Well, a priest once told me that persecution might be good for the church, but I'm certain this wasn't what he had in mind.
You know, we in the western world have been sleepwalking. There is was laid out for the past 20 years, Christians were focussing on y2k and other stuff, and we got a real rude awakening.
I don't know much about correct interpretation of bible prophecy, but it seems that they will make war against the saints and overcome them just before the end.
It may be Christ himself who finally conquers them at His second coming.
Anybody have any thoughts on the matter?
These monsters would rape, mutilate, and make sexual slaves of every Christian girl they could get their hands on. They would enslave every Christian boy they could get their hands on. They would use every trick in the book to lead these children away from Christ and into their false religion.
Our Lord had some things to say about caring for little children and not letting them be harmed or misled by evildoers.
I don't think that I can find Biblical warrant for going out of my way to harm Muslim children, women, or even men who are just quietly going about their daily lives. But I do think that there is good Biblical warrant for standing up, and even putting our lives on the line, against those Muslims who are actively engaged in their jihad against us. It isn't an issue of me turning the other cheek because my cheek is being struck, but rather of not looking the other way while my brother or sister or child in Christ is being struck.
Very true. I don't know how it's going to end (well, I don't know the specifics, but I trust that it will end as the Bible and the Church teach), but I think we've been living in a fool's paradise. Our ignorance of history has led us to forget that as recently as the 19th and early 20th century, Islam was attacking various parts of southern Europe and the Mediterranean.
As for Islamic proseltysing, yes, of course, they have the right to preach and attempt to sway people to their beliefs. But that's not the way Islam works; it began with forced conversions, and it has extended itself with forced conversions, and it does not look as if its historical pattern is about to change.
I'm no prophecy scholar either; but the original post on this thread makes me wonder...
I never considered that the antichrist might be muslim until a few people mentioned it during various posts on this war on terrorism.
Originally, I thought the antichrist would probably come out of the European Union and be based, at least at first, in Rome. I also thought there was a good chance he'd be Jewish, since satan seems to try to imitate God. But now it makes sense that satan would use Ishmael, rather than a Jew, since he was man's attempt to fulfill God's promise to Abraham when God seemed to be working too slowly.
Having read the original article in this thread, I can kind of see how this might all fit together.
If the muslims take over Europe politically, they will have conquered both the EU and Rome and will indeed own and rule both. If they eventually take over all the world, then they would obviously have their one-world government. It wouldn't take much for them to then establish their theocracy with its shia(?) law. Nor would it be a big leap for the beast to demand that the world worship him. We also know that he will be given the power to subdue the saints for a time, and this would certainly fit in with islam since they kill anyone who won't convert.
From the standpoint of prophecy about Israel, this scenario would also seem to fit. I believe that the antichrist will make a false peace with Israel, then break it. I also believe that Israel will recognize him as the antichrist when he defiles the temple. And we know that Jesus will return to save them, and to begin His thousand year rule on earth.
So, is this how it's going to go down? I don't know. I imagine that many in Europe could have imagined a similar scenario with Hitler and his SS. But Israel had not been given back to the Jews yet at that time.
OTOH, whatever part of the timeline we're in, it's my duty to stand against islam, whether it turns out to be just an antichrist or the antichrist Depending on where we are in God's timetable, we'll either defeat islam and move on, or Jesus will come and defeat them. Either way, we're assured of eventual victory.
FWIW, those are my thoughts on the matter :)