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The article claims 32 year old Breivik left a 1500 page manifesto explaining his political and religious views.... I wonder if your everyday committed Christ follower would read this 1500 page manifesto and conclude that Breivik was a Christian at the end of it? Is this man a Christian? What is an extreme Christian?
I find it interesting that Christians face a similar dilemma as many Islamic people when something as extreme as this occurs in the name of Christ. Everyday Muslims are often tarnished with the same brush as the extremist Islamic terrorists when something like the trade towers occurs and yet Muslims exclaim that not all followers of Islam are capable of something like this. But underneath the surface I think many people suspect that perhaps they could be. As a follower of Jesus myself I would hate to think that anyone would associate this disturbed psychopath with me and what I believe, and even more horrified that anyone could suspect that I might be capable of such an atrocity in the name of faith. Makes me think twice about judging Muslim people based on their extremist connections. The nagging question still remains for me though, can someone do something as extreme as this and still be classified as a Christian? What makes a person a Christian? Are the Islamic extremists who commit diabolical acts of terrorism still considered Muslims? Fox news is pretty clear on what they think in the following video, it's a good example of hard right Christians responding...
Your thoughts??
I don't think that 'doing something in the name of a cause or religion' automatically connects or makes you part of that cause or religion. However, it will generally be perceived that way by outside parties.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I do think it is possible for Anders Behring Breivik to have been or be a Christian (however misguided his actions and reasoning are).
If all sins are equal before God, then is there any difference between lying or cheating, and what Breivik committed?
Hi Matt
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. Interesting point you made regarding 'doing something in the name of a religion doesn't make you part of that religion'...so what does? I think you are right tho about perceptions playing a huge part. But I am not comfortable with the 'all sins are equal' slogan we were all feed growing up. I don't see how that can be right. Thanks heaps for your post mate, challenging thoughts
Thanks for your ideas Luke, it has been very interesting to consider your thoughts. Like you addressed, such an event raises so many questions, and some of them are huge in scope! I find it incredible how so many different beliefs, customs and practises fit under the umbrella of ‘Christianity.’ There are approximately 38000 Christian denominations in the world....how does the one message get so moulded into so many different forms? Is the essence of Christianity really that malleable? It is hard to reconcile the anger of picketing extremists in America shouting “God hates fags” with the God of love they claim to represent, much the same way that it is hard to reconcile Breivik’s beliefs and convictions to Christianity.
ReplyDeleteI find it ironic that Breivik claims in his manifesto to admire the convictions and ideals of Al Qaeda, while at the same time citing his hatred of them to justify his cause. So what do we do about it? Do we throw our hands up, and give up caring what perceptions others have because it is too late to turn the tide on any of it anyway? Or do we seek to claim back what has been lost, apparently what Breivik (in some bizarre way) thought he was doing? Clearly, there are no easy answers, but I think a good start would be for those with such strong convictions to actually think about the essence behind them. I think the message may have become a little distorted....At the risk of sounding trite, extremists on both sides of the ‘religion’ debate need to look at expanding their love for humankind.
Hi Rebecca
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. You write really well, I had no idea there were that many variances on the Christian faith, were did you source that? Still makes me wonder what is the benchmark for making someone a Christian or not. I think it may be even more important to discuss considering the staggering number of ideas on Christ and his message. I think the message is more than a little distorted as you say, some say that Islamic extremists go to far and focus only on certain elements of Koran. When it come to the message of Jesus I find no elements which match up with the actions of Anders Breivik. He is way off target when it comes to Jesus who preached love as the highest priority?
Hey Luke,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback, completely agree with you...it's interesting because this is a topic that I have been considering a lot lately: what exactly does Christianity encompass? Is our choice between being lumped into the same basket as extremists such as Breivik or good old Harold Camping, or being so liberal that we sit around cutting and pasting the New Testament to our liking in the manner of the Jesus Seminar adherents? Is there anything in between? And how do we know that wherever we place ourselves on that spectrum is in fact representative of the whole truth? I’m pretty convinced that, like you mention, loving humanity like Jesus did is the key to grappling with these questions; I just haven’t figured the rest out yet.....
By the way, the source for those statistics is:
World Christian Trends, (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001).
Extensive research for this has been carried out by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
How can anyone who professes to be a Christian even begin to consider that Anders Breivik is a Christian himself. What does it mean to be a Christian, or how do we know if we are a Christian?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I have been taught and believe, a Christian is someone who...
1. Is a sinner
2. Is aware (from the perfect law of God) of his sin, feels convicted of his sin and admits he is a sinner to God.
3. Repents of his sin (ask for forgiveness and TURN from all sin)
4. Put's their faith in Jesus Christ alone.
5. Asks the Holy spirit to dwell in them so they may start the process of sanctification
6. Loves God and lives for him ALONE.
7. A true Christian should HATE sin, just like God hates sin.
As for what 'Matt' mentioned about sin and whether all sin is equal or not? We need to understand that we have all fallen short of the glory of God. No-body is good. Whether we have said a 'white lie' or killed a bunch of people like Anders Breivik did, we have broken Gods laws and should all be punished for that. The good news is that God gave his son, Jesus, to die for our sin. The purpose of Jesus being on earth was to DIE FOR US so that we may be justified by his blood. This shows us Gods awesome LOVE FOR US. Our response to that perfect and awesome sacrifice is to live our lives for HIM, not for ourselves and our selfish, worldly, fleshly desires.
A christian will still sin, we are all still under the curse from what Adam and Eve did. But a Christian should hate sin and turn from it. And they should hunger for the WORD of God.