What most Christians don’t realize is that the “Islamic World” was
once the Christian world. Some of the most well-known and influential leaders
in the early church hailed from North Africa and the Middle East – like the
warring theologians Athanasius and Arius, and the apologist Tertullian.
It was for the library in Alexandria that the preeminent Greek version of
the Torah (the “Septuagint”) was commissioned. Today, St. Augustine would
be called a Tunisian, Origen would be Egyptian and the Apostle Paul – who was
on the road to Damascus when he encountered Christ – would have told the story
of his conversion while heading to “Syria.” It was also in the Syrian city
of “Antioch” that Christians were first called “Christians,” and to this day
there are as many Christian holy sites in that nation as anywhere else in the
world. There is no imaginary persecution; in Syria alone there have been
reports of kidnappings, Christian communities intentionally displaced by
militants and, worst of all, shootings and beheadings of Christians who refused
to convert to Islam. Government of Pakistan is participating in the genocide of
Christians through discriminatory laws against Christians i.e. blasphemy law
and others. In Egypt radicals have recently destroyed dozens of churches,
and the once vibrant Christian population in Iraq has been decimated. Other
countries such as Somalia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Afghanistan etc
are busy in destroying Christians and Christianity.
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