Orthodox Bishop Mark (Arndt) is that rare example of a Christian hierarch speaking the truth about Islam.
Islam is at its core anti-human… Reading the Quran, you will see that all of this [extremism] lies at the foundation of Islam. One must look truth in the eye: this is all anti-human, it is directed against humanity… Yes, there were times when Muslims tried to live in peace with their neighbors, they even acknowledged that we Christians are people, too. But for many, those times have passed, and now they reveal who they really are.
— Archbishop Mark (Arndt) of Berlin (Full interview below.)
Regular readers of Jihad Watch are likely familiar with the refusal of Roman Catholic bishops to address the global issue of Muslim persecution of Christians and Jews (and other non-Muslims) and its grounding in the Quran and the example of Muhammad. The prime example may be that of Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester Mass., whose infamous quote reads more like a parody from the Onion every day:
Talk about extreme, militant Islamists and the atrocities that they have perpetrated globally might undercut the positive achievements that we Catholics have attained in our inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims.
Pope Francis of course leads this disturbing trend, his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium including the emphatic affirmation that “authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.”
It seems many Muslims have failed to read that particular epistle.
Sadly, things are not much different in the Orthodox Church. The world’s second largest Christian communion, comprising between 225 and 300 million members (source), retains a dwindling remnant in the Middle East, the “cradle of Christianity,” and is one of the main bodies suffering most from the resurgent global jihad.
Perhaps because of this suffering Levantine presence, there exists in world Orthodoxy what I would call a “latent dhimmitude.”
Globally, Orthodox Christian leaders, from priests, professors and theologians to bishops and patriarchs (bishops over a national Church, such as Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia), almost to a man shy away from ever openly ascribing the motivation behind Muslim terrorism and persecution of Christians to Islam, and instead offer unconvincing, pious platitudes, such as from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who has written of a “dialogue of loving truth” with Islam, of Orthodoxy having for centuries “coexisted peacefully” with Islam, and of an “interfaith commitment… still felt and lived by Greeks [and] Turks.” ( Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Encountering the Mystery, Doubleday, 2008, pp xxxvii, 196, 174.)
Yet he writes this in spite of fourteen centuries of Islamic jihad against Christians, the enslavement of the Greek Orthodox after the conquering of Constantinople in 1453, and the blood-stained parade of neo-martyrs from the 15th to 19th centuries (including dozens of Ecumenical Patriarchs); in spite of the Turkish Muslim genocide against Orthodox Christians from 1894 to 1922, in which over 4 million Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians and others were killed; in spite of the Turkish Muslim pogroms against the Greek Orthodox (e.g., Istanbul, 1955) up through the present day, which includes the conversion of the great Hagia Sophia Church of Constantinople into a mosque, together with numerous other ‘Hagia Sophia’ churches throughout Turkey.
Here’s another whopper:
“Christians and Muslims are two lungs of one Eastern body,” the Greek Orthodox Patriarch said, “and we condemn anything that harms the reputation of the forgiving Islamic religion, with which we have experienced the peace and fraternity.” (Daily Star)
I am not familiar with any “forgiving Islamic religion.” I am familiar with the supremacist and militant Islamic religion, whose holy book and prophet have set forth commands which determine its reputation:
Fight against those who believe not in Allah… (Quran 9:29)
Kill the mushrikun [unbelievers] wherever you find them… (Quran 9:5)
I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes. (Quran 8:12)
“I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah…” (Hadith from Sahih Bukhari, cited in Reliance of the Traveller, Entry on Jihad, o9.0, o9.1, o9.8, o9.9.)
Here is an especially scandalous statement from a few decades ago:
“The Prophet Muhammad is an apostle, He is a man of God, who worked for the Kingdom of God… When I speak against Islam, then I am not found in agreement with God.” — Patriarch Parthenius of Alexandria (Orthodoxos Typos 854, May 1982)
I could go on, but you get the idea.
Patriarchs and bishops who seek to cover over the anti-human bloodlust inherent in Islam do not help, they merely confuse, frustrate and demoralize the faithful, who see for themselves what Islam is all about. The faithful need clear Christian teaching and inspiring examples of confessors and martyrs, to help them stand firm in their own trials, when the challenge comes to their doors.
This is why it is essential to extol those rare Christian hierarchs, like Bishop Mark of Berlin, who choose to ignore the politically correct climate of the day, and instead pattern their statements after fearless Church teachers of every age, such as Sophronius of Jerusalem (7th c.), John of Damascus (8th c.), Gregory Palamas, (14th c.), Kosmas of Aitolia (18th c.), Fr. Seraphim Rose (20th c.), and New-Martyr Fr. Daniil Sysoev (21st c.).
The below article, which I originally posted a year ago, is worth revisiting in the hopes that other Christian leaders — whether Catholic, Coptic, Protestant or Orthodox — will take courage and find again that authentic Christian voice in this titanic struggle against the temporal and spiritual tyranny of Islamic jihad.
Interview with Archbishop Mark (Arndt), Pravmir, July 31, 2014
Q – How should Christians react to the terrible epidemic of the genocide of our brothers and sisters in Christ in Syria, Metochia, Kosovo and Serbia? Is this active Islamization or the actions of radical extremists, bandits who only assume the mantle of Islam? His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, during a Liturgy in Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow read to his Russian flock the epistle of the Antiochian Patriarch, in which he painfully called to the whole world for help, stressing that the situation is at such a horrifying stage that help is needed not only through prayers to God, but in action. But in Christian society the reigning opinion is that we can help exclusively by prayer.
A – I reject the expression “help exclusively by prayer.” That we Christians are only capable of prayer is a false notion. Of course, prayer is our foundation and greatest strength. But if we think that all we can do is pray, we will go astray. Yes, we must pray, but we must also understand that people are often forced by circumstances to soften one’s language. If the Antiochian Patriarch says this, he bases it on the experience of his own nation, where Christians and Muslims always lived in peace. I think that it is incorrect to say that there are only extremists at work there.
Reading the Quran, you will see that all of this lies at the foundation of Islam. Extremism exists, of course. Other Eastern hierarchs openly state that they have known about this particular aspect of Islam all their lives. I often serve in Jerusalem. There, for instance, on the feast of the Holy Trinity, right next to the church a muezzin cries from his tower that they believe in the One God Who has no children, no Son and Holy Spirit, etc. He has no compunction to do so, though these people are not really extremists. What is this? Open, unabashed propaganda against Christianity! They know full well what they do, spewing these slogans during the main Christian holiday of the Pentecost, the celebration of the birth of the Church Herself.
Islam is at its core anti-human. Look at Ramadan—this is the mortification of the human being, of the human body. I saw how people were taken to hospitals during their observance of Ramadan. All day they eat nothing, drink nothing even during baking heat, and at night the cram there stomachs to the point of losing consciousness—it is madness! One must look truth in the eye: this is all anti-human, it is directed against humanity.
Yes, there were times when Muslims tried to live in peace with their neighbors, they even acknowledged that we Christians are people, too. But for many, those times have passed, and now they reveal who they really are.
Q – In other words, when some say that what is happening in Syria and other fundamentally Christian nations, it is only political, not a religious war against Christianity, it is untrue? Regardless, can we say that the Christians who are murdered for their faith today are martyrs.
A – There is an intentional war being waged against Christians. Kosovo was the first in the list of such genocide from Christian territory. Then Chechnya. Understand what happened, a Christian nation was simply given away to the Muslims. The destruction of churches continues, tortures, wild fanaticism, murder. Kosovo, Chechnya, Syria, Egypt…
Q – The next goal for these people, whether they are extremists or not, is to declare Russia Muslim. What are we to do, strengthen our prayers?
A – The most important thing is to be real Christians. This means constant participation in the Mysteries of the Church. If the Lord grants someone the crown of martyrdom, it means the person earned it and must accept it with dignity.
_______
Ralph Sidway is an Orthodox Christian researcher and writer, and author of Facing Islam: What the Ancient Church has to say about the Religion of Muhammad. He operates the Facing Islam blog.
particolor says
One must look truth in the eye . This is all Anti Human .:-(
What a read !
Goat Pimp says
Nice to hear another person not afraid to tell the truth about Islam.
He should know, Greece has been dealing with the Islamic scourge since the scourge’s inception.
mortimer says
Bishop Mark Arndt has the right word ‘ANTI-HUMAN’. He is not alone among clergy to be alarmed by the absurd, cruel theology of Islam.
Fr Henri Boulad of Alexandria is among the greatest analysts of Islam’s fascist agenda:
“Islamism is not a caricature, nor a counterfeit, nor a heresy, nor a fringe or atypical phenomenon versus classical, orthodox, Sunnite Islam.
To the contrary, I think Islamism is naked Islam, Islam without a mask and without paint, Islam perfectly consistent and true to itself, an Islam that has the courage and lucidity to go all the way to its ultimate conclusions and final implications.
Islamism is Islam in all its logic and in all its rigour. Islamism is present in Islam as the chick is present in the egg, as the fruit is present in the flower and as the tree is present in the seed.
But what is Islamism?
Islamism is political Islam, the bearer of a project for a model society and whose aim is to establish a theocratic state based on Sharia, the only legitimate law—since it is divine—since it was revealed and enshrined in the Koran and Sunna—it’s a law that applies to everything.
Here is an all-inclusive and all-encompassing project, one that is total, totalizing and totalitarian.”
mortimer says
Bishop Mark Arndt has chosen a good word: “ANTI-HUMAN”. Islam is crusher, a meat-grinder, a burden. Islam destroys independent thought and progress by terror.
Other clergy are also notable for finding the theological errors in Islam. Fr Henri Boulad of Alexandria, Egypt is among the greatest of Islamo-analysts:
“Though there is a rejection of official Islam by thinkers and intellectuals who seek to reinterpret Islam in the light of modernity, they in turn are labelled with being heretics, apostates or deviationists.
Islamism is not a caricature, nor a counterfeit, nor a heresy, nor a fringe or atypical phenomenon versus classical, orthodox, Sunnite Islam.
To the contrary, I think Islamism is naked Islam, Islam without a mask and without paint, Islam perfectly consistent and true to itself, an Islam that has the courage and lucidity to go all the way to its ultimate conclusions and final implications.
Islamism is Islam in all its logic and in all its rigour. Islamism is present in Islam as the chick is present in the egg, as the fruit is present in the flower and as the tree is present in the seed.
But what is Islamism?
Islamism is political Islam, the bearer of a project for a model society and whose aim is to establish a theocratic state based on Sharia, the only legitimate law—since it is divine—since it was revealed and enshrined in the Koran and Sunna—it’s a law that applies to everything.
Here is an all-inclusive and all-encompassing project, one that is total, totalizing and totalitarian.”
No Fear says
Islam is simply about winning. It was designed to outnumber and out manouvre Christianity and other groups. Mohammed needed strong ruthless henchmen with an unshakable sense of divine mission so as to defeat all opposition. Islam is not concerned with being “moral” in the western sense of being helpful to others and treating them well and abstaining from unlawfulness in all parts of life. Many muslims have told me that morality is simply “obeying Mohammed”. Mohammed had people killed if they disagreed with him. He encouraged rape. He arranged torture. What a role model !
Angemon says
blockquote>“The Prophet Muhammad is an apostle, He is a man of God, who worked for the Kingdom of God… When I speak against Islam, then I am not found in agreement with God.” — Patriarch Parthenius of Alexandria (Orthodoxos Typos 854, May 1982)
Huh, if this guy believes that muhammad was an apostle of God then his only choice would be convert to islam. How did someone like that got to Patriarch of Alexandria?
JIMM says
Simple, he has no choice if he & his flock has to survive in the midst of the barbarians.
He was not a man of conscience of his religious teachings, but a man of the world, seeking the survival of his flocks & himself, in other words A DHIMMI!
Manuel Paleologus says
His Grace Bishop Mark of Berlin is a true Bishop who speaks the truth about Islam.
Unfortunately, many Orthodox and Catholic hierarchs do not talk anything about Islam or try to deceive their flock with lies and words of a submissive peace.
May God be with Bishop Mark of Berlin.
medaber_emet says
its such a shame that he will be murdered
please may someone contact him to arrange him
security and body guards because
soon the islam will send some good souls to murder himge
abad says
Another brave religious soul speaking the truth about Islam. God bless him.
JIMM says
AMEN !!
Linde Barrera says
To Ralph Sidway- Thank you for this excellent and refreshing article expressing Bishop Mark’s viewpoints. If it were possible, I would love to read about an interview with the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees and why UK can be allowed to refuse to take Christian refugees from Syria, AND how the High Commissioner on Refugees may be COMPLICIT in future jihad attacks by some of these Muslim refugees in their new countries.
JIMM says
A very VALID Point!
There is a lot of complacency & the OIC & its petro dollars seems to rule the UN
jewdog says
It’s encouraging to read that the Bishop rejects the idea of prayers alone in dealing with Islam. It reminds me of the old saying: Never bring a knife to a gun fight. If on the one hand we have a system of religious imperialism, a system that unabashedly advocates political domination and the violent means to bring it about, and on the other hand we have a system of friendship and non-violence, it should be obvious which system will win. It’s no surprise that Christianity has been losing ground, literally, to Islam for centuries, to the point where today the Christians are being reduced to a vestige of their former selves in the Islamic countries.
The only alternative is to take control of land away from the Muslims, permanently, since Islam itself is based on control of land. Not since the Reconquista in Spain has that been done by Christians. Zionism has been the only successful modern attempt at that by non-Muslims. Maybe it’s time for Christian Zionism.
voegelinian says
“Yes, there were times when Muslims tried to live in peace with their neighbors, they even acknowledged that we Christians are people, too. But for many, those times have passed, and now they reveal who they really are. ”
Sigh. Will we ever see a condemnation of Islam without some kind of asymptotic twitch, tic, spasm, sniffle, burp, snort, etc.? Bishop Mark’s claim that “there were times when Muslims tried to live in peace with their neighbors, they even acknowledged that we Christians are people, too” is sheer, nauseating bullshit.
No Fear says
I agree that Islam is nauseating bullshit.
voegelinian says
No. Islam is far, far worse. What is nauseating bullshit is the whitewashing of it, as Father Mark does here.
concerned christian says
I like his prophesy about Russia at the end. . . Can’t remember what Saint . . . one prophesized that (either as the cause of WW3 or at the beginning) An islamic caliphate will be established in southern Russia. This caliphate will join up with an army from the middle east and they will invade Europe. Wonder if the Russian army that conquers the Vatican is a moslem army. . .
http://catholicknight.blogspot.com/2011/09/breaking-pope-beatifies-nun-who-gave.html
http://www.thecatholicthing.org/2014/09/06/how-islam-set-back-western-civilization/
garegin says
Obviously, most religious leaders are wimps who’ll just carry on the “all religions are good/let’s just be nice” crap. The root of the problem is simple. “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist–denying the Father and the Son.” Islam is in opposition to God. I’m sure there many Muslims who are very peaceful and loving, just like many Babylonians before them. It still doesn’t change the fact that it is a false religion of perdition.