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To: MarMema
Even the Christian edict of "turn the other cheek" could spell out our doom.

And here you have a dilemma I have wrestled with, as taken to an extreme, it could spell the doom of Christianity as well. And almost did, in the past, with the rise of the Ottoman empire.

Turning the other cheek is a sign of faith! If Christianity is based on the truth that Jesus is the Son of God and will return to rule forever then how can anything spell the doom of christianity? If however you believe christianity can be destroyed then you really have no need of it, indeed you make it that it has need of you.

Jesus died on a cross, why didn't He struggle and fight and resist His 'doom'?

583 posted on 02/22/2002 3:19:38 AM PST by Goblins
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To: Goblins
Guess you're not a history buff, or you don't come from a church with 2000 years behind it.
Here's a summary from a favorite article of mine - "Surveying the long history of the Islamic assault on the Christian world, it is sobering to consider how close the latter has come to annihilation on more than one occasion. In the initial offensive during the first decade after Muhammad's demise, Christendom lost its birthplace in the Levant, with the front of the East Roman Empire only being stabilized at the approaches to Asia Minor. Meanwhile, the Arab armies swept west from conquered Egypt, subduing the whole north coast of Africa and crossing into Visigothic Spain in 711. They were finally stopped by the Franks under Karl the Hammer at Poitiers in 732, the centenary of Muhammad's death. The conversion of the Turkish tribes to Islam in the ninth century lent jihad renewed impetus; the erosion and final collapse of East Roman power opened the eastern door to Europe in the 14th century, and the Ottomans were turned back only at the gates of Vienna in 1683. The site of the first high-water mark at Poitiers and the later one at Vienna are only some 700 miles apart -so narrow has been Christendom's brush with extinction!"
from here

Just what do you think the islamic militants are seeking, anyway> Extinction of Christianity is high on their list. Perhaps you are not aware that most of the lands of the middle east were once almost entirely Christian.

651 posted on 02/22/2002 9:58:55 AM PST by MarMema
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To: Goblins
Turning the other cheek is a sign of faith! If Christianity is based on the truth that Jesus is the Son of God and will return to rule forever then how can anything spell the doom of christianity? If however you believe christianity can be destroyed then you really have no need of it, indeed you make it that it has need of you.

Turning the other cheek isn't about "faith" that things will work out in the end. It is about showing your enemies compassion and refusing to lower yourself to their level.

If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.(Luke 6:29)

But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matthew 5:39)

Jesus died on a cross, why didn't He struggle and fight and resist His 'doom'?

His death was assured, although muslims don't believe that he was crucified or resurected (another difference between Chrisitanity and Islam - muslims like to proclaim that the religions are really quite similar except they deny that Jesus was man and yet God at the same time, they deny that he was killed, they deny that he rose again - take all of that away and he's just a "real nice guy"; a guy that the muslims don't seem to spend much time trying to emulate).

661 posted on 02/22/2002 11:04:35 AM PST by weegee
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