Posted on 03/07/2005 4:20:54 PM PST by Irish Rose
On the War Against the Turk by Martin Luther
[Islamic aggression is nothing new. Muslim armies were encroaching Europe in the sixteenth century, to the point that Germans feared an imminent and perhaps successful Muslim invasion. In 1529, Martin Luther wrote "On the War Against the Turk (Muslim)", weighing in on Catholics, the Crusades, Islam, and the proper response to Islamic aggression.]
For the past five years certain persons have been begging me to write about war against the Turks, and to arouse and encourage our people. Now that the Turk is actually approaching, even my friends are urging me to do this, especially since there are some stupid preachers among us Germans (as I am sorry to hear) who are making the people believe that we ought not and must not fight against the Turks. Some are even so foolish as to say that it is not proper for Christians to bear the temporal sword or to be rulers. Furthermore, some actually want the Turk to come and rule because they think our German people are wild and uncivilized indeed, that they are half-devil and half-man. Therefore it is necessary for me to write about these things for my own sake and that of the gospel to defend ourselves; not because of the blasphemers, however. But I must write so that innocent consciences may no longer be deceived by these slanderers and made suspicious of me or my doctrine, and so they may not be deceived into believing that we must not fight against the Turks.
Pope Leo X in the bull in which he put me under the ban condemned, among other statements, the following one, To fight against the Turk is the same as resisting God, who visits our sin upon us with this rod. This may be why they say that I oppose and dissuade from war against the Turk. I do not hesitate to admit that this article is mine and that I stated and defended it at the time; and if things in the world were in the same state now that they were in then, I would still have to hold and defend it. But it is not fair to forget what the situation was then and what my grounds or reasons were.
Among the points of Christian doctrine, I discussed what Christ says in Matthew, namely, that a Christian shall not resist evil, but endure all things, let the coat go and the cloak, let them be taken from him, turn the other cheek, etc. The pope had made of this something which was not commanded and which a Christian need not keep; thus they perverted Christs word, taught false doctrine throughout the world, and deceived Christians. But since they wanted to be Christians indeed the best Christians in the world and yet fight against the Turk, endure no evil, and suffer neither compulsion nor wrong, I opposed them with these words of Christ that Christians shall not resist evil, but suffer all things and surrender all things.
Nor did I like it that the Christians and the princes were driven, urged, and irritated into attacking the Turk, and making war on him, before they amended their own ways and lives as true Christians. I shall never advise a heathen or a Turk, let alone a Christian, to attack another or begin war. That is nothing else than advising bloodshed and destruction, and it brings no good fortune in the end.
But what motivated me most of all was this: they undertook to fight against the Turk in the name of Christ, and taught and incited men to do this, as though our people were an army of Christians against the Turks, who were enemies of Christ. This is absolutely contrary to Christs doctrine and name. It is against his doctrine because he says that Christians shall not resist evil, fight, or quarrel, nor take revenge or insist on rights. It is against his name because there are scarcely five Christians in such an army, and perhaps there are worse people in the eyes of God in that army than are the Turks; and yet they all want to bear the name of Christ. This is the greatest of all sins and is one that no Turk commits, for Christs name is used for sin and shame and thus dishonored.
Why should Christ or his people have anything to do with the sword and going to war, and kill mens bodies, when he declared that he has come to save the world, not to kill people? His work is to deal with the gospel and to redeem men from sin and death by his Spirit, to help them from this world to everlasting life. According to John 6 he fled and would not let himself be made king; before Pilate he confessed, My kingship is not of this world; and in the garden he bade Peter to put up his sword and said, All who take the sword will perish by the sword. I say this not because I would teach that worldly rulers ought not be Christians, or that a Christian cannot bear the sword and serve God in temporal government. Would to God they were all Christians, or that no one could be a prince unless he were a Christian! Things would be better than they now are, and the Turk would not be so powerful. But what I want to do is to keep a distinction between the callings and offices, so that everyone can see to what God has called him and fulfill the duties of his office faithfully and sincerely in the service of God. Now before I exhort or urge war against the Turk, hear me, for Gods sake. I want first to teach you how to fight with a good conscience. In the first place, the Turk certainly has no right or command to begin war and to attack lands that are not his. Therefore his war is nothing but an outrage and robbery with which God is punishing the world, as he often does through wicked scoundrels, and sometimes through godly people. The Turk does not fight from necessity or to protect his land in peace, as the right kind of ruler does; but, like a pirate or highwayman, he seeks to rob and ravage other lands which do and have done nothing to him. His is Gods rod and the devils servant; there is no doubt about that.
In the second place, we must know who the man is who is to make war against the Turk so that he may be certain that he has a commission from God and is doing right. He must not plunge in to avenge himself or have some other mad notion or reason. He must be sure of this so that, win or lose, he may be in a state of salvation and in a godly occupation. There are two of these men, and there ought to be only two: the one is named Christian, the other, Emperor Charles.
Christian should be there first, with his army. Since the Turk is the rod of the wrath of the Lord our God and the servant of the raging devil, the first thing to be done is to smite the devil, his lord, and take the rod out of Gods hand, so that the Turk may be found only, in his own strength, all by himself, without the devils help and without Gods hand. This should be done by the pious, holy, precious body of Christians. They are the people who have the arms for this war and they know how to use them. If the Turks god, the devil, is not beaten first, there is reason to fear that the Turk will not be so easy to beat.
Now the devil is a spirit who cannot be beaten with armor, muskets, horses, and men, and Gods wrath cannot be allayed by them, as it is written in Psalm 33, His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man; but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Christian weapons and power must do it. Here you ask, Who are the Christians and where does one find them? Answer: There are not many of them, but they are everywhere, though they are spread thin and live far apart, under good and bad princes. Christendom must continue to the end so it must be possible to find them. Every pastor and preacher ought diligently to exhort his people to repentance and to prayer. They ought to drive men to repentance by showing our great and numberless sins and our ingratitude, by which we have earned Gods wrath and disfavor, so that he justly gives us into the hands of the devil and the Turk. And so that this preaching may work the more strongly, they ought to cite examples and sayings from the Scriptures, such as the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the children of Israel, and show how cruelly and how often God punished the world and its lands and peoples. And they ought to make it plain that it is no wonder, since we sin more grievously than they did, if we are punished worse than they.
This fight must be begun with repentance, and we must reform our lives, or we shall fight in vain; as the prophet Jeremiah says in chapter 18, If at anytime I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation concerning which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do it. And again, And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the good which I had intended to do it. Now therefore, say to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Behold I am shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one of you and amend your ways and your doings. We may apply these words to ourselves, for God is devising evil against us because of our wickedness and is certainly preparing the Turk against us, as he says in Psalm 7, If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and strung his bow; he has prepared his deadly weapons.
Along with these must be cited the words and illustrations of Scripture in which God makes known how well pleased he is with true repentance or amendment made in faith and reliance on his word such as the examples of kings David, Ahab, and Manasseh in the Old Testament, and the like; in the New Testament, of St. Peter, the malefactor, the publican in the Gospel, and so forth. Although I know that to the scholars and saints who need no repentance this advice of mine will be laughable for they will consider it a simple and common thing which they have long since passed beyond, nevertheless, I have not been willing to omit it for the sake of myself and of sinners like myself, who need both repentance and exhortation to repentance every day. In spite of it, we remain all too lazy and lax, and have not, with those ninety and nine just persons, go so far as they let themselves think they have.
After people have thus been taught and exhorted to confess their sin and amend their ways they should then be most diligently exhorted to prayer and shown that such prayer pleases God, that he has commanded it and promised to hear it, and that no one ought to think lightly of his own praying or have doubts about it, but with firm faith be sure that it will be heard. It might, indeed, be of some use to have the people, especially the young people, sing the Litany at mass or vespers or in the church after the sermon, provided that everyone, even at home by himself, constantly raised to Christ at least a sigh of the heart for grace to lead a better life and for help against the Turk. I am not speaking of much and long praying, but of frequent brief sighs
See, now, this kind of preaching will hit home with Christians and will find them out, and there will be Christians who will accept it and act according to it; it does not matter if you do not know who they are. The tyrants and bishops may also be exhorted to stop their raging and persecution against the word of God and not to hinder our prayer; but if they do not stop, we must not cease to pray, but keep on and take the chance that they will have the benefit of our prayer and be preserved along with us, or that we shall pay for their raging and be ruined along with them. They are so perverse and blind that if God gave them good fortune against the Turk they would ascribe it to their holiness and merit and boast of it against us. On the other hand, if things turned out bad, they would ascribe it to no one but us, and lay the blame on us, disregarding the shameful, openly sinful, and wicked lives which they not only lead, but defend; for they cannot teach rightly a single point about the way to pray; and they are worse than the Turks. Oh, well, we must leave that to Gods judgment.
The great need of our time should have moved us to this prayer against the Turk, for the Turk, as has been said, is the servant of the devil, who not only devastates land and people with the sword, as we shall hear later, but also lays waste the Christian faith and our dear Lord Jesus Christ. For although some praise the Turks government because he allows everyone to believe what he will so long as he remains the temporal lord, yet this reputation is not true, for he does not allow Christians to come together in public, and no one can openly confess Christ or preach or teach against Mohammed. What kind of freedom of belief is it when no one is allowed to preach or confess Christ, and yet our salvation depends on that confession, as Paul says in Romans 10, To confess with the lips saves, and Christ has strictly commanded us to confess and teach his gospel.
Since, therefore, faith must be stilled and held in secret among this wild and barbarous people and under this severe rule, how can it exist or remain alive in the long run, when it requires so much effort and labor in places where it is preached most faithfully and diligently? With force they prevent preaching and suppress the word. With wiles they put wicked and dangerous examples before mens eyes every day and draw men to them. So in order not to lose our Lord Jesus Christ, his word and faith, we must pray against the Turks as against other enemies of our salvation and of all good, indeed, as we pray against the devil himself. In this connection the people should be told about the Turks dissolute life and ways so they may the better feel the need of prayer. To be sure, it has often disgusted me, and still does, that neither our great lords nor our scholars have taken any pains to give us any certain knowledge about the life of the Turks in the two estates, spiritual and temporal; and yet the Turk has come so near to us. Some, indeed, have invented outrageous lies about the Turks to incite us Germans against them, but there is no need for lies; there is enough truth. I will tell my dear Christians a few things, so far as I know the real truth, so that they may the better be moved and stirred to pray earnestly against the enemy of Christ our Lord.
I have some parts of Mohammeds Koran When I have time I must translate it into German so that everyone may see what a foul and shameful book it is.
In the first place, he greatly praises Christ and Mary as being the only ones without sin, and yet he believes nothing more of Christ than that he is a holy prophet, like Jeremiah or Jonah, and denies that he is Gods Son and true God. Furthermore, he does not believe that Christ is the Savior of the world who died for our sins, but that he preached to his own time and completed his work before his death, just like any other prophet. On the other hand, Mohammed highly exalts and praises himself and boasts that he has talked with God and the angels, and that since Christs office of prophet is now complete, he has been commanded to bring the world to his faith, and if the world is not willing to compel it or punish it with the sword; there is much glorification of the sword in it. Therefore the Turks think that their Mohammed is much higher and greater than Christ.
What pious Christian heart would not be horrified at this enemy of Christ when he sees that the Turk allows no article of their faith to stand, except the single one about the resurrection of the dead? Then Christ is no redeemer, savior, or king; there is no forgiveness of sins, no Holy Ghost. Why should I say more? In the article that Christ is beneath Mohammed, and less than he, everything is destroyed. Who would not rather be dead than live under such a government, where he must say nothing about his Christ, and hear and see such blasphemy and abomination against him? Yet this article takes such a powerful hold when the Turk wins a land that people even submit to it willingly. Therefore let everyone pray who can that this abomination not become lord over us and that we not be punished with this terrible rod of Gods anger.
In the second place, the Turks Koran or creed teaches him to destroy not only the Christian faith, but also the whole temporal government. His Mohammed, as has been said, commands that ruling is to be done by the sword, and in his Koran the sword is the commonest and noblest work. Thus the Turk is really nothing but a murderer or highwayman, as his deeds show before mens eyes. Never has any kingdom come into being and become so mighty through murder and robbery as that of the Turk; and he murders and robs every day, for robbing and murdering, devouring and destroying more and more of those that are around them, is commanded in their law as a good and divine work; and they do this and think that they are doing God a service. Their government, therefore, is but a rod of anger and punishment of God upon the unbelieving world. So it is among the Turks that the most highly regarded are those who are diligent to increase the Turkish kingdom and constantly murder and rob those around them.
Christ says in John 8 that the devil is a liar and murderer. With lies he kills souls and with murder he kills bodies. If he wins with a lie, he does not take a holiday and delay; he follows it up with murder. Thus when the spirit of lies had taken possession of Mohammed, and the devil had murdered mens souls with his Koran and had destroyed the faith of Christians, he had to go on and take the sword and set about to murder their bodies. The Turkish faith, then, has not made its progress by preaching and the working of miracles, but by the sword and by murder, and its success has been due to Gods wrath, which ordered that since all the world has a desire for the sword, robbery, and murder, one should come who would give it enough of murder and robbery.
The third point is that Mohammeds Koran has no regard for marriage, but permits everyone to take wives as he will. It is customary among the Turks for one man to have ten or twenty wives and to desert or sell any whom he will, so that in Turkey women are held immeasurable cheap and are despised; they are bought and sold like cattle. Although there may be some few who do not take advantage of this law, nevertheless, this is the law and anyone who wants to can follow it. That kind of living is not and cannot be marriage, because none of them takes or has a wife with the intention of staying with her forever, as though the two were one body, as Gods word says in Genesis 3, Therefore a man cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh. Thus the marriage of the Turks closely resembles the chaste life soldiers lead with their harlots, for the Turks are soldiers and must act like soldiers; Mars and Venus, say the poets, must be together. These are the three points I wanted to mention. I am sure of them from the Koran of the Turks.
It is said that among themselves the Turks are faithful, friendly, and careful to tell the truth. I believe that and I think that they probably have more fine virtues in them than that. No man is so bad that there is not something good in him. Now and then a woman of the streets has more good qualities than do ten honorable matrons. The devil would have a cloak and be a handsome angel of light, so he hides behind certain works that are works of light. Murderers and robbers are more faithful and friendly to each other than neighbors are, even more so than many Christians. For if the devil keeps the three things lies, murder, and disregard of marriage as the real foundation of hell, he can easily tolerate, even help, carnal love and faithfulness being built upon it, as though they were precious gems (though they are nothing but hay and straw), though he knows well that nothing will remain of them in case of fire. On the other hand, where there is true faith, true government, true marriage, he strives earnestly to keep a little love and fidelity from appearing and being shown so that he can put the foundation to shame and have it despised. What is more, when the Turks go into battle their only war cry is Allah! Allah! and they shout it till heaven and earth resound. But in the Arabic language Allah means God, and is a corruption of the Hebrew Eloha. For they have been taught in the Koran that they shall boast constantly with these words, There is no God but God. All that is really a device of the devil. For what does it mean to say, There is no God but God, without distinguishing one God from another? The devil, too, is a god, and they honor him with this word; there is no doubt of that. In just the same way the popes soldiers cry, Ecclesia! Ecclesia! To be sure, the devils ecclesia! Therefore I believe that the Turks Allah does more in war than they themselves. He gives them courage and wiles; he guides sword and fist, horse and man. What do you think, then, of the holy people who can call upon God in battle, and yet destroy Christ and all Gods words and works, as you have heard?
I have wanted to tell all this to the first man, namely Christian, so that he may know and see how much need there is for prayer, and how he must first smite the Turks Allah, that is, his god the devil, and overcome his power and divinity; otherwise, I fear, the sword will accomplish little. Now this man is not to fight physically with the Turk, as the pope and his followers teach; nor is he to resist the Turk with the fist, but he is to recognize the Turk as Gods rod and wrath which Christians must either suffer, if God visits their sins upon them, or fight against and drive away with repentance, tears, and prayer. Let whoever will despise this counsel despise it
The second man who ought to fight against the Turk is Emperor Charles, or whoever may be emperor; for the Turk is attacking his subjects and his empire, and it is his duty, as a regular ruler appointed by God, to defend his own. This fighting under the emperors banner and obedience to him ought to be true and simple. The emperor should seek nothing else than simply to perform the work and duty of his office, which is to protect his subjects; and those under his banner should seek simply to do the work and duty of obedience. By this simplicity you should understand that you are not fighting the Turk for the reasons the emperors and princes have been urged to go to war for, such as the winning of great honor, glory, and wealth, the extension of territory, or wrath and revenge and other such reasons.
An emperor or prince ought to learn well that verse of the Psalter, in Psalm 44, For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But thou hast saved us from our foes and has put to confusion those who hate us, as well as the rest of what that Psalm says. And Psalm 60, Thou dost not go forth, O God, with our armies, O grant us help against the foe, for vain is the help of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
Emperor and princes, therefore, should not treat these words as a jest. Read the apt illustration given in Judges 20 of how the children of Israel were beaten twice by the Benjaminites, despite the fact that God bade them fight and that they had the best of right. Their boldness and presumption were their downfall, as the text itself says, trusting in bravery and numbers. [from the Latin text of Judges 20:22] It is true that one should have horses and men and weapons and everything that is needed for battle, if they are to be had, so that one does not tempt God. But when on has them, one must not be bold because of it lest God be forgotten or despised, since it is written, All victory comes from heaven. [I Macc. 3:19]
If these two things are present, Gods commandment and our humility, then there is no danger or need so far as this second man, the emperor, is concerned. Then we are strong enough for the whole world and must have good fortune and success. But if we do not have good fortune, it is certainly because one of the two things is lacking; we are going to war either without Gods commandment, or in our own presumption, or the first soldier, Christian, is not there with his prayers. I am not writing this instruction with the hope that it will be accepted by all; indeed, most people will laugh and scoff at me. I say this so that we will not be frightened or moved in any way if the great majority who fight under the emperors banner are unbelieving and have an un-Christian mind. We must remember that Abraham, all by himself, was able to do much - Genesis 14. In 1 Samuel 14, the godly Jonathan said, Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few, and he himself inflicted a great slaughter on the Philistines such as Saul with his whole army could not do. It does not matter, then, if the entire crowd is not good, provided only that the head and some of the chief men are upright. Of course, it would be good if all were upright, but that is scarcely possible.
They call me and my followers seditious; but when have I ever coveted the sword or urged men to take it, and not rather taught and kept peace and obedience, except when I have instructed and exhorted the regular temporal rulers to do their duty and maintain peace and justice? One knows the tree by its fruits. I and my followers keep and teach peace; the pope, along with his followers, wages war, commits murder, and robs not only his enemies, but he also burns, condemns, and persecutes the innocent, the pious, the orthodox, as a true Antichrist. And he does this while sitting in the temple of God, as head of the church; the Turk does not do that. But just as the pope is the Antichrist, so the Turk is the very devil incarnate. The prayer of Christendom against both is that they shall go down to hell, even though it may take the Last Day to send them there; and I hope that day will not be far off.
This one phrase say a lot about Islam the "religion of peace".
That said, I don't think the parallel between the War on Terror and the Crusades is that close. The main cause of the War on Terror (as presently conducted) are the attacks of 9/11. Not the Crusades.
For that matter, it seems many of the Muslims who are not leaders are not dismayed to see the U.S. act as they had. The rise of democracy in Iraq and the movement towards the same in many other Arab Islamic countries is putting paid to the canard that Islam, itself, has it in for the west.
Thanks for posting this article...Food, indeed!
Dang, that's good! They just don't do vintage invective like that anymore. I'm saving that for the next FR troll...
Martin Luther was a very wise man. His words about Islam are as true today as they were 500 years ago.
Thanks DS,
I'll catch up on this article later...
"And thou canst kiss us thou knowest where!"
Oh, that was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I have printed out the verse and picture of the painting, to place on the wall above my computer, and any time someone tries to persuade me that islam means peace, I will have the Kozaks of Dnieper to remind me...'thou great silly oaf of all the world and of the netherworld, and before our God, a blockhead, a swine's snout, a mare's ass, a butcher's cur...
Indeed. Kozak, please take a bow and accept my thanks, you've made my day.
"Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word"
by Martin Luther, 1483-1546
1. Lord, keep us steadfast in Thy Word;
Curb those who fain by craft and sword
Would wrest the Kingdom from Thy Son
And set at naught all He hath done.
2. Lord Jesus Christ, Thy power make known,
For Thou art Lord of lords alone;
Defend Thy Christendom that we
May evermore sing praise to Thee.
3. O Comforter of priceless worth.
Send peace and unity on earth.
Support us in our final strife
And lead us out of death to life.
Hymn 261
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: John 8: 31
Author: Martin Luther, 1541
The second line of the first stanza orginally included "curb thou the murd'rous Turk..."
Thanks for the ping.
Daniel 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
The lion or Judah borne on eagles wings the early Church. The wings were plucked off the loss of the spirit of God (This happened 200-250 AD) It is laying on the the ground presumably after a hard landing. After a bit its power in it claws are removed and it is given mans feet to stand on (feet of clay denoting weakness) And then this beast has its lions heart removed and a heart of flesh is put in its place so that it looks like a lion maybe sounds like a lion it is a beast that has become impotent. Having fallen from the heavenlies it is a beast of weakess and a is filled with carnal fleshly desires.
Daniel 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. The second beast that arises is a bear that is laying on its side it has slain something and has three ribs in its mouth I would suggest that these three ribs are three heads or horns of denominations that the bear subdued and devourred them. (Jessuits Dominicans and the third is your guess) And then these three devoured ribs say Arise devour much flesh! And surely we can see that the Roman Catholic did devour much flesh.
Daniel 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
This next beast is a leopard -- it is a big cat but it is not the Lion of Judah it is dangerous and it is a killer but it is a pretender. This beast has four wings which is to say that it is boasting that it has a double portion over the eagles wings that the lion once had, but in reality these wings are not eagles wings The hebew tells us they little wings of a bird or a fowl so these are pertenders wings. They are all for show and all for boasting, but four little bid wings do not equal a flying leopard. And the beast also had four heads four denominations (Old line protestants, evangelicals, fundamentalists and pentecostals-charismatics) and dominion was given unto it. I would suggest that the dominion that was given upon it was the power of deception. The implication being is that this beast had great success. How can I say this? Because Protestantism claims to be the keeper of the word of God -- they are the dsicples of Paul and they claim to be everything the early church wasnt. The old line protestants boast they are the true bride of christ, the evangelicals and fundamentalists boast they are the keepsers of Gods word and have far better teaching than the early church, the pentecostals and Charismatics boast that they have 100 fold power of Holy Spirit over the early church. And yet this thing cant fly it doesnt have the power to lift itself an inch so it resorts to a message that comprises the power of possive thinking along with think and Grow rich it is all bluster its power is deception to get you to blieve it has more and can do nmore than the sum total of its parts. The truth is there is no synergy but by its boasting its ranks swell and it seems to have great power and domonion.
Daniel 7:7-8 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
The forth beast is dreadful and terrible it had great iron teeth and devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it I hate to say this but I believe that this is Islam and this says Islam will devour break in pieces and stamp on the residue of the first three beasts. So how if the first three beasts are all the Church how can I say the the forth beast is Islam? Islam was actually born out of the Catholic Church Mohammed was an Apostate the Koran is an utterly corrupt version of the bible. The beast is still forming before our eyes and we read that it had 7 heads and 10 horns I will not pretend to know how this beast works, but there are countries that speak for Islam like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and others that dont. There are their sects like Bathists, and Wahabbis that seem to foment evil and others that dont.. We know that the beast is a combination of sects and seats of power. And we know that when its in its prime it will have seven heads and ten horns.
When we do a little math we find that this 4th beast has more heads and horns that the first three beasts combined even when you count the three ribs in the bears mouth. It has more spokesman and more horns that are willing to fight than the first three combined. As of this writing, things appear somewhat bleak with Islam making war all over the word. Just wait when Islam has the EU in its maw will it be a redux of WWII with Islam instead of Hitler on the shores of Normandy looking at England, Looking at Russia and Looking at the US? Will there be an Australian ally? Will there be an Indian Ally? Will there be a Japanese Ally? By 2015 who will be swallowed into Islams eternal night? Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Poland, Ukraine,
.And the 4th beast had great iron teeth: and it devoured, and brake in pieces, and it stamped the residue with the feet of it: -- the residue is what is left of the first three beasts, that would be the Coptic Church, and what remains the Eastern Orthodox Church, and what remains in the EU of the hollow Catholic and Protestant Churches, and we can toss Canada in that mix as well. And this beast will devour as the bear did during the inquisition. And it will stamp into dust and break in pieces all that come under its power. And the UN and the world will huddle together in fear as this beast seemingly takes over the world I can not see the US in this prophecy but I have an idea of what will transpire based on other scripture concerning the kingdom of Israel and Judah. The bible tells us that the kingdom of Israel the ten tribes played the harlot and God had them taken in captivity a captivity that is very ominous in that they never returned the 10 tribes were lost forever. And so Judah lived on for a few hundred years and then fell into the same thing her sister did the US is Judah (not literally) The Us is the one nation in the world that was set up as a Christian nation and so this first phase will not touch us as the 10 tribes (EU+ Canada fall and are put into hard bondage there will be a lot of death and blood as the bear and Leopard are slaughtered over there. Much of this is the long awaited judgment on the Catholic and Protestant Inquisitions and the slaughter by Churches of non-believers, heretics and members of unsanctioned schisms all naturally done in the name of Christ. In Revelation we have the souls under the altar being avenged. The reason that the US is not in this is because we were not around to spill that blood but that blood is on our hands because we are the ancestors of the people who did the killing in Europe, and the Middle East. The point is that the peace we have over here will be very short lived as the beast before its finished over in the EU will look over here and will the EUs nukes and armies it will have the full capability to attack us and destroy us because it is decentralized and we could take out a few heads but this beast does not require any of them to keep on killing and destroying. So now the EU is gone Canada is gone maybe Mexico as well and the beast is at our gates and things look really-really bad and then Daniels attention is diverted . . .
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. We see that this little Horn is like the bear in that he devours three horns that he also boasts great things before God he is like the Leopard but the beast is all Iron teeth and horns there are no wings the wings are the wind or boasting from the Horn filled with eyes mouth what is the significance of the eyes the man claims to be a and all seeing prophet. He claims to see not only for him but for all. But the eyes are the eyes of men they blind and corrupt so that all he sees is mans wisdom he sees with eyes filled with lust, he sees the glories of this world and boasts of his vision as being heavenly he is perceived as the great savior of the world from the beast he is a part of. He is perceived to be the great savior of the Church and scripture says that he will be called into the Church and show himself to be Christ and show great signs and wonders and all that are in the denominational Churches and all that are in the world will worship him and he shall put his mark upon them and allow all that bear the mark to by and trade the man is for global free trade and promises that he is bringing the world into a golden age. But the bible says he will make war with the ek-klesia "The out called of the called." -- those that oppose him.
It is interesting that Luther sees muslimism as the scourge of God to the world. I see it as the scourge of God the the Klesia the called.
Thanks for providing the link to Luther's anti-Semitic texts, most Germans, (I am german-born) are aware of his sentiments, many are not and it would be a pity IMO to read Luther without knowing this historical fact.
Are you a student of eschatology...or do you consider yourself a prophet?
Doesn't mean the baby should be thrown out with the bath water.
"Doesn't mean the baby should be thrown out with the bathwater."
I agree. However, the picture of the entire man is needed, otherwise, if there are faults, we might never know and attribute more than what is deserved.
I say this, mindful of the number of times I have stated that the entire life of mohammad needs to be known.
But the man is damned by the evil he speaks and does.
Just my opinion. Apply only if it works.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Conquest of Europe
Its motto is telling: "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."
----
These organizations represent themselves as mainstream, even as they continue to embrace the Brotherhood's radical views and maintain links to terrorists. With moderate rhetoric and well-spoken German, Dutch, and French, they have gained acceptance among European governments and media alike. Politicians across the political spectrum rush to engage them whenever an issue involving Muslims arises or, more parochially, when they seek the vote of the burgeoning Muslim community.
But, speaking Arabic or Turkish before their fellows Muslims, they drop their facade and embrace radicalism. While their representatives speak about interfaith dialogue and integration on television, their mosques preach hate and warn worshippers about the evils of Western society. While they publicly condemn the murder of commuters in Madrid and school children in Russia, they continue to raise money for Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
A role model for CAIR, I'm sure.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.