islam

"Miracles come when they are needed, and it seems that the Holy Fire first came when it was needed most — during the time of the Islamic oppression of the Church, when the Christians suffering under the yoke of Muhammad most needed confirmation that their faith in the crucified and risen Christ was true." — Fr. Lawrence Farley Today, May 2, 2019, the Holy Fire arrived at a wonderful parish I am closely connected to, by circumstance and by the heart. Alas, I could not travel to be with them to greet and receive the Holy Fire, brought all the way from Jerusalem, but it did spur me on to read up on the annual Miracle of the Holy Fire. In doing so, I came across a typically wonderful article by Fr Lawrence Farley. It is his quote at the top of this post, and his observation is no less true today than it was when the Sword of Islam cut its wide and bloody swath across the Christian world, decimating churches and slaughtering and subjugating Christians across the Middle East, North...

"If Christian minorities living under Islamic authority have little choice but to speak well of their 'coexistence' with Islam, why are Western leaders, politicians, and talking heads of all varieties—who are not under Islamic authority—also behaving like cowed dhimmis?" Raymond Ibrahim applies his penetrating insights into the historical continuity of Islamic persecution of Christians to the tragic case of the Coptic Pope Tawadros II's recent remarks. It should be noted that Orthodox Christian patriarchs and bishops subjugated under Muslim rule in the Islamic world have also made similar such statements, and some have even gone much further, to the borders (and beyond?) of outright blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy: His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has written of a “dialogue of loving truth” with Islam, and of Orthodoxy having for centuries “coexisted peacefully” with Islam, and projects the chimera of an “interfaith commitment.....

The Facing Islam blog recently passed 900,000 views, and it's time to celebrate. And what better way than to offer a blowout special on my book, Facing Islam - What the Ancient Church has to say about the Religion of Muhammad. Regular List Price, $10.99 Now through May 31, 2018, 50% off ($5.50) plus shipping  and sales tax (where applicable) . This is basically selling the book below wholesale. This is my way of saying "Thank You" to all you readers... See the product page and endorsements Proceed to my online store to order now, at 50% off! Though published in 2010, I feel this book is more important than ever. Facing Islam is unique in providing a robust defense of the Christian Faith against the 'theological jihad' of Islam, which presents "a different Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel" (cf, 2 COR 11:3-4, also GAL 1:6-8). Rather than being "ripped from the headlines" of its day and thus outdated, Facing Islam presents timeles...

A young monk, a simple baker, and a pure maiden — each bravely confessing to the death their Orthodox Christian Faith in Jesus Christ — are soon to be formally recognized as saints and martyrs by the Serbian Orthodox Church. These three — Gregory of Peć, Vasilije of Peć, and Bosiljka Rajičić, who lived during the 17th-18th centuries — are among the "great cloud of witnesses," the thousands of holy neo-martyrs killed by the Muslim Turks during the Ottoman occupation. You can learn about many of them in the landmark book, Witnesses for Christ, Orthodox Christian Neomartyrs of the Ottoman Period, 1437-1860 , by Nomikos Michael Vaporis. The plight of the Holy Neomartyrs under the Ottoman yoke is part of the historical continuity of Muslim persecution of Christians across the centuries from Muhammad's time until now, wherever Islam has conquered. We see the exact same phenomenon in our own day in such geographically far flung nations as Egypt and Indonesia, Nigeria and Malaysi...

While preparing to post William Kilpatrick's article,   'The Church and Islam: Dangerous Illusions' ,  I ended up with quite a long introduction which, I felt, took away from Mr. Kilpatrick's presentation. Therefore, I decided to hold back that introduction and use it to create this follow-up post to further address the 'Dangerous Illusions' which plague those Christians who praise Islam and refuse to see it for what it is. For an Orthodox Christian to praise and affirm Islam and the Qur'an is akin to spitting on the holy icons of Christ and His Most Pure Mother. When the Muslims invaded Tbilisi, Georgia in 1227, they set icons of Christ and the Theotokos in the middle of the bridge, and promised to spare all those who spit on the icons, denied Christ and converted to Islam. 100,000 Georgian Orthodox Christians chose martyrdom rather than deny Jesus Christ. Let us honor their memory by confessing Jesus Christ to our dying breath! ( Source ) William Kilpatric...

The Incarnation of the Son of God, His crucifixion, death and burial, and His Resurrection on the Third Day, are true and actual historical events in God's plan of salvation for us.  Islam hates God and Jesus Christ, and so denies the Christian Revelation and fights against Christians. This proves its antichrist spirit. Glory to Thy Holy Resurrection! We worship Thy Third Day Resurrection! We confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and we stand in solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the Islamic world who are being persecuted and killed by Muslims for their faith in Him. As the Lord Jesus teaches us: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.    "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master...

Because the false prophet Muhammad and the false-god Allah in the Koran deny that Jesus Christ was crucified, deny the Resurrection of Christ, and deny that Christ is the Son of God, now is an ideal time, as we in the Orthodox Church celebrate Jesus' Bodily Resurrection from the Tomb, to defend the historical truth of these events.  In proclaiming the Truth and defending the Orthodox Christian Faith, we note that Islam's bizarre fabrications about Jesus Christ reveal it as an antichrist religion, and are a strong proof against the 'Same God Heresy'. Below is one of the finest articles on the Resurrection I have ever encountered. To my Muslim readers, do not be deceived! Learn about the true Jesus and God's love for you, in the Orthodox Christian tradition, and "Come and see" what "Life in Christ" is all about! We are waiting for you with open arms! Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! _______ The Resurrection of Christ and the Rise of Christianit...

Islam claims the archangel Gabriel came to Muhammad commanding him to "Recite" and ushering in his prophetic calling. What are we to make of this "Second Annunciation?  On March 25, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary.   As the hymn for the Feast says, Today is the beginning of our salvation, The revelation of the eternal mystery! The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin As Gabriel announces the coming of Grace... Islam also begins with an annunciation of sorts, to Muhammad, (not) coincidentally by a spirit being also identified as the angel Jibril (Gabriel). However, the nature and outcome of that annunciation is quite different from the one to the Virgin Mary six centuries earlier. As St Gregory Palamas noted in the 14th century, Muhammad's actions were  "instigated by the devil" : "[Muhammad] came with war, knives, pillaging, forced enslavement, murders, and acts that are not from the goo...