St. Thomas – The Apostle who brought Christianity to Iraq
Now that we’ve established that war is not completely forbidden by the teachings of Christ, we have to ask if George Bush’s military campaign in Iraq falls into this category. Melissa pointed out that non-Christians would be killed in this conflict. She is completely correct.
A valid question is, why not missionize them instead of war? That seems like a valid question. In fact, I would agree. Melissa mentioned that 80% of Americans claim to be Christian. This might be true but America isn’t officially a Christian Nation. Even if he wanted, George Bush and the members of both parties who wanted war couldn’t invade a country for the purpose of spreading the gospel.
When Bush and the others argued for the war, the reasons were weapons of mass destruction, bringing democracy to Iraq, and bringing Saddam Hussein to justice. Other reasons were given as well. None of them were for the salvation of the Iraqi people. Living in a democratic state doesn’t save souls. No one was bringing this up.
Christians should missionize Iraq. They should also missionize Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and every country that doesn’t have a significant Christian presence so those countries will have access to the gospel. This is one of the unfortunate results of the separation of Church and State, which was condemned by Pope Pius IX in 1864. A state cannot use its resources to help spread the gospel if it’s a Christian country by majority only.
Overall, I would ask Americans the same question Melissa is asking but I would frame it a little differently. My question is: Why not missionize Iraq? Even if American soldiers never set foot on Iraqi soil, they would still die apart from the Christ and his Church and their fate would be no different than if they perished at the hands of an American soldier. This is what Melissa hasn’t taken into account. Why aren’t missionaries in Iraq? Perhaps a few are but not as much as they need. She is absolutely correct that the war didn’t serve a Christian purpose, but as Christians we need to ask how we can bring salvation to Iraq.
More priests need to be trained specifically with a knowledge of Islamic apologetics. The Catholic Church has a long history of apologetics against Islam since its origins. There have been greats such as St. John of Damascus, St. Francis of Assisi, Peter the Venerable, and many others. There is a history and it needs to be continued.
In America and in my country, Christians live well. We earn a lot of money but don’t think about putting much of it into missionary activities. This is especially true in countries where it could have a large impact. Two quotes from scripture come to mind to represent these thoughts.
Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.
Matthew 28:19-20
I want to thank Melissa for raising this issue, which has been the topic of the last two posts.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.