INTRODUCTION

Afghanistan is a country located in the Middle East that consists of a population that is, for the most part, of an Islamic background. Within this body of work I will examine the Tajik culture to gain insight into this unreached people group and their way of life. I will be discussing Afghani Tajik; geography, history, language, culture, economy, religion and family. In addition to the background information on the Tajik people of Afghanistan I will be examining a history of the Mission work that has been conducted within the country to include: status of the church, how many known believers and challenges are visible within the group as well as what are the current strategies for evangelizing the local population. Last but not least of all I will discuss a hypothetical situation where I as a student embark on a Mission by sending a team to evangelize the Tajik Afghanis. I will also be discussing the type of strategy that the team would employ.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

PEOPLE GROUP: “Afghanistan boasts the largest Tajik population outside their homeland to the North in Tajikistan. Comprising over 25% of the Afghan population, they are the second largest group in the country” of which 80% are Sunni Muslim, 19% are Shia Muslim with the remaining 1% claiming to be of Christian faith. The main ethnic groups are: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek. The following is a description of various ethnicity groups in Afghanistan and the general characteristics, attributes and occupations that are associated with them: “The Pashtun are the largest ethnic group and are mostly farmers and Sunni Muslims. The Tajik live mostly in the northeast, are the second largest ethnic group and are mostly Sunni Muslims.” The older generations of Tajik are thought to be survivors of one of the oldest central Asian groups while modern Tajiks are tall, fair skinned with blue or green eyes. Other ethnic groups that have interaction with the unreached people group of “Tajik” are discussed below: “The Hazara live in the Hindu Kush mountains and are primarily Shiite Muslims. The Uzbek live mostly along the northern border and are mostly Sunni Muslims while the Aimaqs are primarily a farming and herding tribe in the west who are composed of mostly Sunni Muslims. The Turkmen and Kirghiz are nomadic herders and craftsmen who are mostly Sunni Muslims and last but not least we will talk about the Baluch who are a nomadic tribe living in the southern deserts made up of Sunni Muslims.”


GEORGRAPHY: “Afghanistan is located in Southern Asia, North West of Pakistan and East of Iran. The Capital of Afghanistan is Kabul.” Tajikistan, the original homeland of the Tajik, is located just North East of Afghanistan and has stretches of mountainous terrain.


HISTORY: “Afghanistan has an ancient history dating back to 50,000 BC and has had famous leaders involved in its history such as Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, and Marco Polo. Afghanistan was once occupied by Great Britain. In 1978 a Communist coup, backed by the Soviet Union, broke out. The Mujahideen, the Afghan guerilla movement, defeated the Soviets. In 1994, the Taliban movement was established. The Taliban were led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, who started the Islamic Fundamentalist Movement in 1994. The Taliban wanted a “Pure Islamic State” and declared themselves to be the legitimate government of Afghanistan. At one time the Taliban were recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates as a legitimate government. The Taliban controls the predominately ethnic Pashtun areas in southern Afghanistan. Some of the major goals of the Taliban were to restore peace in Afghanistan by executing the immediate termination of all kinds of foreign interference, establish a National Security Force and to oversee the convening of an assembly of elected representatives of the Afghan people for the formation of a National Islamic Government. Northern Alliance factions had a stronghold at Mazar-I-Sharif with General Dostam’s National Islamic Movement controlling several north-central provinces. Commander Masood controlled the ethnic Tajik majority areas of the Northeast. On 27 September 1996, the ruling members of the Afghan Government were removed from power by members of the Islamic Taliban movement. Kabul (the Capital of Afghanistan) was torn because of the violence. A major earthquake occurred which weakened the Northern Alliance, killing thousands and destroying villages. The Taliban at this time were hampering foreign aid and relief efforts.” Recently the Taliban has been overthrown by a United States led Coalition Force stemming from attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on a date that has become imprinted on the minds of everyone over the last couple of years, 11 September, 2001. The United States and its coalition partners have occupied Afghanistan since it was invaded shortly after the attacks on 11 September, 2001 up until the present day. The history of Tajikistan is filled with migration and resettlement into neighboring countries such as when more than 1 million settled in Pakistan during the Soviet Union’s attempt to occupy Afghanistan. “After the Soviet Union’s invasion and occupation of Afghanistan (from 1979 to 1988), fighting continued between Afghan groups seeking power. It was during this period of chaos and violence, that up to five million Afghans fled to Pakistan; more than one million of whom were Tajik.”


LANGUAGE: Pashtu and Dari (Afghan Persian/Farsi) are the official languages of Afghanistan. Pashtu (also written Pushtu) was declared the National Language of the country during the beginning of Zahir Shah’s reign, however, Dari has always been used for business and government transactions. The Tajik have over 7 million nationals who speak the main language of Dari.


CULTURE: “Islam is practiced by the majority of Afghanis and governs much of their personal, political, economic and legal lives. Among certain obligations for Muslims are to pray five times a day - at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. Friday is the Muslim holy day. Most shops and offices will be closed. Government offices and businesses may also close on Thursday, making the weekend Thursday and Friday. During the holy month of Ramadan all Muslims must fast from dawn to dusk and are only permitted to work six hours per day. Fasting includes no eating, drinking, cigarette smoking, or gum chewing. Foreigners are not required to fast; however, they must not eat, drink, smoke, or chew gum in public.”


ECONOMY: “Afghanistan employs 80 percent of its workforce in farming or raising sheep and goats. Because it is a landlocked country with mountainous terrain, exporting goods like the melons carried by the boy is difficult and expensive. Poppies are grown illegally as a source of opium, which is used to produce heroin. Drug lords make millions through unregulated trade of this drug. The Afghan government is working to eliminate illegal drug trade and encourage the growth of other agricultural crops for export.” The Tajik are traditionally a tribal group. A large area of dwelling for the Tajik is what is referred to as the Panjsher Valley near Kabul. Tajik who reside in this area of Afghanistan, which is near Kabul, usually by occupation are farmers and herders. Towards Herat, which is in the Western area of Afghanistan near Iran, there lives a smaller number of Tajiks, while the more educated and politically influential Tajiks make their home in urban settings such as Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, where their highly skilled talents and trades are in high demand and well compensated. In order to increase trade in the region the Tajikistan President, in 2005, agreed to allow the U.S. to fund and over see the construction of a bridge built by an Italian company. “Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have laid the foundation stone of a U.S.-funded bridge that will cross their countries’ river border.” “Smaller concentrations of Tajiks live in Herat Province on the western border with Iran. A third group, large and more educated, lives in Kabul where they have enjoyed economic success and political influence. Merchants and highly talented craftsmen are also a segment of these urban dwellers.”


RELIGION: “Islam is one of the few commonalities in Afghan society despite the existence of sectarian differences and variations in Quranic and legal interpretations. It faces no competition from other religions as only scattered minorities of Hindus and Sikhs, who came originally as traders from India, and Jews, lived in urban centers. By 1985 virtually all Jews had emigrated. In their war of liberation against the Soviet Union, resistance groups striving for a pan-Afghan constituency appealed to Afghans on the basis of their Muslim identity. The term used for the resistance fighters, mujahidin, translates as “those waging jihad.” Jihad, meaning to strive or to struggle to follow God’s will, both within oneself and in the defense of Islam, is an obligation incumbent on all Muslims.” Tajiks are almost completely Muslim with a smaller percentage belonging to the Shiites. The larger percentage of the population of Muslims within the Tajikistan culture is comprised of the Sunni sect. Sunnis are stricter when it comes to observing the historical and traditional practices of the Muslim faith, while Shiites are more lenient and less stringent in relation to Muslim religious customs. ” The Afghani Tajik are 99% Muslim. Most of them are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafite sect, but there also are a few Ismaili Shi’ites among them. The Sunni Muslims are much more orthodox in their beliefs than the Shi’ites, who believe in human free will.”


FAMILY: “The family is the single most important unit in the Afghan culture. Men and women’s roles are much more defined along traditional lines. Women are generally responsible for household duties, where as men will be the bread winners. In the cities professional women do exist. Families commonly arrange marriages for their children. Factors such as tribe, status, network, and wealth are the major factors forming any choice. Families traditionally live together in the same walled compound, known as the kala. When a son gets married he and his wife begin their married lives in a room under the same roof. As with much of the Muslim world, the family is sacred and as such, is highly protected. As a result, probing about the family is not advised.” Most Tajik families consist of eight or more people. The topic of family is considered to be very sacred and should not be taken lightly. “Tajik families are generally quite large. It is not uncommon for families to have seven or eight children. Marriages are still arranged by the parents, and wedding ceremonies follow the traditional Tajik customs.”


A SURVEY OF MISSIONS WORK:Now that we have become familiar with the history and cultural make up of Tajiks of Afghanistan let’s turn our attention to the Mission work that has been done in the country.


STATUS OF THE CHURCH: “Afghanistan’s only church was built in Kabul in 1970 and bulldozed in 1973 after Islamists complained of the growing number of converts. When the order was given for missionaries to be expelled and the church bulldozed, German businessman Hans Mohr who had purchased building materials for the church uttered what turned out to be a prophetic word to the mayor of Kabul. “If your government touches that house of God, God will overthrow your government,” he warned. The day the church was razed, the four-decade-long monarchy was toppled in a coup. Chaos has reigned in the 30 years since. Afghanistan is plagued with violence, unrest and despair. It is a land of warlords, hunger, suffering, oppression, illness, addiction, destruction and grief. Even though Afghanistan has a new president and a new constitution, it still has no religious freedom. The constitution, signed into law January 26, 2004, stipulates that “no law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam.” The land and its people are in desperate need of the transformation only God can bring.” Much like Afghanistan, the Tajik people have been largely under evangelized, no doubt due to the difficulty in penetrating a culture and society that is so deeply rooted in Islamic practices and traditions. There are currently 11 Missions working to evangelize the Tajiks with the New Testament being translated into the language of Dari. Translation of the Old Testament is currently under way.


HOW MANY KNOWN BELIEVERS: Before the Global War On Terrorism, (G.W.O.T), there were fewer than 3000 Christian believers in Afghanistan. Since the end of the war more than two million refugees have returned to Afghanistan, however it is hard to get an accurate count of the number of Christians in Afghanistan because although many returning refugees had found Jesus they could not practice their faith openly because of the constitutional prohibitions against any and everything that goes against the faith of Islam. There are roughly seven millionTajiks throughout the region with fewer than one percent being Christian.


CHALLENGES AND PRESENT STRATEGIES FOR EVANGELIZING THE LOCAL POPULATION: While there is not much specific material related to some of the challenges related evangelizing the local population of Tajik’s there is an abundance of information that communicates the hardships experienced over all when attempting to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people that dwell in this part of the world. On some occasions Christians have been jailed and murdered for their faith. A couple years back twenty three Koreans went to Afghanistan to evangelize the population but the results were unfortunate because they were held hostage, however their purpose was accomplished. The story of the twenty three Koreans that were held hostage and other stories like it are a reminder of some of the challenges that missionaries face when going about the task of bringing the gospel to the unsaved world. The twenty three Korean missionaries’ story has been captured below: “The Taliban took twenty three hostages last fall, killed two, released two, and reportedly ransomed the rest to the South Korean government for $10 million (the South Korean government denied paying). Back home, the missionaries apologized to the government. The incident revived discussions of martyrdom, evangelization, citizenship and discernment, and underlined the extent to which the West is no longer necessarily the driving force in Christian evangelization.” Other stories of missionaries experiencing persecution while evangelizing in Afghanistan include; a case from March 21, 2006 where “an Afghan man was facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. The case, which a German official has called “intolerable,” was thought to be the first prosecution for converting to Christianity in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime more than four years ago.” Soviets who are Christians are sent to Afghanistan as punishment; “Soviet soldiers sent to Afghanistan as a punishment for their Christian faith are evangelizing Afghans and leading Bible studies, says a reliable source who has just returned from a fact-finding trip to that country. A large number of Soviet soldiers who are believers are actively sharing their faith with Afghans, the source said. “They are giving out Christian literature as well as holding Bible studies and prayer meetings in the country.” The source said the Soviet soldiers were sent to Afghanistan because of their Christian beliefs. “It’s the Soviet government’s way of persecuting them, but what they’ve done instead is send them on an evangelistic mission to one of the toughest mission fields in the world.” And what is happening is that Afghans are becoming Christians as a result of their witness.” Many Afghanis see Christian missionaries as nothing more than those who wish to force Western ways on them and equate missionaries to soldiers; “In support of Bush’s words about the so-called “war on terrorism” - is in fact a war against Islam, missionaries and the occupation troops operate synchronously and fully coordinate their actions.” One of the present strategies for evangelizing Afghanistan is to send soldiers into the country with the mentality that they are to bring the gospel to the population. “For US Army soldiers entering basic training at Fort Jackson Army base in Columbia, South Carolina, accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior appears to be as much a part of the nine-week regimen as the vigorous physical and mental exercises the troops must endure. That’s the message directed at Fort Jackson soldiers, some of whom appear in photographs in government issued fatigues, holding rifles in one hand, and Bibles in their other hand. Frank Bussey, director of Military Ministry at Fort Jackson, has been telling soldiers at Fort Jackson that “government authorities, police and the military = God’s Ministers.”” Another case of persecution within Afghanistan can be seen in a situation where in” 2006 - Abdul Rahman, an Afghan Christian convert, was forced out of Afghanistan by local Muslim leaders, and exiled to Italy.” Since the Afghanistan government took over after they assisted in toppling the Taliban they have taken steps to provide security for women and minority faiths but it has hardly been adequate: “The new administration of Afghanistan, having received authority upon the ousting and hunting down of Taliban and al Qaeda operatives as a result of 9/11, has attempted to open the door to renewed human rights for women and minorities in the country. However, as Christians in the area would tell you, the threat is still very real. Christians are as likely to be killed by a Muslim neighbor as they were by their Islamic rulers of the past.” Still in another case of violence against the Christian faith and those that hold it, a woman who came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to the people was killed; “KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban assailants on a motorbike gunned down a Christian aid worker in Kabul on Monday and the militants said she was killed for spreading her religion, a rare targeted killing of a Westerner in the nation’s capital. Gayle Williams, a 34-year-old dual British-South African national who helped handicapped Afghans, was shot to death as she was walking to work.”

WHAT STRATEGY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR A MISSIONARY TEAM TO EVANGELIZE THE TAJIK OFAFGHANISTAN? Some would have Christians to believe that evangelism is trickery and brainwashing and all types of shenanigans, but if you are in the faith then you know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So when I hear that people are questioning the legitimacy of a conversion based off of the fact that someone may have used tactics that are coercive or even deceitful in nature to convert someone It does not surprise me because I know that God moves on his own time to save an individual and that just because someone claims to have taken an action, such as making a profession of faith because they were witnessed to, if their profession is not accompanied by genuine repentance, that only God can give, and if they do not bear fruit, then theirs’ has been a false conversion. I suppose that is why God calls us to examine ourselves “as to whether or not you are in the faith” because everyone claims to be a Christian but we are exhorted to be doers and not hearers of the word only. If I were evangelizing the Tajiks of Afghanistan I would definitely employ the techniques that are outlined in the book “Perspectives” written by Hawthorne & Winter. I would try to learn the culture by immersing myself head first in to it and prior to going overseas I would be sure to gain familiarization with the culture by seeking out neighboring communities that would help me gain a more realistic appreciation for the culture that I would be experiencing. I would attempt to show the locals that I value their culture and would not try to make the church where worship is being conducted mirror that of a Western church. I would incorporate aspects of the Afghanistan and Tajik culture into the service. It would be imperative for my team to be aware of the cultural difference, however subtle, that may offend to include what would be considered normal behavior. The team would also have to ensure that permission to evangelize has been given in the country or run the risk of being executed for being in violation of the Afghanistan Constitution which says that anything or anyone that contradicts the views of Islam are to be done away with. One technique or strategy that should not be used, as it is offensive to Afghans, is offering them alcohol although history tells us that missionaries have employed this less than God glorifying tactic to reduce the leaders of foreign cultures to someone dependent on alcohol effectively taking them out of the way to oppose evangelism efforts. “Missionaries brought alcohol and promoted alcoholism to many tribal communities (example Polynesia/Tahiti). The leaders habituated to alcohol did everything that missionaries said losing their entire communities to Christianity.”

CONCLUSION: There is no question that the country of Afghanistan has come a long way from the days when there were only 3000 Christians out of a total of 32,000,000 people, but there is much work that needs to be accomplished in order for the Gospel to go out in this part of the world without the fear of possibly being killed. In the scripture God admonishes us to not fear those that can kill the body but do not have power over the soul, but rather to fear God who has power to kill the body and after that can destroy the soul, Mathew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” It is this principle that gives the believer great encouragements to go into parts of the world like Afghanistan to evangelize the Tajiks, knowing full well the risk involved. There is more than just this present world to look forward to. The reward is with Jesus Christ and as communicated within the scripture in Philippians 1:2: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” When the Christian dies he or she is in the presence of Christ, which is indeed gain.

Author Information

The co-author of “Family to Family”, DR. Jerry Pipes “is the Director of Jerry Pipes Productions. Jerry has traveled internationally, speaking to millions of people in assemblies, crusades, and conferences. He has written four books and produced numerous booklets and training processes with more than 13 million copies in print. Jerry and his wife, Debra, have two children, Paige and Josh.” Taken from “Family to Family” Biography, (Back Page).

The co-author of “Family to Family”, Victor Lee “is the Minister of Single Adults and Evangelism at First Baptist Concord, Knoxville, TN. He has been writing professionally for 22 years. Victor entered full-time ministry in 1995. He is a regular contributor and editor of a variety of Christian publications. Victor has written sports and special event evangelism materials with worldwide distribution. He lives in Wake Forest, N.C., with his wife and partner in ministry, Judy. Taken from “Family to Family” Biography, (Back Page).

Content Summary

Family to Family is a book that outlines how to effectively disciple our children and contains a foreword that assigns the “business of home” with the responsibility of “shaping the bodies and souls of humanity”. The Foreword is followed by acknowledgements where the authors thank the various contributors to the body of work to include Steve Green who is cited as hosting the “Family to Family” video. The introduction is the next section of the book and consist of an explanation of what the gist of the book is about. The main goal of the book can be summed up in the opening lines of the introduction: “Family to Family is for hurried parents who deeply desire meaningful family time, true significance, and long to pass the baton of their faith in Christ on to their children.” (Family to Family, PG 1). The following topics are covered in Chapters 1 through 6 and are titled respectively “Healthy Families”, “Developing a Mission Statement”, “Passing the Baton”, “Out of the House, Into the Church”, and “Sharing the Message”. The two remaining chapters consist of the “Conclusion” and the “Endnotes”.
Chapter one points out some of the main characteristics of families that are not healthy and healthy and compares and contrast these characteristics. Chapter one also includes some interesting statistics on the American culture which are listed below:
- Only 34 percent of America’s families eat one meal together each day
- The average father spends only eight to 10 minutes a day with his children. This includes television and meal times.
- Only 12 percent of America’s families pray together.
- The average couple spends only four minutes of uninterrupted time together a day.

Chapter two is devoted to Developing a Mission Statement for the Family. What a mission statement is can be explained best as a blueprint for living family life. It contains all of the important values and attributes that a family holds dear. The family mission starts with the parents and they are the heartbeat of family evangelism. Chapter two outlines a four step process for developing a mission statement to include:
- Step 1: Take a family inventory:
- Step 2: Consider your goals:
- Step 3: Conceptualize the statement:
- Step 4: Fine-tune and personalize the statement:
Chapter two also places an emphasis on the entire family owning the principles outlined in the mission statement and makes provisions for those of us who got a late start at grooming our children in the faith by outlining the steps to take to rectify the situation.
Chapter three is devoted to identifying when a child is ready to receive Christ and list “Signs of Accountability”:
- A child must understand the meaning of sin
- A child must realize he or she has sinned
- A child must realize he or she has sinned against God
- A child must understand that he or she is separated from God because of sin
The rest of chapter three focuses on sharing Jesus with your teens and mentoring your children to maturity and includes seven key elements:
Modeling, Being there, Affirm them, Pray with them and pray for them, Being Transparent, Empowering your children, and making the word of God central to what you do.
Chapter four discusses ways to evangelize outside of the home and incorporates the seven concentric circles of concern which consist of: 1 Self, 2 Immediate Family, 3 Relatives, 4 Close friends, 5 Neighbors-Business Associates, 6 Acquaintances, and 7 Person X. Chapter five also communicates helpful tips for family evangelism with Special-Needs Children.
Chapter 6 discusses ways to effectively reach the community with evangelistic efforts that support growth in church attendance and stresses the importance of prayer in evangelism.
The conclusion contains an illustration that really brings home the point that if we as parents fail to evangelize our children, through them being a witness to us presenting the gospel, then they will perceive that either we as parents are not genuine in our faith or that the Gospel message is being exaggerated because if it were not the case then their parents would be active in ministering to the spiritual needs of the unsaved.
The book concludes with the Endnotes.

Evaluation

Family to Family was an outstanding book that provides a blue print for living family life and from there ministers to the needs of the community. I particularly found the step by step process that the book uses to be very helpful whether it applied to mentoring teens or building a healthy family. I will definitely recommend this book to families who are seeking to improve their family life and looking for ways in which they can best minister to their community beginning at home, with their children, and going from there.

Bibliographical Entry
Pipes Jerry and Lee Victor: “Family to Family”, Publishers Unknown.

Author Information

The authors of “Share Jesus Without Fear” are William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd. William Fay studied theology under Gordon Lewis at Denver Seminary. Gordon Lewis is a professor of systematic theology at Denver Seminary. William Fay is married to Peg Fay and was raised in an upper middle class family. He was a child who enjoyed the better things in life and soon found himself in the fast lane of life as a young adult with ties to the Mob. William Fay narrowly dodged a bullet when he was busted for running a prostitution ring because he was given a warning not to involve himself in any criminal activity and avoided jail time. William Fay hit rock bottom when he was brought up on charges of soliciting an undercover officer for prostitution and it was during this time that he came to faith as he was continuously ministered to by a long time friend. While expecting to fully be committed to the penitentiary for violating the terms of his parole, to the glory of God he was released and the charges were barred from being brought against him again. Since that time William Fay has met with thousands of individuals and shared his faith in Jesus including the very same police officers that had arrested him on various occasions.

William Fay list five steps to knowing Jesus Christ in his book “Share Jesus Without Fear”:

1. Admit to God you are a sinner.
2. Want forgiveness for your sin.
3. Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and rose again.
4. Be willing to surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
5. Receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. (Fay, pg 192).

Linda Evans Shepherd is an award winning author who is a member of the National Speaker’s Association. Some of her works include; Encouraging Hands, Encouraging Hearts, and Heart-Stirring Stories of Romance and Heart-Stirring Stories of Love. (Fay, pg 195).

Content Summary

William Fay has penned a work in “Share Jesus Without Fear” that uses a systematic approach to sharing one’s faith in Jesus Christ without being overly structured. The process involves asking a series of questions in a conversational tone without offering an immediate rebuttal to any ideas communicated lending to an environment that is conducive to witnessing without coming across as someone who is overly aggressive and trying to force a conversion. The questions that William Fay introduce allow the individual who is witnessing to gauge where the individual is at spiritually and adjust accordingly if he or she judges it is not the right time to present the gospel. One of the first points that William Fay makes in his book is that you cannot fail if you are being obedient to God’s command to be a witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ regardless of whether or not there is a conversion that takes place and illustrates this point by telling the story of his conversion after being witnessed to for years by a close friend and rejecting and ridiculing the gospel until he was charged with running a prostitution ring. In chapter 2 William Fay attempts to relay the importance of witnessing to the unsaved of the world by using different scenarios that have at the root of the story the message that we must not be silent as Christians concerning the marvelous news of the gospel. Chapter 3 focuses on overcoming ones fear of witnessing and addresses a number of excuses people use to justify their unwillingness to obey God’s commandment to include; I’m afraid of being rejected, I’m afraid of what my friends will think, I don’t think I can share with my coworkers, I don’t know enough, I’m afraid of losing my friends and relatives, and I don’t know how. (Fay, Chapter 3). Chapter 3 concludes with Fay admonishing the reader that if he or she would wishes take part in the joy that so many others have experienced, that it will be necessary to stop making excuses and to step out on faith.
Chapter 4 contains what Fay refers to as the Jesus questions, which is basically a set of questions that allow you to gauge the fertility of the soil before a seed of the gospel is planted. The advantages of this technique are clear, If you deem that the person whom you are speaking with is not ready to receive the message, you can back off, but on the other hand if the soil is fertile, then you can continue the witnessing process culminating with the individual who is being witnessed to accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. The “Five Questions” that Fay introduces for tools to use while witnessing are: Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs? To you, who is Jesus Christ? Do you think there is a heaven or hell? If you died where would you go? If heaven, why? If what you are believing is not true, would you want to know? Fay also makes mention of the Hmmmmm Principle, which is aimed at being an attentive listener rather than being focused on a rebuttal always. Chapter 5 places an emphasis on using scripture to witness to people who are not in the faith as the preferred method because it is through God’s word that the heart is changed (Fay, pg 41). Chapter 5 also contains seven scriptures which have been labeled “Share Scriptures” by Fay. The purpose of using the share scriptures is to let the Bible speak plainly regarding man’s need for a savior. Chapter 6 focuses on leading someone to make a decision to accept Christ and includes 5 questions called “Commitment Questions” that can be used to lead someone to accept Christ as Savior; Are you a sinner? Do you want forgiveness of sins? Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for you and rose again? Are you willing to surrender your life to Jesus Christ? Are you ready to invite Jesus into your life and into your heart? Chapter 7 focuses on what to do after someone has just accepted Jesus Christ as savior, while Chapter 8 lists typically objections that are posed by doubters of the faith with responses to these common concerns addressed.
Chapter nine’s focus is on “Developing and Keeping Non-Christian Friends”, Chapter ten focuses on “How to Pray for Nonbelievers” and Chapter eleven’s message is to always be ready to speak the word of God, properly entitled “Let’s Go”. There are also five appendixes for the readers use, appendix 5 being the personal testimony of Bill Fay, and a section about the authors.

Evaluation

I have an appreciation for the candidness and openness that comes across when reading
“Sharing Jesus Without Fear” and believe that Fay achieves his purpose of providing a way for believers to share their faith. The theme of the book is valid and necessary because there are a lot of believers who struggle sharing their faith. I found Fay’s arguments to be well supported and convincing although I am not a fan of such a structured approach to witnessing, I do admit that it is an issue that many believers struggle with and can improve upon if they apply the systems in Fay’s book. The personal testimony of Fay serves as one of the primary means of conveying the effectiveness of God’s word being used to convert lost souls. What is significant about the book is that Fay has communicated that it is God’s word that actually penetrates the heart and converts and has included a series of scriptures that can explain the gospel, leaving no room for debate over the unconverted sinner’s need for a savior. I noticed a theological bias of not getting in to a debate when witnessing, which supports the theme of the book. We have learned that all it takes to be successful in witnessing is to be willing to be a witness and that we need not be concerned with winning souls for Jesus, that is God’s business. The book is a good starting point for believers who struggle in witnessing the good news and can be a good spring board for being ready to witness in season and out of season. All Christians can benefit from reading this book as it provides a baseline for witnessing to individuals who are ready to receive the message of the gospel, in line with the biblical principle of not casting your pearls before swine. I plan to personally use the approaches introduced in Fay’s book “Share Jesus Without Fear” by placing the steps on a website to make them available to fellow Christians.

Bibliographical Entry

Shepherd Evans Linda -William, Fay: Share Jesus Without Fear, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1999.

Author Information

The author of “The Unexpected Journey”, Thom S. Rainer holds a PhD from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions. Thom S. Rainer is also the president of Church Central. One of the activities that he partakes in frequently is speaking at conferences and seminars. Thom S. Rainer has served as a pastor and interim pastor in ten churches and is president of Rainer Group Church Consulting. He has penned various works to include: “The Unchurched Next Door” and “Breakout Churches”. (Rainer, Cover Biography)

Content Summary

The “Unexpected Journey” is a book about a series of separate interviews where the testimonies of twelve individuals who have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and are coming from different religions or belief systems are given, to include; Mormonism, Judaism, Hinduism, Atheism, Jehovah’s Witness, Agnosticism, Wiccan Paganism, Buddhism, Unitarianism, Astrology, Islam, and Satanism.
The interviews are conducted by Thom S. Rainer and his wife Nellie Jo and begin in Salt Lake City ending in Augusta Georgia a year later. The author is clear to inform the reader that this book is not an “apologetic book” in defense of the Christian faith, nor is it an “exhaustive account” of the details surrounding the former beliefs of the participants, but he has attempted to educate the reader with general and elementary knowledge and facts surrounding the faiths or belief systems.
The first interview involves a convert to Christianity from the Mormon belief system. It takes place at the home of Rauni and Dennis. Rauni gives her account of how she lost her parents at an early age and was left with no family besides her Aunts and Uncles. Rauni later became a Mormon through a friendship that she made with a female who told her that she could be reunited with her family and friends forever if she joined Mormonism. Not only did Rauni join the faith, she became a Finnish translator and became very acquainted with the tenets of the faith. Rauni would go on to marry Dennis, a sixth generation Mormon. After some serious study Rauni and Dennis came to the conclusion that Mormonism did not make any sense and was full of contradictions. It was Rauni’s work, as a translator, and Dennis’s thorough familiarization with the tenets of the faith, as a sixth generation Mormon, that set the conditions for a closer look at apparent contradictions. Mormonism came about “In 1823 when Joseph Smith claimed to receive a revelation from God that all churches were corrupt. He said that the angel Moroni appeared to him in upstate New York and revealed to him the location of gold plates that contained the history of God’s people on this American continent and the fullness of the true gospel. Mormonism began with teachings of the Book of Mormon that Smith claimed he had “translated” from the Reformed Egyptian hieroglyphic characters on the plates.” (Rainer, PG 19). Rauni and Dennis eventually were excommunicated from their Mormon church which meant that their businesses would be boycotted by the Mormon community and eventually fail. Rauni and Dennis would go through a period of believing in nothing until Rauni began listening to some audio tapes of the Gospel of John and convinced Dennis to listen also. The story ends on the miraculous note of Rauni, Dennis and their three daughters being set free through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The next interview in the book involved a Jew and former believer in Judaism. The encounter took place at a restaurant in Chicago and the gentleman with whom they would be speaking with was named Steve. Steve was very enthusiastic and communicated his family’s orthodox roots, which went many generations back. The three major divisions that exist in Judaism, as communicated by the author are as follows:
- Orthodox Judaism is the oldest and most conservative branch. Orthodox Jews strictly adhere to the original form of Judaism with all of its customs and practices.
- Reform Judaism is the liberal and more permissive side of Judaism. Reform Jews follow the ethical laws of Judaism but ignore other traditional customs such as diet and apparel.
- Conservative Judaism is a compromise between the strict adherence of the Orthodox position and the permissive stance of the Reform perspective. (Rainer, PG 33).

Steve went on to explain that you can be just about anything in relation to a Jew, (Jews are tolerant of many things), except a Christian because of the animosity that has existed over the years with Christians accusing the Jews of killing Jesus. The Jews even associated Hitler with Christians because of his opposition to them during the Holocaust. Because of the ambiguity and tolerance of so many different things Steve was confused and lived a secular life until he met back up with a former girlfriend who had become a Christian and insisted that he go to Church with her where he was convicted of his need of a savior. Steve is now a leader in a church that incorporates traditional Jewish customs into the realization that Jesus is the Messiah that so long has been sought after by the Jewish faith.
The next story involves a man by the name of Dr Ravi who was a Hindu worshiper born into a very financially wealthy family that later rejected him because of a disability that resulted from an infection with polio as a youth. Dr Ravi’s family’s rejection eventually led him to run away where he met a man at a train station who presented the Gospel to him and told him of a Christian boarding school where he accepted Christ fourteen months later. Eventually Dr Ravi’s mother and father both became Christians.

Hinduism has countless gods in its belief system. But as the religion has developed, some of the earlier deities have disappeared and are no longer mentioned. Today there are three main gods among the many:
1. Brahma is the main god. He is also known as the Impersonal Absolute and the Ultimate Reality.
2. Vishnu is the god of all good causes. He has taken on human forms, the most popular of which is Krishna. Hare Krishna is the name of the movement that propagates this god.
3. Shiva is the god of creation and destruction, among other roles. (Rainer, PG 51).

The remainder of the interviews follows a similar format and each one concludes with the conversion of a new believer from a different faith.

Evaluation

The Unexpected Journey was a book that was full of demonstration after demonstration of how man can try to draw near to God through the practice of man made religion, but yet be unfulfilled in his desire to know God. God has declared in his word that the only way to know him is through Jesus Christ and this became evident to those individuals who were interviewed as they accepted Jesus as their personal savior. The Unexpected Journey is a powerful book and can be used to witness to individuals of a different faith as they are exposed to other people who thought that either they had the right way to God or that all roads lead to God. I will be passing this book over to my wife for her digestion, to the glory of God.

Bibliographical Entry
Rainer S. Thom: “The Unexpected Journey”, Zondervan Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, 2005.

This report is based off of my personal witnessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to five individuals. The methods that were used to witness to the five individuals consisted of Servant Evangelism and traditional witnessing by sharing faith in Jesus. The first person that I will discuss is my wife, of close to eleven years, Katja. For years and years I have been communicating to her that she needs to take a look at what the Bible has to say about mankind’s need for a savior. As of late Katja and I have not been seeing eye to eye on a lot of things and it has caused our marriage to be in a state of disunion to the point that we have become legally separated. I am praying that we are able to reconcile, however my prayers are much more that God’s will be done because I know that when we are in his will that this is where we will, as his people, be the happiest if not in the present, then without question in the future. When an opportunity arose for me to do something to demonstrate servant evangelism, which is the meeting of a person’s need by performing an act or service, then I immediately took advantage of the opportunity to do so.

Katja and I were in a furniture store with the children, looking for a crib for my son when I noticed Katja looking at the beds on display. I immediately recalled that our bed was in need of repairs and that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to meet a need of hers, even though we are separated legally. I asked Katja if she would like to buy a new bed and she, of course, communicated that she would. The bed was purchased and I hope that it says that I care about her needs and have a vested interest in her well being in order to strengthen our relationship and set the conditions for me to present the gospel to her. I plan to witness to my wife during a time of need, which is when we are most receptive to God’s word, and have full confidence that I have helped set the conditions for at least her being willing to hear what I have to say. The next individual that I will speak about and that I will have a chance to witness to, again in the near future is my mother in law Astrid. Astrid is a very nice older lady who, unfortunately, I do not always see eye to eye with, I could say that the apple does not fall far from the tree, but will refrain from this type of humor because of the perceived harshness of such a statement. It was brought to my attention by my wife that she had been to my mother in law’s apartment and that her sofa was in need of repair or replacement, I once again so this as an opportunity to meet a need in the hope of setting the conditions and establishing a relationship with my mother in law that would allow me to sow the seed of the Gospel on ground that has been cultivated and is now fertile. I have shared my faith with my mother in law in the past but will do so once again this weekend by dropping off a tract that explains the Gospel of Christ Jesus and prayerfully she will respond by accepting Jesus Christ as savior. This concludes the two witnessing accounts that involved servant evangelism. The next three witnessing experiences involve the more traditional sharing of the Gospel by trying to ascertain if the individuals that I were speaking with were one; Christians at all and two, if they are Christians did they understand the true nature of the Gospel. Below you will find the account of my three witnessing experiences

.

The first experience that I will relay took place in an army bay that much resembled the open bays in the movie “full metal jacket”. I had took part in a conversation earlier with a Soldier that communicated that he had attended a Christian college and that it was mandatory that he take one class in religion. I told him that he was fortunate that he did not attend liberty, because liberty requires you to take five religious courses before you graduate, (which is a good thing for some, but can be tedious for others), which led me to one day ask this Soldier if I could talk to him about what he believed to be true and whether or not the Gospel of Jesus Christ is something that he believed in? The Soldier communicated to me that he did not believe that there is or is not a God and concluded that his beliefs fell somewhere in the realm of what Agnostics believe, which is that there is no way to prove that God exist, but at the same time they are open to the possibility of God if could be proven. What came out of this exchange with the Soldier is that we do not necessarily agree on the same things concerning God, although the Soldier had attended a Christian school and had undoubtedly been exposed to the Gospel. What makes one person more receptive to the message of the Gospel than others? I believe that it is the circumstances that God engineers in a persons life that set the conditions for an individual’s willingness to entertain the things of God. No identifiable willingness to join the faith on this witnessing attempt, but a seed has been sown. Maybe one day when this Soldier is facing a tough situation he will reflect on some of the things that I communicated to him.

One down and two, more witnessing events, to go. While the first witnessing event, in the traditional mode of witnessing, involved a Soldier who was my peer, this next witnessing opportunity involved a Soldier who was one rank above mine. The setting was very similar to the first witnessing experience, while at a training exercise housed in an open bay, with the exception that when asked the question of “Sir, are you a Christian”, the Soldier responded with the reply “What would make you think that I am not”. By the tone and response that was delivered I perceived that there might have been offense taken to the question that I asked. I proceeded to communicate that I was not trying to say that he was not a Christian, by the question I asked, but rather that I was attempting to find out, if indeed he was a Christian, if his understanding of the Gospel was the same as the understanding of the Gospel that I had. This one got off to a rocky start possibly because of the difficulty in talking with a superior, normally you do more listening than talking as a subordinate, and partly possibly, in my opinion, of the approach that I used. I asked the question to the Senior Soldier in a manner that would have been received better, I think, if I had not spoken it loud enough for others to hear it. The Soldier’s defenses went up from the start and the witnessing effort was stifled, however I was able to communicate to some extent what I believe and present scripture to the Soldier, so now that a seed has been sown I will leave it up to God to cultivate what has been sown. One plants another waters, but it is God that gives the increase.

The Third witnessing event took place in a unique fashion. I was on the bus coming from a firing range, reading a book titled “Radically Unchurched” when a young Soldier asked me what I was reading? I replied that I was reading a book for a class I was taking in pursuit of a Masters in Theology. The Soldier asked me a couple of questions concerning the book and later on he approached me and wanted to know more about the gospel of Christ. I was wondering where my third witnessing opportunity would come from and it was brought to me! I explained the gospel to the Soldier and he stated that he was waiting for God to send the understanding that would convict him. I in turn told him that he should pray to God for faith and read as much of the Bible as he possibly could.

My five witnessing experiences resulted in mixed results, but I know that I have been obedient to the call of Christ to be a witness to the world.

]]> http://giveyourwitness.com/witnessing-to-five-people/feed/ http://giveyourwitness.com/victory-over-pornography/ http://giveyourwitness.com/victory-over-pornography/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:55:44 +0000 admin http://giveyourwitness.com/?p=117

I am writing this recovery testimony from the vantage point of a believer who knows that Jesus will give victory over this “particular problem” and that the battle has already been won, although I presently struggle daily with the issue. What issue is that you may ask? It is the issue of watching pornography. I grew up in society like every other young male and somehow it was implied, at least it seemed from what I could see, that interacting with pornography is a healthy and normal activity that every body engages in. I can now look back at some of the consequences of dealing with pornography and say that nothing can be further from the truth. Not to say that watching pornography is not a common thing in our society, there are many people who enjoy it and are unaware of the second and third order effects that result from watching it. With the information technology age upon us, pornography has become very access able to society via the internet. It use to be the case that VHS tapes and DVDs dominated the pornography market as the main delivery method, but the Internet is fast taking over that distinction. I at one point in time had a substantial collection of files stored on a hard drive of one of my computers, and probably still do if I am totally honest. With the advent of the Internet and the advancement in technology you can now stream media (to include pornography) directly from servers, meaning you do not have to spend time downloading a file before you can watch it. So what is so wrong with pornography you may ask?

First I will tell you some of the ways I believe pornography has affected my life negatively and then I will direct you to what the bible has to say about it and related issues. Without going into all of the details, I sadly have to admit that I know of at least one person, who is very close to me, who has participated in an extra-marital affair, a politically correct way of referring to what the Bible defines as the act of adultery. Secondly pornography shapes the mentality of it’s audience and reduces the individuals that are interacting with or participating in it to objects of pleasure and fantasy, when in reality human beings are created in the image of God and have much more to offer and be appreciated for. After years of watching pornography I can say that I would become very angry if my wife did not meet my needs sexually. I know that there are few things on the face of this planet that can drive a man crazy like not having his sexual desires met by his spouse, however I will admit that there should be a fine balance struck in a relationship. The wife should submit herself to the husband and the husband should love and respect the wife as Christ loved the church. Sexual relations within the proper constraints of marriage and what has been communicated above is the ideal situation, but what pornography does ever so subtly is to condition the mind to think that I can have my needs satisfied whenever I want without regard for the way another person is feeling. In other words, people do not watch pornography to learn how to better please their spouse in bed, (an altruistic motive indeed), and that is not to say that there aren’t any techniques that can be acquired by watching porn, but I would argue that most people watch pornography out of a selfish motivation to please themselves, (me, me, me), and that the disadvantages far outweigh the insatiable and temporary satisfaction that one may experience from watching it. Since I am a Christian I know that the act of watching pornography is not something that glorifies God and that it is displeasing to God, so whenever I watch it I feel a tremendous amount of guilt that results in me feeling distant from God. During the periods in my life that God has kept me from this particular sin I have felt an increased level of fellowship.
The Bible was written during a time when pornography was not in existence but there are verses that address issues that are related to pornography:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.”

“Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. ”

Although I still struggle with this sin presently, I know that Christ has won the battle and because of this I will be vicotorious in this area of my life as a Christian. The same can be said for you friend if you trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, no matter what it is that you may be struggling with in life; drugs, alcohol, gambling, depression, Jesus is the answer for all of the problems in life…

The “Messiah In the Old Testament” is a book about the Lord Jesus Christ and how he is revealed in the pages of the Old Testament. The book systematically goes through the books of the Old Testament after a brief introduction and description of the Messiah in the Pentateuch. There are a total of ten chapters in “The Messiah In The Old Testament” of which the first two have been communicated above. The remaining eight chapters, (Chapters 3-10), respectively are titled: “The Messiah Before and During the Davidic Monarchy”, “The Messiah in the Psalms” (Part 1), “The Messiah in the Psalms” (Part 2), “The Messiah in the Ninth- and Eighth-Century Prophets”, “The Messiah in the Eighth-Century Prophets (Isaiah)”, “The Messiah in the Seventh- and Sixth-Century Prophets”, “The Messiah in the Postexilic Prophets”, and finally the “Conclusion”. There are a few Appendixes and Indexes for the convenience of the reader to use.

The introduction poses the question of what is a Christian? The answer given by most people is “One who believes that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ the Jews were expecting” but the author indicates that this common answer is not all together accurate, while not too far off the mark, it assumes three things: “1 that the title ‘Christ’ fully categorizes Jesus, 2 that Christians are clear and in agreement on what this title, ‘Christ’ denotes, and, 3 that all, or virtually all, Jews during the time of Jesus were looking for the coming of the Messiah or Christ.” Within the introduction several definitions are given, the interpretative concepts of Dual Meaning and single meaning are introduced under the category “Starting Points” which looks at where and how to begin studying the Old Testament . Under the “Proposal” section traditional and conservative beliefs are compared and contrasted.The rest of the chapter deals with: “The Promise-Plan of God”, and “Problems in Messianic Interpretation”.

The next chapter takes a look at the Messiah and how he fulfilled prophecies within the Pentateuch, which is the first five books of the Bible, commonly referred to as the books of the law.The spectrum of prophecies fulfilled within the Pentateuch ranges from those found in the book of Genesis, Numbers and through Deuteronomy.The Appendix for this chapter examines how Christ can be found in the book of Job.

Chapter 3 is focused on “The Messiah Before and During the Davidic Monarchy” and how Samuel was the first in the line of prophets predicted by Moses yet at the same time he was the last of the Judges of the nation of Israel.The chapter alludes to the fact that Samuel predicted the coming of the Messiah in Hannah’s prophecy in reference to the anointed one.The chapter makes the point that Christ fulfilled, (and is currently fulfilling I might add), the three roles of Judge, Priest and King. The Psalms and the Wisdom books are then explained in the context of how to look for the Messiah within its pages.

Chapters four and five take off where chapter 3 ends with further study of the Psalms as is related to the Messiah in the Old Testament and communicates that “The greatest single block of predictive matter concerning the Savior to be found anywhere in the Old Testament” (Kaiser, PG 92), is the book of Psalms. Some of the themes of Messianic prophecy found in the Psalms include; David’s Greater Son (Pss 89; 132), The Mystery of the Incarnation (Pss 8; 40), The Rejection of the Messiah (Pss 118; 78:1-2 ), The Betrayal of the Messiah (Pss 69, 109), Death and Beyond (Pss 22; 2), Victory Over Death (Pss 16; 102), Messiah’s Marriage and Ministry (Pss 45; 110), and The Reign of the Glorious King (Pss 72; 68), (Kaiser Jr, 93).

Chapters six looks at the Christ through the Ninth-and Eighth-Century Prophets and makes the point that the Promise Plan of the Messiah was not over when the “covenant promises made to Eve, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David were over.”(Kaieser, pg 136).Chapter 6 also reinforces the two hermeneutical principles for interpreting Messianic doctrine, the first being the concept of inaugurated eschatology, “in which the writers of Scripture embody a “now” along with a “not yet” aspect to many of their predictions about the future.” The second hermeneutical concept is that of corporate solidarity where the context of a name like Israel must be examined in order to properly determine exactly who is in view during the passage, whether it be the “country, Jewish people, the religious body, sometimes the spiritually minded, or sometimes the NT believer.

Chapter seven is dedicated to the prophet Isaiah and cites him as being one of “the most prolific announcers of the Messiah and his times among the OT prophets”. (Kaiser, pg 155). The author also notes that forty seven our of Isaiah’s sixty six chapter are directly eluded in the New testament . The topics covered in the book are; The Messiah as King, The Messiah as Servant, and The Messiah as Anointed Conqueror. Chapter eight is concerned with the Messiah in the Seventh- and Sixth-Century Prophets and finds the theme of the Gospel interwoven in each of the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Jeremiah speaks of the Messiah as “the LORD Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:5-6), the Messiah as the Priestly King (Jeremiah 30:9, 21), and the “Inviolable Promise about the Messiah (Jeremiah 33:14-26). The book of Ezekiel examines the “Messiah as the Tender Sprig (Ezekiel 17:22-24), The Messiah as the Rightful King (Ezekiel 21:25-27) and the Messiah as the Good Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:23-31), and the Messiah as the Great Unifier of the Nation (Ezekiel 37:15-28). The book of Daniel addresses the Messiah as the son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14), and the Messiah as the Anointed Ruler Who Will Come (Daniel 9:24-27). Chapter nine takes a look at the Messiah in the Postexilic Prophets, to include; Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The topics covered in Haggai are; the Messiah as the Desire of the Nations. (Haggai are 2:6-9), and The Messiah as God’s Signet Ring (Haggai 2:21-23) The Topics discussed in Zechariah are; the Messiah’s Work as high priest (Zechariah 3:8-10), the Messiah as the King-Priest: Ruler Over all nations (Zechariah 6:9-15), the Messiah as the King (Zechariah 9:9-10), the Messiah’s Four Titles (Zechariah 10:4), the Messiah as the Rejected Good Shepherd (Zechariah 11:4-14), the Messiah as the pierced one (Zechariah 12:10), and the Messiah as the smitten Companion of the Lord (Zechariah 13:7). The Messiah in Malachi addresses the issues of; the Messiah as the Messenger of the covenant, (Malachi 3:1), and the Messiah as the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2)

Author Information

The authors of “Concentric Circles of Concern” are, original print: Oscar W. Thompson, revised edition: Thompson R. Carolyn and Claude V. King. Oscar Thompson instructed seminary students in personal evangelism prior to dying of Cancer in 1980. While Oscar Thompson had begun to work on Concentric Circles of Concern it was actually his wife Carolyn who compiled the manuscript of the first edition after the death of Oscar Thompson in 1980. Claude V. King revised the original version of Concentric Circles of Concern with the permission of Carolyn Thompson. Claude V. King served on the staff of an evangelistic church prior to attending seminary in New Orleans.

Content Summary

Chapter 1 focuses on the importance of relationships in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and how when people see the genuines of your faith through a relationship it can be an effective witnessing tool. In the introduction Claude describes how he noticed that, as part of an evangelical church staff, he was able to lead people to make a public profession of Christ but encountered a certain level of difficulty when trying to lead these same people into a local body of “Christ where they could grow”, (Thompson, pg 1). Chapter 1 begins with a story of a father and son whose relationship is broken because of the son’s wish to attend seminary and go against the desires of his father for him to continue the family tradition. The story culminates with the father accepting Jesus after arriving at the door steps of his son’s seminary. Through a broken relationship that needed fixing a father was brought to the Lord. The author goes on to say that the most important word in the English Language is relationship and discusses the significance and associations of “Right Relationships” and “Broken Relationships”. Claude says that right relationships leave you prepared for life and if you think back at all the good events that have occurred in your life you can tie them into being in a proper relationship of some sort where as in contrast broken relationships do just the opposite and are associated with bad memories for the most part. Claude goes on to say that every broken; business, friendship, home is a broken relationship, (Claude, pg 10) and if these relationships could some how be restored then society’s most complex problems would be solved because right relationships set the conditions to eliminate these problems before they are problems. Claude then goes on to explain his purpose for writing the book, which was to help the reader experience the blessings of restored relationships.

Chapter 2 speaks on how the gospel moves through relationships with the example of Andrew bringing his brother Simon (Peter) to Jesus who was used mightily by God in the early church years, the example of the woman at the well and how she through a relationship with the town’s people communicated that she had found the savior and many more examples of relationships that brought others to faith through their existence are given. It is in chapter 2 that Claude lays out the concept of the gospel moving on contiguous lines of relationships and illustrates this by placing the various relationships that a person can have within the confines of circles within circles, resembling a target. The innermost and first circle is self with the next higher and outward circles representing respectively; Circle 2: Family, Circle 3: Relatives, Circle 4: Friends, Circle 5: Neighbors and Associates, Circle 6: Acquaintances, Circle 7: Person X. Claude makes the point that often we have ruptured relationships within the lower levels of Concentric Circles and as a result of this can find our ability to effectively witness to Person X, who is the individual who we more than likely come across once and will never see again, hurt.

Chapter 3 focuses on being an ambassador for Christ and lays out seven stages for making disciples. Stages 1-7 are as follows: 1. Get Right: Get right with God, self, and others, 2. Survey: Survey your relationships, 3. Pray: Work with God through prayer, 4. Build Bridges: Build relationship bridges to people, 5. Show Love: Show God’s love by meeting needs, 6. Make Disciples: Make disciples and help them grow, 7. Begin Again: Help new Christians make disciples.

Chapter 4 discloses three barriers to sharing the gospel and they are:

1: Not knowing Jesus, 2: Fear, and 3: Broken Relationships.

Claude goes on to say that not knowing Jesus will cause you to ignore relationships that need fixing prior to reaching out to person X in the outermost Concentric Circle of Concern. The basic idea here is to first Get right with God, then yourself and then you will be able to share the gospel effectively through relationships.

Chapter 5 deals with the importance of first and foremost getting right with God.

Chapter 6 deals with the 1st Concentric Circle “self”.

Chapter 7 talks about Bearing Spiritual fruit.

Chapter 8 speaks on the Hindrances to Bearing Spiritual Fruit.

Chapter 9 contains seven stages of “Making Disciples for Christ”.

Stage 2 of the Seven Steps to “Making Disciples for Christ” begins with chapter 10, (which focuses on how to conduct surveys of family and relatives), and concludes with chapter 11, (which is focused on conducting surveys of the 4 remaining Concentric Circles 4-7.
Stage 3 places an emphasis on the importance of prayer and is discussed in chapter 12.
Stage 4 includes chapter 13 and instructs the believer on how to build relationship bridges to people by meeting a need. Stage 5 takes a look at how to “Show God’s Love by Meeting Needs”
and includes Chapters 14 and 15 which are titled “Show God’s Love by Meeting Needs” and “Loving in Concentric Circles” respectively. Stage 6 includes chapters 16 and 17 and their focuses are on “Introducing People to Jesus Christ” and “Making Disciples” respectively. The final stage is stage 7 and is placed in the set of stages to refocus the believer on the ongoing mission of bringing Jesus sheep in to the fold appropriately titled: “Begin Again: Help New Christians Make Disciples”. There is also a short Epilogue on “Things that I have Learned” and a “Concentric Circles Survey Form”.

Evaluation

Claude achieved his intended purpose of communicating the need for fixing the relationships with the seven concentric circles and how if they are broken they can detract from witnessing to person x who is in the last circle and a lot of the time the initial and primary focus of evangelist when self and the escalating levels of circles within the whole concentric circle should be the priority. The main theme is a very convincing theme, that being that relationships are very important in communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ. I thought Claude did an outstanding job of demonstrating through scripture how relationships played a role in many people being led to Jesus Christ. The presuppositions that are made when approaching the subject of relationships is that good memories are generated through good relationships and bad memories are generated through bad relationships. One other presupposition that is made is that if we could somehow fix the broken relationships in the world (i.e. broken friendships, business relationships, marriages), then we would be able to solve a majority of the worlds problems. I believe Claude is accurate in communicating that if the broken relationships could be somehow restored that we could eliminate a lot of the world’s problems because everything that occurs in this world has a relation to something else which is related to something else causing a multiplicative effect. For example the child who comes from a broken home where mom had to work two jobs consequently leaving him or her unsupervised and who later ends up in all kinds of trouble as a result. If we could find a way to restore the marriage of his parents, (a relationship), there should be less of a chance of something like what was communicated above occurring. Claude presents a very logical argument that is supported with various scripture which is ultimately the barometer that Christians should use to measure what is authoritative. The woman at the well who runs into town causing many to believe is an example of how a relationship proved to be a catalyst for the spread of the gospel. Claude and Thompson go on to conclude that in order to effectively make disciples for Jesus Christ we must first restore the broken relationships within our concentric circles. What is unique, significant and interesting about this book is that it was revised and is still practical and applicable for the believer who lives during these times. I also thought the Concentric Circles and the point that was made about how we are so focused on Person X, (the individual who we have the least interaction with in our concentric circles), that we miss the opportunities to be blessings and witnesses to others was a good point. Other than the use of charts to describe and illustrate concepts and points, I find no unusual content. There is an obvious bias of the authority of the scripture, which is a good thing. Claude teaches us that there is much to be gained from being in a proper relationship with first God, second yourself and last but not least others. The book I thought was concise as possible and used scripture to support the theme of relationships being important in the spread of the gospel. There are many members of the body of Christ and we all interact to support each other. I was very impressed with the book and will recommend it to who ever is interested in becoming an effective witness for Christ. I will never forget the principle of “meeting needs” within relationships as a tool for demonstrating the love of God and have already begun within my own marriage to see how effective it can be. This book brings home the point that relationships are a key element in life and God uses them as he does everything to accomplish his purposes.

Bibliographical Entry

Thompson W. Oscar – Thompson R. Carolyn – (Revised by Claude V. King): Concentric Circles Of Concern, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1999.

I was born into an immediate and extended family of professing Christians, although I rarely saw anybody attend church, (neither did I, I might add), if it wasn’t Easter or some other religious occasion. I was taught to say the prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep…”, by my father’s mother at the young age of 5. My mother’s mom later taught me to recite the Lord’s Prayer. My mother’s mom, my grandmother, was a Pentecostal Christian and what this particular denomination of Christianity represented, with the dreams and visions, became evident over the years as I listened to my grandmother recount stories of supernatural visitations from what appeared to be spirits. I always believed that there was a God and by birthright I claimed Christianity as my faith, I even prayed to God and Jesus. I can now say that I knew much about God and Jesus, but had not met the Savior as of yet. I can remember being young and mom and dad splitting up, my mom my brother and I went to stay with a boyfriend of my mothers, while my sister moved in with my grandmother, who could use some help and companionship around the house, In return my grandmother raised my sister like she was her own daughter. We are living in Brooklyn and life is full of chaos for my mother, my brother and I for what seems like the better part of the six years that we stayed there. I was constantly fighting, or at least it seemed that way to me and it seemed as if the borough of Brooklyn had a big black cloud over it. My brother and my wardrobe left much to be desired, but although I never started any fights, I figured out real quick that if I didn’t back down that I could earn respect amongst my peers. After my grandfather passed away coinciding with the beginning of my seventh year in school, we moved in to his apartment in the Bronx, this was a significant event considering it was the first time that my mother my brother and I lived on our own. For a mother with two growing boys and on public assistance I think she did an outstanding job of raising us, not that it wasn’t hard for everyone. I can remember coming in to the classroom and seeing the kids actually participating in what was being taught and thinking to myself: “I had better get it together, these kids are actually about business”. There was one individual, who I would later have a decent relationship with through the common interest of basketball, who thought that because he was taller, bigger and had all the cool clothes, that he could try to intimidate me, boy was he in for a surprise! By the time the school day was over I had talked so much smack to this guy about what I was going to do to him after school, that when I actually approached him after school was let out and asked him “what do you wanna do?” he replied “nothing”. I had a couple of fights that year and later I was jumped pretty bad by individuals that knew the guy that I had problems with earlier during the year. On the day after Christmas during the eighth grade I got into an altercation with some gentleman around my Aunt’s apartment and consequently was stabbed in the shoulder. The wound was half an inch deep, but what angered me was the idea of someone trying to do more than just give me a black eye. Oh by the way I happened to re-aggravate the boxer’s fracture that I had received from previous fights so I had to have my right hand wrapped in a soft cast to add insult to injury. Why couldn’t I have been given one of the cool hard casts that everyone could have signed? I ended up missing a significant part of the school year and would have been held back had I not made up a majority of the work. During the time when we were getting ready to go back to school, I had saved up enough money to buy my brother and I some cool clothes for the start of the 9th grade and a few necessary items for school like books so I should have felt a sense of satisfaction but all I felt was emptiness. Somehow I made my way to a book shelf in my Grandmother’s old house, that my Aunt now lived in and pulled down a book by the name of “Beyond Death’s Door” by Maurice Rawlings. Beyond Death’s Door is a book about an atheist doctor who comes to faith after investigating a series of near death experiences and finding that people’s recollection of things that occur after you die were for the most part in line with what the Bible has to say. The book grabbed my interest and was a tool I believe that God used to open my eyes to see my need for a savior. I prayed to Jesus that he would come into my life and save me from going to hell. I don’t know if I became saved at that very moment, but I definitely began to have a desire to do things that are pleasing to God. As I began to read the scriptures more and more, I began to try to implement what I was learning in to my own life. Ecclesiastes and Proverbs were essential in providing me “a young man without a father in the household” with fatherly advice. I had the best year in school, grades wise, that I ever had and the teachers were wondering what had gotten in to me, I knew the answer to be Jesus!! I had plans of playing professional basketball when I got older and dedicated a lot of my time towards that goal. Over the following summer as I read the scripture, I felt God was calling me to be a minister and that I would have to give up my pursuit of a basketball career, because as the scripture tells us in Mathew 6:24 - “No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches!” I felt really strong about my decision at the time and do not regret giving up the dream of being a pro-basketball player and all the luxuries that comes with that lifestyle, i.e. money, women, but rather as Phillipians 3:8 communicates to us: “What is more, I continue to consider all these things as a loss for the sake of what is far more valuable, knowing the Messiah Jesus, my Lord. It is because of him that I have experienced the loss of all those things. Indeed, I consider them rubbish in order to gain the Messiah”. Over the years I have struggled in my walk as a Christian and have not been the best example of what it is to know Jesus, but one thing that I have noticed since I made a verbal expression of my faith and asked Jesus to save me over 18 years ago is that although we may not be faithful to God at times, God is always faithful towards his children as expressed in Philippians 1:6: “I’m convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.” You see my social economic condition contributed to me dropping out of High School and earning a G.E.D. This period of time in my life was a low point, as I struggled to walk the Christian walk it became tough to persevere. I eventually joined the military and took Jesus with me, with renewed confidence and faith in Jesus. I joined the Army Infantry and was introduced to all types of wholesome activities, pun intended. When the drill sergeant asked me if I was a Christian I denied that I was, for fear of letting Jesus down by not being able to live up to the standard of being a Christian and consequently discouraging individuals who might have been looking at me with curiosity. I am currently an Army Signal Officer in the rank of Captain and can say that all the struggles in my life both personal and professional I can see have been placed there to position me for what God would have me to do. If I had not gone through the wilderness, I would not be as prepared for what God would have me to do for him right now, neither would I appreciate as much the blessings that are being given to me from God. I started out with a G.E.D, I now hold two Bachelor Degrees, an Associates Degree and am currently working on a M.A in theology. I have a beautiful family in my wife Katja, daughters Ayleena and Angel and my son Sean. The biggest change in my life is that I know that ultimately God is in control of everything that occurs on this earth and that if something happens to me, it is God’s purpose at work. In Romans 8:28 God says: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” This gives me a sense of peace that is referred to as the “peace that passes all understanding” and it is independent of external circumstances. Would you like to have this peace, contentment and joy? Ask God if he will save you and bring you into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. God says in John 3:16 “”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” If you are worried that you are not good enough, or have done too many things wrong and God could never forgive someone like you, God gives us the reassurance that Jesus can forgive even the worst of sinners in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.”
Friend you can experience a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Jesus will never let you down no matter how many times you may come up short: Proverbs 24:16 “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief”
This has been my witness on how I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life.

God’s Blessings in Jesus Christ

Lashon Bush

The Crusaders and the Church

The legacy of the Crusades, whether positive or negative, has been contested among Christians and non-Christians alike. Although there were clearly political, intellectual, and technological benefits to Europe as a result of the crusades, can it be said that the Crusades advanced the cause of Christ? Research the motivating factors of the various movements and determine whether they where representative of a Christian worldview.

This essay will serve the purpose of attempting to answer the questions of whether the Crusades advanced the cause of Christ, what were the motivating factors for each Crusade and were they carried out with the approval of the rest of the Christian world. When the topic of the Crusades of the Middle Ages arises during the course of conversation, in my experience, it has usually been the case that it is being referred to by someone who is not necessarily a Christian and would like to use the fact that the violence and loss of life that resulted from the crusades, “if that is what Christianity is about”, as a scapegoat for denying the faith. So with that being said I personally have mixed reservations about the Crusades and there effectiveness as a tool for advancing the cause of Christ, although I can not deny the fact that at least externally or commercially the Crusades of the Middle Ages were without question instrumental in the spread of the faith. Whether the right approach was taken in spreading the faith is an argument that has gone on for centuries and will continue to go on, more than likely until Jesus Christ our LORD returns.

Before we begin to address the topics listed in the above paragraph I believe it is appropriate for us to become more thoroughly familiar with the who, what, when, where and why of the Crusades. Who were the facilitators of the Crusades of the Middle Ages? The Roman Catholic Church and the Christian states of Europe at the time were the facilitators of the, “Holy Wars”, a title that is sometimes used to refer to and justify the fighting that took place. The Crusades were a series of Holy Wars launched by the Christian states of Europe against the Saracens. The term ‘Saracen’ was the word used to describe a Muslim during the time of the Crusades.” What the Crusades were has been described above as a series of Holy Wars and this is because the intent of the Crusades was to re-capture or re-establish rule of the Palestine territories, that Christ and his disciples frequented, after these territories were placed under Muslim control and consisted of a total of nine conflicts in all. “The Crusades were great military expeditions undertaken by the Christian nations of Europe for the purpose of rescuing the holy places of Palestine from the hands of the Mohammedans. They were eight in number, the first four being sometimes called the Principal Crusades, and the remaining four the Minor Crusades. In addition there was a Children’s Crusade.” When did the Crusades occur? The Crusades occurred from the early part to roughly the middle of the second millennium after Christ walked the earth. The Crusades were sponsored by the Catholic Church from roughly 1100-1400 AD. Where did the Crusades take place? The Crusades took place in the Mediterranean Area or Middle Eastern part of the world. “The Crusades were military or quasi-military expeditions launched by Christian secular and religious rulers against Muslims in the Middle East.” Why did the Crusades occur? The Crusades were the result of a growing desire for increased monetary stature and religious zeal as the Church begin to populate the globe. Religious fervor was an extremely important factor in arousing the Christians to organize military expeditions, as was the hope of gaining immense riches and increased power. Now that we have discussed the related information surrounding the origins of the Crusades or “Holy Wars” of the Middle Ages, we can begin to delve more deeply into the motivating factors for each Crusade and the effect that each of the nine Crusades had on advancing the cause of Christ from the period that the Crusades first occurred up until this present day. The first Crusade was in the year 1096 and was a direct result of the Byzantine Army being destroyed by the Turks in 1071 coupled with 3000 Christians being massacred in Jerusalem from 1085 to 1095 AD. In 1095 AD an embassy was sent to Pope Urban II regarding the atrocities in Jerusalem and resulted in the Pope calling the great council of the Church at Placentia to consider the appeal for assistance, although no decision was to be rendered until later that year at the “great council of the clergy” in Clermont France where Pope Urban II called for a Crusade against the infidels on 24 November 1095. In the summer of 1096, armed forces gathered to embark on the first Crusade, effectively capturing the city of Jerusalem by scaling the walls of the Holy city and returning one of the principal areas where Christ preached to the Christian empire on 15 July of 1099. The second Crusade was conducted from 1147 to 1149 AD and was instigated by the fall and massacre at Edessa, which was the “bulwark of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem on the side towards Mesopotamia which was taken by the turks and the entire population slaughtered or sold into slavery. The apostle of the Second Crusade was the great abbot of Clairvaux, St. Bernard who was aided by King Louis VII of France and Conrad the III of Germany who was motivated to entrust the affairs of his kingdom to his subordinates and take up the cause of Christ. King Louis’s motivation to join the Crusades stemmed from righting an earlier act of cruelty that he had apparently undertaken against some of his disgruntled and revolted subjects. Unlike the First Crusade the Second Crusade was not a success and culminated with a joint attack executed by Louis and Conrad which was spirited but far short of victorious. The failed joint attack of Damascus effectively caused the siege to be raised and ended the crusade. It was said by one chronicler that having practically accomplished nothing, the inglorious ones returned home. The strength of both the French and the German division of the expedition was wasted in Asia Minor, and the crusade accomplished nothing. The Third Crusade was conducted from 1189 to 1192 AD and was a direct result of Jerusalem being captured in 1187 by the Muslim world who found in it a leader by the name of Saladin who was the sultan of Egypt and whose character was that of a typical “Mohammedan, very devout in prayers and fasting, fiercely hostile toward unbelievers, and full of the pride of race. To these qualities he added kindliness and humanity that was not surpassed by any of his Christian foes.” King Richard I of England was the central figure among Christians in this Crusade and was key in the raising of finances to support the cause. Notable events of the Third Crusade include the death of Frederick Barbarossa, the German Emperor nearly 70 years old who had a zeal for crusading and drowned during a march that consequently disheartened the army and resulting in it returning to Germany, the Siege of Acre (one of the longest and costliest sieges), only to see the success not capitalized on by King Phillip and King Richard respectively of France and England who could not get along. King Richard and England remained in the Holy Land longer than the average length of stay for a Christian crusader due to a truce reached with Saladin which permitted Christians to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem without paying tribute after which he set sail to England, effectively ending the Third Crusade, however ironically he was later captured by the duke of Austria, whom he had offended at the siege of Acre and forced to pay a ransom for his release that was said to be twice that of what the annual revenues of England was at that time. The Fourth Crusade was marked by a dispirited and or distracted effort that was taken up by French Knights and set in motion by the famous Pope Innocent the III who revived the wishes of Pope Urban the II. The Fourth Crusade resulted in the capture of Constantinople instead of Jerusalem. The remaining Crusades were considered to be minor in fact even the Fourth Crusade was said to be of little effect, however we can see that there was evidently a great passion and root of belief within each sides of the Crusades that their faith was the true faith and effectively demonstrated the lengths that each side were more than willing to go to ensure the spread and domination of these beliefs. As a Christian I can’t help but to think of the time in the gospel of John 18:10-11 when the when Jesus was approached by Judas Iscariot and the multitude in an attempt to take him and Simon cut off the ear of the high priest only to have Jesus communicate that it was more or less necessary for him to have done what would be done. Else where Christ states that his kingdom is not of this world and that if he so desired he could have angels take up the cause. So while the spread of the Gospel has been assisted by the Crusades I feel when I speak to a non-believer or someone who is not in the faith and they bring up the Crusades, where violence was enacted on both sides, it robs the message of the cross to some effect.

THE PAPACY

What exactly is the Papacy? How and why did the Papacy become the center of power that it did? What factors contributed to its dominance of Western Europe until the Reformation? What were the positive and negative ramifications of its dominance of Western Europe until the Reformation? These questions will be addressed during this essay as we look into the origins and reasons behind the Papacy being so prevalent in Western Europe Society from a religious and social stand point. The word Pope is derived from “Papa” (Latin). The office of the Pope is referred to as the Papacy. The Papacy is responsible for the spiritual well being of the members of the Catholic Church and has it’s origins in the Roman Western Society. Presently there is a city-state titled the “Vatican City” that the Pope is Head of State of and exercises political and social rule over as well as meeting the city’s spiritual demands. The papacy denotes the office of the pope, or bishop of Rome, and the system of central ecclesiastical government of the Roman Catholic Church over which he presides. Believed by Roman Catholics to be the successor of the apostle Peter, the pope grounds his claim to jurisdictional primacy in the church in the so - called Petrine theory. According to that theory, affirmed by the Council of Florence in 1439, defined as a matter of faith by the First Vatican Council in 1870, and endorsed by the Second Vatican Council in 1964, Jesus Christ conferred the position of primacy in the church upon Peter alone. In solemnly defining the Petrine primacy, the First Vatican Council cited the three classical New Testament texts long associated with it: John 1:42, John 21:15 ff., and, above all, Matthew 16:18 ff, which have been listed respectively below:John 1:42 – “And he brought him to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Ce-phas, which is by interpretation, a stone. “So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonnas lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him Feed my lambs.” Mathew 16:18 – “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”The Pope based his authority off of the above stated verses, which have been interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church to mean that Peter was charged with the responsibility of overseeing the formation of God’s Church, which he later passed on to subsequent Popes.“In ancient Israel the rabbis customarily used a formula of words three times in the act of solemnly transferring authority to someone in the community of faith; Christ was giving authority to Peter who was to tend His flock as Christ had tended it.” The Bishop of Rome was one of the most important Bishops of Western Europe up until the Reformation because of a number of factors; including being the city which boasted of having the first martyr, (Peter), Rome was the most prestigious city in the Western Mediterranean and with the title of bishop of Rome came the prestige that was so highly associated with Rome. Another factor which led to the City of Rome being the most dominant City in Western Europe leading up until the Reformation was the fact that there had never been a heresy that was publicly implemented within the city’s gates, few cities of this era could make this claim, leading to the preeminent position and title of leader of the Catholic Church within Western Europe. “On what basis, by what authority, did the Bishop of Rome claim power over all other bishops and over all Christians? Some of the claim was based on biblical passages, but some of it derived from political and cultural realities. Being bishop of an important city naturally gave increased stature, and Rome was (until the 4th century) the most important city in the western world. It certainly gave the Roman bishop automatic prestige in the western Mediterranean, where there were no other cities to rival it. In the east, however, there were rivals indeed: Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Constantinople. The bishop of this latter city never did bow to Roman claims. Tradition conferred further special prestige on Rome. It was a city of martyrs. The first persecutions, instigated by Nero, were at Rome. Peter himself was martyred at Rome.” As communicated earlier Rome was the lone city in the Western region of the Empire, while the remaining kingdoms, of which there were four, were located in the Eastern region of the Empire. The five dioceses with special authority, the seats of the patriarchs were Rome, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople. As the two regions became more and more politically and culturally advanced the eastern region had four sees from which decisions involving the church and political life were to be made, where as Rome was the lone city, in the Western Region of the Empire that was sought out when it came time to make decisions of an important nature, whether it be of a political or religious aspect. The previously stated communication led to Rome being the Theological Center of Western Europe. The positive Ramification of the reality of Rome being the Center of Political and Religious Authority within Western Europe was that the Christian cause was furthered and Rome was looked upon by not only Western Europe as the primary voice and leader of the Christian faith, through the Catholic Church, but also recognized by citizens that resided in the Eastern region of Europe. Rome offered bishops the opportunity to appeal decisions that were made, in regards to their office and service as men of faith. Many bishops that received rulings that they felt were unjustified appealed their case or matter to the Roman Spiritual authority of the day. Some of the negative ramifications of Rome being the preeminent spiritual and political authority of their day was that eventually the lines began to blur and what was considered to be the church’s responsibility as opposed to that of government was not so clear. There was the feudal system that mirrored the spiritual hiercachy that had been preached by theologians of the past. This feudal system allowed the owner of a piece of land or property to permit servants to work the land in exchange for payment of wages or debt, however most of the time what occurred was that you had wealthy patrons who had servants that were indebted to them to the point that it was an endless cycle of service with little to no chance of ever being set free of their incurred obligations. The church also began to operate in a manner that was unintended by the founding fathers, i.e. abbots being married and the passing of monasteries down to children. The low point of the Papacy came when during the reign of Stephen VI there was a trial held where his predecessor, who had been dead for 3 days, was brought before council convicted and dragged through the streets and deposited in a common grave after have his papal robes striped and the three fingers, that he would have otherwise used to bless people with, cut off. The Catholic Church of Europe of which Rome was the primary voice, had many challenges leading up to the Reformation and played a decisive role in the spread of the Christian faith and contributed significantly to the Christian faith being the largest faith in the history of the world, presently consisting of 1.9 billion individuals worldwide.