BBC dismisses recent ‘Christian martyr’ estimates, but persecution exists and more is coming

Artist depiction of Catholic saint Dominic presiding over burning two at the stake

A BBC report is challenging some figures related to “Christian martyrs:

It’s often claimed that 100,000 Christians are killed every year because of their religion. Earlier this year, the Vatican called it a credible number. But is it?…

On the internet, the statistic has taken on a life of its own, popping up all over the place, sometimes with an additional detail – that these 100,000 lives are taken by Muslims.

The number comes originally from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the US state of Massachusetts…when you hear that 100,000 Christians are dying for their faith, you need to keep in mind that the vast majority – 90,000 – are people who were killed in DR Congo. This means we can say right away that the internet rumours of Muslims being behind the killing of 100,000 Christian martyrs are nonsense. The DRC is a Christian country. In the civil war, Christians were killing Christians…

If you were to take away the 90,000 deaths in DR Congo from the CSGC’s figure of 100,000, that would leave 10,000 martyrs per year.

And the number of Christians who are killed each year because they are Christians is more likely to be in that order of magnitude, according to Professor Thomas Schirrmacher from the International Society for Human Rights. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24864587

I would add that although I do not consider that many killed were actual Christians (and the Bible shows that real Christians would not be killing other real Christians, see, for example ), the fact is that many who profess forms of Christianity are being persecuted and killed in many parts of the world and this is not setting off the amount of international outrage that many would expect. And this BBC piece, while correct in some points, seems designed to reduce outrage of violence against those being persecuted/killed in Islamic and other lands.

Notice the following:

11/12/13

VATICAN CITY, November 12, 2013 (Zenit.org) – A South Korean news agency has reported that an estimated 80 people were executed in seven cities in North Korea, some of whom were executed for possessing Bibles.

What has happened to various people who profess Christians in places such as Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and other lands is wrong.

That being said, the Bible tells of a time when more persecution will hit those truly part of the Church of God.

In the past, real Christians were persecuted because they:

Kept Passover on the 14th
Refused to eat unclean meat
Would work on Sunday
Had false accusations railed against them
Were binitarian
Kept the Sabbath
Were not trinitarian
Taught that the pope was an Antichrist and precursor of the final Antichrist
Rejected papal authority
Did not accept idols
Had different teachings than the Church of Rome
Had writings Rome did not like
Rejected Roman sacraments
Objected to the dress of the Roman ministry
Considered Rome to be the prophecied Babylon
Taught that in the time of the final Antichrist that some would fall away
Had practices that Rome considered Jewish
Refused to baptize infants
Did not participate in carnal warfare
Teaching the Kingdom of God
Teaching the millennium
Baptized adults

In the future, according to Catholic teachings, they ALSO will be persecuted for:

Not accepting non-biblical teachings about Mary
Not accepting the Great Monarch (Beast, King of the North)
Teaching that the Kingdom of God will come soon
Not accepting the ‘Great Monarch’ (who appears to be the King of the North of Bible prophecy)
Not wearing crosses
Teaching after the Great Tribulation begins that Jesus will return within a few years

Christians have been persecuted for holding doctrines that we in the Continuing Church of God hold and are clearly expected to be persecuted in the future for holding Continuing Church of God doctrines.

Persecution is a fact of history. It has happened before and we should be prepared for the fact that it will happen again. And during the time of the final persecutions, the Bible records:

12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12).

Thus, though the Philadelphian Christians will be subject to intense persecution first, even the Laodiceans (The Laodicean Church Era) and other Christians will receive some praise if they endure the persecutions that will then come during the time of “the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world” (Revelation 3:10).

Some items of related interest may include:

Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There is also a YouTube video sermon you can watch: The Coming Persecution of the Church.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. There is also a video on the subject: Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?
This is PETRA! This is a 1962 Good News article by the late Dr. Hoeh.
The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like the beliefs held of the Continuing Church of God.
The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. These are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG.
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions.