for *outreach* as well.
Agreed. They’re already doing it piece by piece.
There are psychologists arguing too that raising children in Christianity is “abuse” (because of some adult atheists and other unbelievers who say it was).
The only “Christianity” permissible is the Episcopal sort.
It would clearly help the true church, the body of Christ, all true believers (only God knows who’s a part) because a.) there would be a cost to pay, and the true believers would pay the cost, the pretenders would not; b.) believers from different organizations would be forced to work together in spite of minor differences in faith that separate them now; c) peripheral, non-essential, “church playing” activities would cease and only essential activities remain - prayer, fellowship, study of scripture, worship, eating together (Acts 2:42)....and much more......
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