Will the Church Survive?
2nd February 2006
Here is a comment I placed on a post I found at this site.
By way of introduction, the post, and some of the comments received, cast a little anxiety on the so-called frivolous lawsuit that Luigi Cascioli brought against the Rev. Enrico Righi of the Roman Catholic Church about the existence of Christ.
Apparently folks are worried that while the litigant may lose in pre-dominant Roman Catholic Italy, a subsequent appeal to the EU Court may mean that Christianity might be outlawed in Europe, setting a precedent for the rest of the world. Even (gasp) the United States.
My comment:
If church history is any indication, then if Christianity becomes outlawed, it might just flourish like never before.
A case in point: when the Communists kicked out all missionaries from China over fifty years ago, the Church in the West wringed their hands anxiously. By the time the doors to China reopened, everyone found an underground church that was more alive than ever before.
What missionaries tried to do in over several centuries of attempts at mass conversion in a culture that was deemed the hardest to penetrate with the gospel by some of the early missionaries, the Holy Spirit did through ordinary folk who were unschooled and untrained in missiology or evangelism. The church grew by seemingly itself without outside intervention in leaps and bounds.
Let them take out all the lawsuits they want. The church of God will continue to flourish, legalized or not. Remember Matthew 16:18.
Perhaps we might do well to realize that whenever the Church became entangled with the State or even with mainstream culture, it is at its weakest in terms of mission, impact and authenticity.
So, maybe Christianity ought to be outlawed everywhere!
Technorati Tags: frivolous lawsuit, Luigi Cascioli, Enrico Righi, Christianity, missiology, evangelism, mission, Chinese Church, underground church
February 3rd, 2006 at 5:00 pm
This is just ridiculous conspiracy theory b.s. I mean, think about it for just one second and step out of your persecution mode. Christianity is not in danger. It is not going to be outlawed. Get a grip, my god!
February 4th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
I really liked your comment. Of course the church will survive. My original post was not intended as “ridiculous conspiracy theory b.s.” as Realist puts it. I was just pointing out that, while the lawsuit doesn’t stand a chance in Italy, and Cascioli knows it, the E.U. courts are another thing entirely. I would not be surprised if THEY outlawed it. Couldn’t happen in the U.S. though.
And of course it couldn’t happen to Islam.