“Christ’s followers have continued to outrage people through two
millennium; they are still outraging people today and paying the
same terrible price. In China, authorities have tortured Christians
to death by pouring molten metal over their heads. In North Korean,
Christians are sent to re-education camps, tortured, and killed. In
Saudi Arabia, the death penalty threatens anyone converting
from Islam to Christianity. Tyrants subject Christians to this
ferocious treatment out of fear: The Christian’s obedience to a
higher authority threatens their own power. China’s leaders, for
example, are acutely aware of the role Christianity played in the
collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe — and are determined not
to let the same thing happen to them. Since the first century, the
story of the carpenter and the Cross has been attacked, ridiculed,
driven underground. In the former Soviet Union, Communist leaders
spent 70 years trying to wipe out belief.
In the West, the story earned the contempt of Enlightenment thinkers and the followers of
Darwin and Freud. Theologians have tried to de-mythologize the
Bible, academics have torn it to shreds, and teachers have told
generations of children that it’s just a collection of myths.
The result? Two billion people worldwide put their faith in
Him. The reason is simple: The story is true. God acted in time
and space, providing hope for every human being.”
–Chuck Colson