Since the judicial murder of Jesus Christ, the Founder of Christianity, different forms of persecution have trailed the evolution of this religion. In their vain attempts to discredit the truth that “Jesus Christ is the son of God, sent to deliver mankind from the penalty of sin (death)”, elaborate and grandiose schemes have been hatched by the sons of perdition to drag the image of the religion and its adherents in the mud. In their mad rush to blaspheme, these sons of Sodom have showered plethora of pernicious, spurious, spiteful, damming and totally blasphemous expletives against Jesus Christ, Christianity and the almighty God. Had they made similar sacrilegious submissions against Muslims, Islam and Mohammed, a “Fatwa” would have been declared on them and a price put on their heads, just like Salman Rushdie’s case after publishing “The Satanic Verses”. Despite the repeated attacks of these dark angels, Christians have naturally kept mute in obedience to the Biblical injunction of “turning the other cheek”.
Persecution of the Church is not new. It became rife in the years after the execution, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The early apostles where constantly harangued for their continued teachings on the new life that is freely given to all those who believed and confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior. These initial attempts were meant to douse the fire ignited by Christ through his works while on earth, and the equally effective work of his apostles who took the message to formally uncharted territories. Most of these men suffered unimaginable fates for their faith, while many of them paid the ultimate price.
In the current dispensation, a new crop of Pharisees have arisen. They are mainly from the science and technology community. They operate from both our ivory towers and business communities, where they have overwhelming influence in determining what people should or not should believe. Through their often unproven, doctored and biased experiments, ideas that are at times illogical and totally anti-Christian are constantly churned out to deceive even the elect. Theories like evolution, relativism, the big bang, etc, are continually drummed into listening ears of the innocent. Starting from the eighteenth century, the works of these men have permeated our societies and now control our lives, estranging some of the elect from their God. Our schools, cultures, governments and other aspects of life have been eroded by the postulations of science, and the fleeting influences of technology. To press home their points and sow seeds of doubts in the minds of believers, several preposterous accusations have been concocted and leveled against the Church on a global scale.
The blasphemers of Christianity, the members of the scientific community have created their own belief system. This new religion preaches that “God is dead”, and that science is the new-born god. The sad fact is that they have made several converts who prefer to put their faith in a man-made god; a mere human construct. What a pity. But the gospel truth is that science, despite its exaggerated claims has failed in mitigating humanities greatest challenges: conflict, poverty, disease, racism, insecurity, natural disasters, death, etc, it has failed to answer the question, “what is life all about”? Despite the much vaunted feats of space technology and medicine, man remains afraid insatiable, empty sick and guilty inside. William Shakespeare succinctly captures the sorry state of man in this extract from “Macbeth”: “Life’s but a walking shadow’, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage. And then is hard no more: It is a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing”. What an apt description of man’s sorry state, despite his much hallowed achievements in science.
As to the origin of man and other life forms, science would have us believe in the warped theories of Evolution (and Natural Selection) and The Big Bang. These are postulations that have been found wanting in the face of contemporary evidence. It beats my imagination that the scientific community still hangs on to these white lies, when observable evidence is to the contrary. Funny enough some of these theories form the building blocs of modern science. What a shame! If man evolved from other living cells why, how, when and where did this evolution stop? If the earth is the result of a gigantic explosion, why do we find so much order in creation? What has science become today? Dr Paul Olisah Ojeih (Daily Sun, Tuesday, October, 17, 2006) answers: “What we have today are scientific magicians playing on peoples’ ignorance with Scientifico-Magico-Abracadabra” (Emphasis mine). There is overwhelming evidence in creation to prove that life and the earth are logical results of divine wisdom, not a blind result of chance.
Come to think of it, is Christianity anti-science? Of course not! True and objective science springs from truly acknowledging that man is a created being with free will. God, according to the Christian Bible created humans to be like himself with a commission to reproduce, bring the earth under his control and to rule over every animal on the earth (Gen1:27 -29) (emphasis added). It can then be inferred that it is God’s wish that men explore in order to discover the hidden secrets in nature, control natural laws and use his discoveries to advance life on earth. To survive in his environment, God gave man the ability to observe events, record facts, analyze combination of facts, study and produce results. Man can flash back to the past, envision and gear up for the future, make choices, plan, organize, transform and modify his physical environment into his dream world. He can achieve just about anything he sets his mined on achieving. Every break through (scientific or otherwise) should thus make man more conscious of the wonders of creation –especially as man has not been able to create any life form through science or any other means for that matter. Thus biblical facts should be the building blocs of modern science, not some whacko scientific theories that bothers on the mythical and mystical.
As to the accuracy of biblical prophecies, especially as it concerns the second coming of Christ, naysayers have laughed it off as the creation of spin-doctors; a doctored insertion into the original writings of Bible. What is obvious is that these doubting Thomases have not intently studied the Christian Bible in its pure form. If they had, they would have avoided blabbing inanities and hauling abominable insults on the son of God. Jesus did not give a particular time frame for his second coming. He only catalogued the following events as preceding the end times: The rise of false prophets, war and rumors of wars, nations warring against nations, famine, food shortages, earthquakes, and persecution of Christians (by today’s anti-Christ’s’) and the spread of evil. But He cautioned that these occurrences would indicate the beginning of tribulations on earth and not the end of the world .He admonished Christians to hold on to their faith until the gospel had spread to the uttermost parts of the world – only then would He come. (Matthew 24; 1-14). Most of the events catalogued by Christ are already happening with frightening accuracy, and despite the good news having reached some far-flung corners of the world, some people are yet to hear it. For instance, recently, a hitherto unknown primitive tribe was discovered in South America. These and other such isolated groups deserve to hear the word. Christ may not have come, but let no man be deceived, ‘no Bible prophecy has failed to come true’. Ask the people of Noah’s days and the disobedient Jews of the ancient kingdoms of Judah and Israel. The Jews are what they are today because of the fulfillment of prophecy, not in rejecting their identity as G
od’s people as has been suggested by the modern-day Philistines (Ezekiel 37:12 -14, 15 – 28; Jeremiah 30, 31).
However, the progress of any nation as of any man is not totally dependent on the achievements of science. Morality plays a very significant role in ensuring that scientific inventions are channeled towards productive ends. People without morals are more dangerous to humanity than viruses. For humanity to positively progress, there must be a synergy between science and morality, which Christianity advocates. Men must realize that they are mere actors on the world stage and that regardless of their achievements they are answerable to a higher authority- God. Science can improve the lot of humanity, but it cannot build positive peace, end poverty, put a stop to prejudice and other ills afflicting mankind. These ills spring from the hearts of men. Unregulated science is humanity’s greatest enemy.
Albert Einstein (See Barash, P.D and Webel,C.B02) C.P.2002.P85), reacting to the advent of the Atomic Bomb ,which was a result of the application of his theories, expressed his fears in these evergreen words: “The splitting of the atom has changed everything but our way of thinking, and hence we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe”. Bill Clinton, (Ibid: 113) former U.S president, reacting to the power of information technology, Expressed his fears thus: ‘The revolutions in information technology have magnified both the creative and destructive potential of every individual, tribe and nation on our planet’.
For those who continue to doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ is real, I pity them. Jesus and the Christian massage offers man a relationship with God, not a religion. The world calls the Christians message foolish and silly (1 Corinthians 1:12; LB; see John 1:11-13), but it keeps waxing stronger every day, overwhelming the attacks of the anti-Christs’ of this world, who have had the Christian massage preached to then but turned their backs on it. If revered thinkers like Bertrand Russell, a contemporary of Albert Einstein, and one of the founding fathers of modern science, could be confused on his death bed as to what his fate would be after death, I wonder what these disciples of Lucifer are still yammering about. Hear Russell on his death bed: “I am not afraid to die, but one thing I fear is in case these Christians are right” (See Ojewale, M.O. 1992 .knowing God personally p.18 -19). This renowned philosopher and intellectual who was an enigma in his days could not be sobered by his many years of laborious research. He could not find peace in his theoretical postulations. ‘Of course these Christians are right’.
In their vain attempts to deify science and portray Christianity as a fruitless exercise, the enemies of Christ have half-Wittedly attempted to portray Albert Einstein, one of their most illustrious colleagues as a bland, stereo typed atheist. But the truth is that Einstein had a very deep spiritual side to him. Hear him: ‘The most beautiful and most profound emotion we experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sewer of true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand in rapt awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their mostly primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling is at the centre of true religiousness (See Downs, R.B 1956: Books that Changed the World. 193). What a sincere scientist!
Christians willing to excel in all fields of human endeavor should first seek God and his kingdom, that all other things (including scientific and technological breakthroughs) may be added unto them. They should avoid putting on the toga of vanity and unbelief; should not act without thinking, causing more harm than good (to themselves and others).They should rather strive to be obedient humble and surrender to the divine will of the almighty, willing to sacrifice their lives for others, as exemplified by Christ while on His earthly journey. Humanity can only progress in a world ruled by God.
