Things are real bad when we see apostasy amongst our church leaders. And things are real bad when we see dhimmitude embraced and accepted by our church leaders. But things are even worse yet when we see church leaders succumbing to both.
When Christian leaders appease, accommodate and submit to Islam, as well as sell out the very heart of the gospel and thumb their noses at the Word of God, then you know the church is in big trouble. And this is happening often in the Western church.
It is as frightening as it is deplorable. Consider a perfect example of this which has just come to light from the People’s Republik of Sweden, arguably one of the most PC nations on the planet. Given what a basket case the country is, it is perhaps not surprising that the church there is in such a mess as well.
The headline is scary enough: “Swedish Archbishop prefers Allah”. Here is how the news report covers this story: “Today it was announced that the Church of Sweden’s new archbishop is Antje Jackelén. But who is the church’s new top leader, who has chosen part of the Muslim prayer call as her motto?”
It continues, “Like kings, all bishops have their own motto and Jackelén chose ‘God is greater’. If that sounds familiar, it may be due to the fact that an Arabic translation renders it as ‘Allahu akbar’. There are those who believe that her choice is far from random – but very deliberate.
“Many have been taken aback by the theological opinions Jackelén revealed during a questioning in Uppsala on October 1. The candidates for the highest position in the Swedish church were asked if they thought Jesus presented a truer picture of God than Muhammed. With her evasive answer Jackelén suddenly emerged as the bishop who couldn’t choose between Jesus and Muhammed. This provoked strong reactions on some editorial pages.
“Kyrkans Tidning thought that the bishop’s answer might indicate that Christ is being relegated to the margins of the Church of Sweden and Dagens Nyheter encouraged the candidates to show some theological backbone. The editorial writer at the newspaper Dagen wrote that it is time to accept the idea of a split within the church – between Christians and those who think all religions are equally good.
“The bishop of Lund’s preference for Allah has prompted one of the church’s most preeminent theologians, professor Eva Hamberg, to leave her post as a member of the church’s theological council in protest against bishop Antje Jackelén’s failure to stand behind the Church of Sweden’s profession of faith. As a reaction to what she calls ‘the inner secularization of the Church of Sweden’, she has also renounced her position as priest and her membership of the church.
“In a number of interviews Hamberg has expressed her disappointment that not even the top leader of the church will clearly profess a Christian faith but wavers between Jesus and Muhammed. It is not only Jackelén’s motto and her unwillingness to put Jesus ahead of Muhammed that has evoked strong feelings among many committed Christians.
“During her questioning in Uppsala, the new archbishop also said that the Church of Sweden has more in common with other religions than with other Christian churches, that the Virgin Birth must be understood metaphorically, that hell doesn’t exist and that the Biblical texts should not be taken as truth.”
This story is a real shocker, but it is sadly becoming more and more typical of so many churches in the West which are well on the way to giving up the ghost. Many churches are surrendering to the spirit of the age, to rampant secularism, militant atheism, and moral relativism.
And as we can see here, many are bowing before a false political ideology: Islam. This is nothing more than dhimmitude in action. Dhimmis are found all over the West, but the most appalling place to find them is in our churches. This is capitulation of the highest order.
As Bat Ye’or has put it in her important new book, Understanding Dhimmitude (RVP Press, 2013), “It is within the Christian world, in its religious, political, intellectual, and economic spheres, that the system of dhimmitude developed and grew as a culture characterized by surrender and passive submission, imposed by leaders won over to the service of Islam by ambition and financial interest.”
People may scoff and argue that in the West Christians are in the clear majority, with Muslims only being a small minority. But two responses can be offered here: demographics alone is rapidly changing all that. Moreover, recall that many lands which were once Christian are now Muslim.
Says Ye’or: “Today there are less than twenty-five thousand Jews living in the Arab and Islamic world, and the Christians who formed the majority of the inhabitants of all these areas are today but frightened, shadowy communities – even the five million Copts of Egypt.”
So what has happened before can surely happen again. And when this surrender comes at the hands of major church leaders, then you know the handwriting is on the wall for Western Christendom. That is, of course, unless we snap out of our slumber and fully reject the straitjacket of dhimmitude.
12 Replies to “Dhimmi and Apostate Church Leaders”
One you have come to the position where “the Biblical texts should not be taken as truth” you are well on the way to apostasy and the acceptance of any crazy religion.
Des Morris
“The new archbishop also said that the Church of Sweden has more in common with other religions than with other Christian churches, that the Virgin Birth must be understood metaphorically, that hell doesn’t exist and that the Biblical texts should not be taken as truth.”
Excuse me whilst I spew! No wonder that the Apostle Paul told that women should keep their mouth shut!
Manfred Sollorz
Dear Bill, The Christians in Sweden have obviously forgotten the true message of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile the Christians in Malaysia are forbidden from using the term Allah.
I wish you all the best, Franklin Wood
Manfred, I don’t think the fact that the Swedish Archbishop is a woman is the cause of her apostate claims.
Men say and do many foolish things too.
+++
It is quite ironic that a nation that has claims on the brave, murderous and ferocious vikings, is such an appeaser of a religion that would gladly have them dead or as slaves.
Too much success leads man to forget God, truly.
William Hooke
Satan can only gain as much ground in the church as God’s people let him have. And he will push and shove and intimidate and deceive, but if we only would remember whom to fear most of all we would find the strength to resist him and to stand.
Thank you William for defending women who speak and live the truth. But Peter does describe us as the “weaker vessel” and whether I like it or not, standing alone in leadership positions attracts spiritual as well as verbal-physical attack and I just don’t think we are created to withstand those kind of pressures. Whether the bishop caved in to pressure or whether what she says is what she believes, I don’t know but I pray we learn to judge from God’s protective point of view rather than from our egalitarian one when we consider the issue of women in leadership.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
I think Sweden may have to pay for their sin of “forgetting God” very soon. You can’t abandon truth and not pay a HIGH price!
Liz Gee
Franklin, regarding the Malaysian situation, Christians prohibited from using Allah to describe God effectively means the God of Christianity and Islam are different beings.
Mark Wong
Manfred, whilst I find the Swedish Archbishop’s apostate comments revolting as well, could you please refrain from attributing these to her female gender. Evil, deception, and falsities are not gender based, but rather derive from the powers of darkness and gain their entry into human beings through sin and faithlessness. Both men and women are prone to these things.
We should pray that she sees the light and repents.
blessings
Sandra Godde
Thanks Sandra, but I am pretty sure that it is not sexism behind his remarks but theology – that is, whether women should be allowed leadership positions in the church. But that is a debate we will have to have elsewhere when I actually write on that topic.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Seems certain Swedish theologians may acquire a reputation amongst Evangelical Christians akin to that of the Swedish Chef on The Muppet Show! The seduction of Western Protestant theology by modern and post-modern philosophy is one of the great tragedies of the more recent centuries of the Church’s history.
John Wigg
Luke 18: 7-8 is the statement Jesus makes regarding faith amongst those who profess to believe in Him. (“However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”). I wonder if the Swedish Archbishop has been reading her Bible lately? because I think this situation is exactly what Jesus was referring to. When Jesus comes back, will he find a church that is putting its trust in Him and His Word? Or will he find a church that has compromised its faith and is relying on the world system to meet its needs and fulfill its desires?
Fred Merlo
By that logic, then also the theologian who has spoken out against this apostate should also have kept her mouth shut. Doesn’t make sense to me, especially when it is obvious that there were women ministers in Paul’s day, such as Priscilla, and the only reason he tells the women of Corinth to be quiet is because of the additional disruption the women of the congregation were causing during the services. This has nothing to do with whether women can be in ministry.
Mario Del Giudice
One you have come to the position where “the Biblical texts should not be taken as truth” you are well on the way to apostasy and the acceptance of any crazy religion.
Des Morris
“The new archbishop also said that the Church of Sweden has more in common with other religions than with other Christian churches, that the Virgin Birth must be understood metaphorically, that hell doesn’t exist and that the Biblical texts should not be taken as truth.”
Excuse me whilst I spew! No wonder that the Apostle Paul told that women should keep their mouth shut!
Manfred Sollorz
Dear Bill, The Christians in Sweden have obviously forgotten the true message of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile the Christians in Malaysia are forbidden from using the term Allah.
I wish you all the best, Franklin Wood
Manfred, I don’t think the fact that the Swedish Archbishop is a woman is the cause of her apostate claims.
Men say and do many foolish things too.
+++
It is quite ironic that a nation that has claims on the brave, murderous and ferocious vikings, is such an appeaser of a religion that would gladly have them dead or as slaves.
Too much success leads man to forget God, truly.
William Hooke
Satan can only gain as much ground in the church as God’s people let him have. And he will push and shove and intimidate and deceive, but if we only would remember whom to fear most of all we would find the strength to resist him and to stand.
Thank you William for defending women who speak and live the truth. But Peter does describe us as the “weaker vessel” and whether I like it or not, standing alone in leadership positions attracts spiritual as well as verbal-physical attack and I just don’t think we are created to withstand those kind of pressures. Whether the bishop caved in to pressure or whether what she says is what she believes, I don’t know but I pray we learn to judge from God’s protective point of view rather than from our egalitarian one when we consider the issue of women in leadership.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
I think Sweden may have to pay for their sin of “forgetting God” very soon. You can’t abandon truth and not pay a HIGH price!
Liz Gee
Franklin, regarding the Malaysian situation, Christians prohibited from using Allah to describe God effectively means the God of Christianity and Islam are different beings.
Mark Wong
Manfred, whilst I find the Swedish Archbishop’s apostate comments revolting as well, could you please refrain from attributing these to her female gender. Evil, deception, and falsities are not gender based, but rather derive from the powers of darkness and gain their entry into human beings through sin and faithlessness. Both men and women are prone to these things.
We should pray that she sees the light and repents.
blessings
Sandra Godde
Thanks Sandra, but I am pretty sure that it is not sexism behind his remarks but theology – that is, whether women should be allowed leadership positions in the church. But that is a debate we will have to have elsewhere when I actually write on that topic.
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Seems certain Swedish theologians may acquire a reputation amongst Evangelical Christians akin to that of the Swedish Chef on The Muppet Show! The seduction of Western Protestant theology by modern and post-modern philosophy is one of the great tragedies of the more recent centuries of the Church’s history.
John Wigg
Luke 18: 7-8 is the statement Jesus makes regarding faith amongst those who profess to believe in Him. (“However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”). I wonder if the Swedish Archbishop has been reading her Bible lately? because I think this situation is exactly what Jesus was referring to. When Jesus comes back, will he find a church that is putting its trust in Him and His Word? Or will he find a church that has compromised its faith and is relying on the world system to meet its needs and fulfill its desires?
Fred Merlo
By that logic, then also the theologian who has spoken out against this apostate should also have kept her mouth shut. Doesn’t make sense to me, especially when it is obvious that there were women ministers in Paul’s day, such as Priscilla, and the only reason he tells the women of Corinth to be quiet is because of the additional disruption the women of the congregation were causing during the services. This has nothing to do with whether women can be in ministry.
Mario Del Giudice