Pope Benedict Prays for Jews… and Gets Bad Reviews

Just getting to blog about this from earlier in the month… Pope Benedict has reinstituted a prayer for Jews to recognize Jesus as Savior of the world. The prayer is only in a Latin service that takes place on Good Friday before Easter. I first read about this in this NY Times article. Here’s what the translation of the prayer

An unofficial translation of the new prayer reads: “Let us pray for the Jews. May the Lord Our God enlighten their hearts so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men.”

The reason this is in the news is that a conservative worldwide assembly of Jewish rabbis has condemned it and says, “the prayer would cast a harsh shadow over the spirit of mutual respect and collaboration that has marked these past four decades, making it more difficult for Jews to engage constructively in dialogue with Catholics.”

This is one of those situations that I just struggle to understand. The Jewish body is effectively saying that we can’t talk or have dialogue if you insist on saying that what historic Christianity and the Bible say about Jesus is true. But to deny the exclusive nature of claiming that salvation comes through faith in Jesus is to deny orthodox Christianity.

I suppose this flows from a mindset that says that disagreement about Truth is counter productive to good relationships with others and has historically led to violence. The reasoning usually goes that absolute truth claims necessarily lead to violence.

But this isn’t true for a religion who’s God commands them to “love your neighbor” and “pray for your enemies”; ala Christianity. The violence of some Christians through history is better explained by things like people who call themselves Christians but are not truly regenerate or by pointing out that God’s elect, the Church, continue to be sinful despite being redeemed by him. Both of these explanations fit the Biblical description of mankind.

I disagree with Roman Catholics about some theological issues. But on this one… I stand with them. It is Biblical and right to pray these kinds of prayers.

What do you think?

Replay of October 2007 CBS "60 Minutes" Report on Dubai

This is a very interesting report on Dubai and it’s visionary… Sheikh Mohammad. I’ve not completed both parts but it’s a great summary of what’s happening here in the city.

The CBS website won’t let me embed the part 2 video. So here’s a link to it:

CBS 60 Minutes – Dubai Inc. Part 2

On this date… "6th Century Christians Massacred in What Is Present-Day Yemen

This entry in the Christian History Institute “story of the day” popped up on my iGoogle.com homepage. (I have it set to show me what’s on the page every day). The story below is about the massacre of Christians on the Arabian peninsula back in 500′s A.D. It happened in what is present day Yemen… two countries over from where we live. Interesting stuff.

In the sixth century, the nation of Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) dominated the kingdoms of Himyar and Yemen on the southern Arabian peninsula. There were flourishing Christian churches in the area (also known as Homerites) which looked to Christian Abyssinia for protection.

It happened that a Himyarite Jew, Yusuf As’ar (better known by nicknames referring to his braids or ponytail: Dhu Nuwas, Dzu Nuwas, Dounaas, or Masruq), seized the throne from his king and revolted against Abyssinia, seeking to throw the Ethiopians out of the country. He captured an Ethiopian garrison at Zafar and burned the church there and burned other Christian churches.

Christians were strongest at the North Yemen city called Najran (sometimes spelled Nagran or Nadjran). Dhu Nuwas attacked it. The Christians held the town with desperate valor. Dhu Nuwas found he could not capture it. And so he resorted to treachery. He swore that he would grant the Christians of Najran full amnesty if they would surrender. The Christians, knowing they could not hold out forever, yielded against the advice of their leader Arethas (Aretas or Harith).

What happened next was so appalling that Bishop Simeon of Beth Arsham (a Syrian) traveled to the site to interview eyewitnesses and write a report… “The Jews amassed all the martyr’s bones and brought them into the church where they heaped them up. They then brought in the priests, deacons, subdeacons, readers, and sons and daughters of the covenant…they filled the church from wall to wall, some 2,000 persons according to the men who came from Najran; then they piled wood all round the outside of the church and set light to it, thus burning the church with everyone inside it.”

In the ensuing week, hundreds more Christians were martyred, among them many godly women, who were killed with the most horrible tortures when they refused to renounce Christ. According to Simeon, many were told “Deny Christ and the cross and become Jewish like us; then you shall live.”

Versions differ as to date, but one says that it was on this day, November 25, 523, Dhu Nuwas took his vengeance on Arethas and 340 followers, killing them. These men were quickly included in martyr lists in the Greek, Latin and Russian churches. A song was even written about them by one Johannes Psaltes, although it reports only about 200 deaths.

Other accounts written within a century add that deep pits were dug, filled with combustible material, and set afire. Christians who refused to change faiths were hurled into the flame, thousands dying in this painful martyrdom. Some think that this is the event that the Koran refers to when it says, “Cursed be the diggers of the trench, who lighted the consuming fire and sat around it to watch the faithful being put to the torture!” although Muslim commentators deny this.

A wealthy lady named Ruhm was compelled to watch her virgin daughter and granddaughter executed and to taste their blood before she was killed herself. Asked how the blood tasted, she answered, “Like a pure, spotless offering.”

When word reached Constantinople, the Roman Emperor encouraged the Ethiopian king Ellesbaas (Ella Atsbeha or Kaleb) to intervene, as did the Patriarch of Alexandra. Ellesbaas was only too willing to do so, since his garrisons had been massacred and fellow Christians killed. He destroyed Dhu Nuwas and established a Christian kingdom. An Ethiopian-Jewish writing known as the Kebra Nagast regarded the downfall of Dhu Nuwas to be the final catastrophe for the Kingdom of Judah. Another Ethiopian book told the story of the massacre under the title The Book of the Himyarites.

Bibliography

1. “Aretas and Martyrs of Nagran (Nadjran).” www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1024.htm
2. Bell, Richard. A commentary on the Qur’an. Edited by C. Edmund Bosworth and M.E.J. Richardson. Manchester, England : University of Manchester, 1991.
3. _________. The Origin of Islam in its Christian Environment. London: Frank Cass and co., 1968; pp. 37 – 39.
4. Budge, E. A. Wallis. History of Ethiopia, Nubia and Abyssinia. Oosterhout N. B., the Netherlands: Anthropological Pubns, 1966. pp. 261 – 262.
5. Brock, Sebastian P. & Harvey, Susan Ashbrook. Holy Women of the Syrian Orient. Berkeley, CA: Univ of California Press, 1987; pp 100-121.
6. Haqqani, Abu Muhammad ‘Abdul Haq. An introduction to the commentary on the Holy Quran : being an English translation of al-Bayan. Lahore : Oriental Imprints, 1975.
7. Jones, A. H. M. and Monroe, Elizabeth. A History of Ethiopia. Oxford, 1953; p. 30.
8. Koran. Sura 85. “The Constellations.” trans. by N. J. Dawood. Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin, 1968.
9. Mackintosh-Smith, Tim. Yemen, the Unknown Arabia. Woodstock: Overlook Press, 2000; pp. 41 – 43.
10. Nyrop, Richard F. et al. Area Handbook for the Yemens. United States Government Printing Office, 1977; pp. 13 – 14.
11. Smith, Sidney. “Events in Arabia in the 6th Century A.D.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies #16. London: University of London, 1954; pp. 425 – 468.
12. Trimingham, J. Spencer. Christianity among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times. London and New York: Longman, 1979; pp. 287 – 307.

The Source and Destructiveness of Conspiracy Theories in the Muslim World

Extremely interesting article written just for the Gulf News recently. Husain Haqqani analyzes the source and destructiveness of conspiracy theories in the Muslim World. It’s short and a “must read”.

Here’s a quote near the beginning…

“The contemporary Muslim fascination for conspiracy theories limits the capacity for rational discussion of international affairs. For example, a recent poll indicates that only 3 per cent of Pakistanis believe that Al Qaida was responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the US, notwithstanding Osama Bin Laden and his deputies have taken credit for the attacks on more than one occasion.”

But does he go far enough in his analysis of the source? What do you think?

John Newton on "Three wonders in heaven…"

If ever I reach heaven I expect to find three wonders
there: first, to meet some I had not thought to see there;
second, to miss some I had expected to see there; and third–
the greatest wonder of all–to find myself there.
… John Newton (1725-1807)

John Newton was the one who wrote the famous hymn “Amazing Grace” after committing his life to Christ and leaving his work in the slave trade.

Easter Trinkets in Dubai

 

Stopped by Choithrams Grocery store a couple days ago and found these Christian Easter “trinkets”. This is really interesting on a number of levels.

First, to have items of distinct Christian symbolism sold in the UAE is amazing. This was not happening when I arrived 5 years ago. What’s more, Easter is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus which is denied by Muslims (primarily his death is denied and so the resurrection is also). So, in some sense, I’m very pleased to see greater openness in the UAE to the free expression of religion other than Islam.

Secondly, the items are mostly Roman Catholic in nature. You’ll notice the statues on the left picture Jesus with a visable red heart. This is a Roman Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It represents a Roman Catholic reverence or even worship of Jesus’ physical heart as representing love for God. It originated with a Catholic nun who claimed visions from Jesus in the 1600′s. You’ll also notice the statues of Mary. They place a divine halo over her and give her the same flaming heart. This is distinctly Catholic and has references to the their belief that Mary was sinless and shared some characteristics with Jesus. Some Catholics believe that Mary was also taken up into heaven like Jesus, thus not experiencing a normal death. And some even go so far as to declare her “co-redemptrix” or co-redeemer with Jesus. All three of these specific doctrine of the Roman Catholic church were officially declared well over 1000 years after the life of Jesus. The Immaculate Conception (sinlessness) came in 1854, The Assumption (ascending to heaven) was approved in 1950, and Mary as Co-Redemptrix was mentioned though not officially declared as late as 1985 by Pope John Paul II.

I find no evidence for these beliefs in the Bible and find them to be corrosive to faith in Jesus as Savior alone. So, having these items for sale in the UAE is also disturbing to me because it will tend to represent Christianity as a whole and add to the notion that Christians are idolaters. I think many who buy these statues could very well be committing idolatry if they think they have power in and of themselves, if they worship them in any way, or if they think that God will look on them with favor for owning one.

Lastly, I find it disturbing that Christianity is reduced to items to be sold in the store. This is the greatest danger to the faith. The tendency among all Christians to reduce their faith to some external rituals, adornments, or ‘extra’ thing is great. Faith in Christ has external consequences but it primarily changes their ulimate destiny, the character of a person and how they live. Religious trinkets show an unhealthy focus on the external rather than internal change.

Quote: Praying or Talking?

If we would talk less and pray more about them, things
would be better than they are in the world: at least, we
should be better enabled to bear them.
… John Owen (1616-1683)

Recent Trip to Vietnam: Photos

At the same time that my wife was in Thailand two weeks ago, my 13 year old daughter was in Vietnam on a similar school trip (yes, I know, quite the globe-trotting family). Who would have thought that my teenager would tour Vietnam given the presence of American troops fighting in that place a little more than 30 years ago. Amazing.

And here are a few of her best pictures from the trip. She seems to be a budding photographer. Click below for a view of a few more pictures.

Amazing Animated Map of Middle East Conquests

Do you have 90 seconds free? Click on this link and watch an amazing animated map/timeline of Middle Eastern conquests over the millenia. Don’t miss the end when it finishs with a rapid visual recap of all the conquests.