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Jack,
Jesus told his disciples "you will be hated by all for my name's
sake." Mark 13:13 RSV. He was not talking about the name Jesus,
but observing what his name stands for. That is observing his
commands above that of everything else. For this reason Jesus'
disciples are persecuted in that they put Jesus' commands above
that of any earthly government. That is not to say that they
would be disobedient to the government in power, for they should
be model citizens, just that they would Jesus commands first
(compare Acts 4:19,20, Matthew 28:19,20).
Jesus also told them "If the world hates you, know that it has
hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world
loves its own, but you are out of the world, therefore the world
hates you." John 15:18-19 RSV The Bible identifies Satan as the
one controlling the world (1 John 5:19, Revelation 12:17), he is
the one who instagates persecuition against true Christians.
So there are two things:
1) Satan the Devil instagates persecution against Christians
2) Christians are no part of the world. Their morals highlight
the immoral acts of ungodly persons and for this reason they
are persecuted. For example this was true of the first Century
Christians who received persecution from the Roman people, for
their good conduct highlighted the immoral acts of the Romans
pricking their consciences. Rather than repenting, the Romans
persecuted them in their Collosseum's (sp?). Perhaps they felt,
that if these moral people were out of the way then they could
continue practicing their immoral acts without having a guilty
conscience.
Phil.
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| I know a little about why the early Quakers were severely persecuted.
It was because they refused to swear an oath of allegiance to existing
governmental powers.
Quakers also found themselves in hot water for not removing the hat
before royalty. Early Quakers infuriated the clergy when visiting
"steeplehouses" on Sundays by wearing the hat when disagreeing with
what was being said during the sermon and removing the hat when in
agreement.
Modern Quakers have found themselves at odds with the government on
a number of issues. Some have been incarcerated for refusing military
service, for refusing to pay war taxes and for other acts of civil
disobediance.
Peace,
Richard
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