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Raymond Ibrahim: Pope Francis vs. Saint Francis on Islam

Sep 6, 2016 4:47 pm By Raymond Ibrahim

APTOPIX Italy Pope Epiphany

When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the new Catholic pope in 2013, he chose the name of Francis to indicate that his pontificate would be one of mercy and compassion for the poor and needy—for such is the reputation of his eponym, Saint Francis of Assisi: “the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation,”explained Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, as to why he chose that name.

St. Francis (1182-1226) is indeed known for all those qualities.  But he was known for something else that his modern day namesake fails to live up to: unapologetically confronting Islam.

According to St. Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims by Frank M. Rega:

Fully aware of the dangers, Francis was determined to go on a mission to the unbelievers of the Muslim nations.  The primary sources are in agreement that he was now ready to sacrifice his life and die for Christ, so there can be little doubt that the intent of his journey was to preach the Gospel even at the risk of martyrdom (p. 43).

Along with saving souls, he sought to save lives as well; to help bring peace to the turbulent world he lived in, where Christians, responding to centuries of Islamic invasions and conquests of Christian lands, had gone to war with Islam, that is, the Crusades:

Converting the Muslims by his preaching was the ultimate goal of Francis’ efforts, and a peaceful end to the war would be a consequence of their conversion.  In the words of scholar Christoph Maier, “Francis, like the crusaders, wanted to liberate the holy places in Palestine from Muslim rule.  What was different was his strategy….   He wanted their total submission to the Christian faith” (p. 63).

In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis and a fellow monk traveled to the Middle East and sought audience with Sultan al-Kamil—despite al-Kamil’s vow that “anyone who brought him the head of a Christian should be awarded with a Byzantine gold piece” (p. 57).  St. Francis’ contemporaries also warned him that Muslims “were a mean people who thirst for Christian blood and attempt even the most brazen atrocities,” (p. 34).  The determined monks continued their journey, only to experience the inevitable:

The early documents are unanimous in agreeing that the two Franciscans were subjected to rough treatment upon crossing Muslim territory.  The men of God were seized in a violent manner by the sentries, assaulted, and bound in chains.  Celano reports that Francis “was captured by the Sultan’s soldiers, was insulted and beaten” yet showed no fear even when threatened with torture and death (p. 58).

Eventually brought before Sultan al-Kamil, the monks sought to “demonstrate to the Sultan’s wisest counselors the truth of Christianity, before which Mohammed’s law [Sharia] counted for nothing: for ‘if you die while holding to your law, you will be lost; God will not accept your soul.  For this reason we have come to you.’”

Intrigued by the cheeky monks, “the Sultan called in his religious advisers, the imams.  However, they refused to dispute with the Christians and instead insisted that they be killed [by beheading], in accordance with Islamic law (p. 60).”

The sultan refused: “I am going counter to what my religious advisers demand and will not cut off your heads… you have risked your own lives in order to save my soul.”

During their disputation and in reference to “the centuries-old Muslim conquest and occupation of lands, peoples, and nations that had once been primarily Christian,” Kamil sought to trap the monks with their own logic: if Jesus had taught Christians to “turn the other cheek” and “repay evil with good,” he inquired, why were “Crusaders … invading the lands of the Muslims?”

Francis quipped by also quoting Christ: “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Francis then explained: “That is why it is just that Christians invade the land you inhabit, for you blaspheme the name of Christ and alienate everyone you can from His worship”—a reference to Islam’s dhimmi rules which, along with debilitating Christian worship, make Christian lives so burdensome and degrading that untold millions had converted to Islam over the centuries to ease their sufferings.

There are more interesting aspects concerning St. Francis’ encounter with Sultan Kamil, including those that find parallels in the modern world, such as Sharia’s strict bans on blasphemy against Islam and evangelizing for Christianity (often seen as one and the same) and call for the execution of apostates from Islam.  They are discussed in this brief article.

For now, consider some important differences between St. Francis and his modern day namesake, Pope Francis.

While the saint accused Islam of persecuting Christians, and sought to bring them succor—to the point of putting his life on the line—Pope Francis refuses to confront Islam.  When he has the attention of the world he habitually fails to condemn or even shed light on the nonstop Muslim persecution of Christians, including millions of Catholics.

Last year he delivered a nearly hour long speech before the United Nations.  Only once did Francis make reference to persecuted Christians—and he merged their sufferings in the very same sentence with the supposedly equal sufferings of “members of the majority religion,” that is, Sunni Muslims.   In reality, of course, Sunnis are not being slaughtered, beheaded, enslaved, and raped for their faith; are not having their mosques bombed and burned; are not being jailed or killed for apostasy, blasphemy, or proselytization.   That’s because the terrorists—whether al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, or ISIS—are Sunnis.

And before that Francis issued his first encyclical—an important document meant to be relayed to the world’s Catholics—with no mention of persecuted Christians.

More recently, after a journalist asked Pope Francis about the slaughter of an 85-year-old priest in France, and how he was clearly “killed in the name of Islam,” the pope disagreed and proceeded to offer a plethora of absurd and silly rationalizations in defense of Islam.  

Nor did St. Francis preach passivity before aggression:

A foremost expert on Francis and the Fifth Crusade, Professor James Powell, wrote: “Francis of Assisi went to Damietta [Egypt, where Sultan Kamil was] on a mission of peace. There can be no question about this.  We should not however try to make him a pacifist or to label him as a critic of the crusade.”  Another leading crusade scholar, Christoph Maier, was even more explicit: “Francis thus accepted the crusade as both legitimate and ordained by God, and he was quite obviously not opposed to the use of violence when it came to the struggle between Christians and Muslims.”  At one time Francis had remarked to his friars that “… paladins and valiant knights who were mighty in battle pursued the infidels even to death…”  Francis admired the deeds of such brave men because “… the holy martyrs died fighting for the Faith of Christ” (p.70).

This is why those who know the true biography of St. Francis deplore his modern day transformation into some sort of Medieval “hippy”—or, in Pope Francis’ words, “the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation.”  In 1926 Pope Pius XI issued the following statement:

What evil they do and how far from a true appreciation of the Man of Assisi [St. Francis] are they who, in order to bolster up their fantastic and erroneous ideas about him, image such an incredible thing … that he was the precursor and prophet of that false liberty which began to manifest itself at the beginning of modern times and which has caused so many disturbances both in the Church and in civil society!

In the context of confronting Islam, Rega laments that, “for the revisionists, the ‘real’ Francis was not a bold Evangelist, but a timid man, whose goal was to have the friars live passively among the Saracens [Muslims] and “to be subject to them” (p.95).

A final important point: while St. Francis did not mock Muhammad—though apparently not enough to dissuade the pious from calling for his head—he unequivocally portrayed the Muslim prophet’s message as false.  Unlike the diplomatic Pope Francis, who never seems to preach Christ to Muslims but rather confirms them in and validates their religion, the sincere saint was actually more concerned with the souls of Muslims, to the point of putting his own life on the line. This used to be one of the chief concerns of all popes, the “Vicars of Christ.”  But apparently not for Pope Francis.

In short, there’s a fine line between St. Francis’ compassion and Pope Francis’ cowardice—or worse, complicity.  When it comes to confronting Islam and standing up for the faith and persecuted Christians, Pope Francis woefully fails to live up to the brave monk whose name he appropriated.

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Filed Under: Catholic Church, Muslim persecution of Christians Tagged With: Pope Francis


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Comments

  1. somehistory says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 5:11 pm

    The *pope* may call himself anything he chooses to…Christian, Francis, etc. Calling himself doesn’t make any of it true. When he says he is a coward, an apologist for islam…then maybe he will be looked upon as telling the truth about something.

    Thank you, Mr. Ibrahim, for the valuable history lesson;

    • Champ says

      Sep 6, 2016 at 7:09 pm

      When he says he is a coward, an apologist for islam…then maybe he will be looked upon as telling the truth about something.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      I agree!

      • mortimer says

        Sep 6, 2016 at 9:57 pm

        POPE FRANCIS SPEAKS ULTRA VIRES

        It is not within the pope’s competence as a Christian leader to define the religion of Islam. Only Al Azhar University speaks for all Sunnite Muslims.

        The ‘religion of Allah’ is different from Biblical Christianity since Jehovah and Allah are two distinctly different and irreconcilable gods.

        Pope Francis apparently knows no Islamic theology, but preposterously presents himself as an authority on Islam. There are many Jesuits who are real authorities on Islam, but the pope has not bothered to consult them. THIS IS THE WORST KIND OF ARROGANCE.

        The pope’s very limited infallibility within Roman Catholicism certainly DOES NOT extend to Islam.

        • Kay says

          Sep 6, 2016 at 11:44 pm

          Please give some names of the Jesuits you refer to.
          Thank you.

        • Larry says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 3:13 am

          It’s not among the Jesuits that you will found the Catholic Church’s experts on Islam, but amongst the Dominicans.

          Men like Pope Benedict, who was a comparative theologian and an expert on Islam.

          The Jesuits are a proselytizing order, not really an intellectual one, they just like to give that impression.

        • mortimer says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 9:58 am

          Kay,
          http://www.henriboulad.com/html/An/BiographieAnglais.html

        • mortimer says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 10:16 am

          Jesuit astrophysicist Manuel Carreira said : “Islam is the worst plague that humanity has seen in the past 2000 years”
          https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/04/jesuit-astrophysicist-manuel-carreia-islam-is-the-worst-plague-that-humanity-has-seen-in-the-past-2000-years

          “It seems to me that one can not plausibly claim that Islam is compatible with the rights of a European nation.”… Carreira

  2. Malcolm (SouthAfria) says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 5:20 pm

    Strength to Hungary’s Prime Minister, possibly other world leaders in Europe will assist.

    Officials say Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has met Pope Francis after he pledged that his nation wants to tackle the persecution of Christians at a time when Europe faces a massive refugee crisis.

    http://media02.radiovaticana.va/audio/audio2/mp3/00545938.mp3

    • Kelly says

      Sep 6, 2016 at 11:46 pm

      Thanks for this news.

  3. jewdog says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    This sort of mushy cultural relativism pervades modern liberalism. One would hope that Western clergy would be more impervious to contemporary fads, but that is often not the case. Unfortunately, these apologists are very adept at exploiting the softer side of scripture to serve their questionable agenda. The whole thing makes me feel vulnerable, as though the sentries of Western civilization were sound asleep.

  4. Wellington says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 6:59 pm

    Pope Francis is no Saint Francis, the Pope’s namesake. I don’t think he gets this. No, not at all.

    And, this skeptic might ask, and specifically of Catholics, what the hell is the Christian God up to allow such a fool as Francis to be elected Pope in the first place?

    Well, as Edward Gibbon, in that literary masterpiece, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, sardonically opined regarding the election of Urban VI in 1378, which election began the Great Schism that lasted until Martin V was elected pontifex maximus in 1417, said election “had been inspired as usual by the Holy Ghost.”

    Oh yeah. Oh yeah in bunches and multitudes aplenty. Take it from here. If you really can.

    • somehistory says

      Sep 6, 2016 at 9:34 pm

      Hi, Wellington,

      Not Catholic, never have been, never will be. I’m going to say just a few sentences about what you stated. Knowing you will most likely disagree, and that is okay, because I’m not saying it to convince.

      In the time of Samuel, the Israelite people…as a group, evidently…asked for a human king so they could be like all of the nations round about. Samuel tried to talk them out of it, saying they already had a KING in God Himself. They insisted and God told Samuel to warn them of what was going to happen, but to anoint Saul as king. David and a few other men were worthy to lead the nation, but there was a lot of evil rule and kings taking advantage of the people. Exactly what God had warned them would happen.

      When Christ was on earth, He warned His disciples of things that were going to take place…wolves would enter in and would “not treat the flock with tenderness.” He also told them they were to be “brothers” and not to “lord it over” each other. That is what the washing of the feet was all about.

      God does not stop or control everything as He allows people to make choices. The choices made show what is in the heart of each one.
      At some point…(I’m no expert on when , although I have read much about them in the past) popes began to *rule* claiming to do so as replacements for Peter (who was not a *pope*). These imperfect men are chosen by other imperfect men to *rule* over the rest of the people.

      The Christian God has allowed it, but that does not mean that He approves of any of it, or that He doesn’t care about what is happening. After all, He gave Christ because “He loved the world (of mankind)” enough to make the supreme sacrifice of His Son. But at the same time, He allows each one to make a choice as to acceptance of that sacrifice or not.

      That is my contribution to what I am sure will be an interesting conversation. 🙂
      Off to do other necessary tasks.

      • gravenimage says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 12:06 am

        I don’t believe the existence of a pontiff is a problem in and of itself–he is not a “king”. Not every pope has been as clueless as this one about Islam.

        • somehistory says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 9:34 am

          He may not be a *king* in the usual sense, but he lives like one. The poor give more than the rich in every community and he lives from the *donations* from all those who give, rich and poor. And he tells them on a regular basis just what they should be doing…in the present with this guy, welcome their persecutors and murderers and wash their filthy feet…and not doing…telling the truth about the murderers and persecutors and their filthy religion.
          And…the first *popes* were also emperors.
          I don’t believe they have ever been necessary for the faithful to follow Christ.
          I hope your day is good, g.:)

        • gravenimage says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 1:34 pm

          Thanks for your reply, somehistory. One can certainly debate whether there should be popes at all, but that is a discussion for another forum.

          Certainly, though, many pontiffs have been staunch Anti-Jihadists, and have done a great deal through the centuries to protect the West from the depredations of Islam.

        • somehistory says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 3:48 pm

          g,
          Just as there were Kings in Israel who ruled according to what was right and there were some who were clearly evil…ahab and ahaz among them…I have little doubt that there were men who have been popes who thought they were doing right and would not have endorsed islam like the current guy.
          I just don’t believe they have ever been necessary to a person having faith, just as the people of Israel had a Divine King in God and didn’t need a human one.

        • Tony says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 8:47 pm

          Reply to some history.

          Actually pope gets very little donation the Vatican money is as much as a American university. Plus the pope gives to the poor. How do you most money comes from poor anyways?

          Pope advises not commands. We don’t have to listen or believe every word of the popes. Only super rare times when a infallible teaching occurs which again is rare.

          Lastly popes are not kings or emperors. They do not send anyone to prison or execute. They do not force taxes in people. They actual serve the people under Jesus instead of rule over them.

          Popes are necessary or else Catholics would be like Protestantism. Catholics would be divided and have their own random teachings with hundreds of churches and interpretions.

        • somehistory says

          Sep 8, 2016 at 10:15 am

          Tony,

          I read all of your posts. You disagree with everything I wrote and even some things that I did not write.

          If you do some research on charity and donations, you will find that the poor give more than the rich. And if you know a lot of people, some rich and some poor, you can find it out first hand.
          As Jesus said when He pointed out the “poor widow” who dropped in her “coins of very small value” gave out of her “want”…or “need”; whereas, the “rich give out of their abundance.” The poor give more, one reason being, there are many more poor people who give as opposed to the rich who give.

          As for the rest of your comments to me or about what I wrote: I could write a book, but I won’t. There are just a couple of things. Do some research into the beginnings of your church and you will see the first popes were emperors. And they live off the people’s works, not having jobs themselves.

          There is a verse you may have read at sometime where the Apostle James said, “With evil things, God cannot be tried; neither does He try anyone.”
          This means that God does not do evil things and He doesn’t send evil things to His people to cause them to take certain actions. He *allows* things to happen…as Mark so clearly shows in his comment about Job.
          So God is not sending the moslims against Christians. He is allowing them to show what is in their hearts and whether or not they wish to serve and worship Him or if they choose to follow the devil.
          Read what Jesus Christ said about persecution in the book of Matthew, esp chapters 24 and 25. He foretold…accurately…exactly what is happening now.

          The last thing I will say to you in reply to your comment to me: Look to popes if you choose. It is your choice. But I have discerned from my extensive Bible reading, study and prayer that it is not necessary for me to follow a human when I have Christ as an example and as One to give me commands to follow. Imperfect men are always fallible. Jesus has never been and never will be. He is the Prince of Peace, Eternal Father and has been given “the Kingdom” by His Father. He is the Perfect Example…our Exemplar.

          I choose a different way from what you have chosen.I do not need the pope.

      • Nancy Assaf says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 10:11 am

        Some history, I agree with you and I believe that God, in allowing us to make choices, many of them wrong, lets us know that He is the only King. This World will never, ever be Right until the Second coming of Jesus and the “end” of Man’s rule.

        • somehistory says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 3:38 pm

          🙂 I believe that day is coming very soon as the situation is so very bad for so many people.

        • Champ says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 3:43 pm

          Hear, hear!

        • Tony says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 8:41 pm

          Jesus was not against kings their is history to show he even wanted certain kings in power even in biblical times. However yes he is above kings though. The bad is their to get us closer to him not to attack all forms of kingship or even government.

      • Tony says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 8:40 pm

        God never condemned all kings or governments. God sometimes gives certain warnings for certain times like the no king idea to the Jewish people you stated. After all it’s difficult to run the modern world without some type of leadership.

        Also the Peter was technically a pope. The bible says Peter lead the apostles. Jesus said to Peter upon this rock I build my church plus Peter was the one who made the decisions after Jesus left. Jesus was not against leadership as even he is a leader. Basically if their is no pope from the beginning than their would be constant arguing and even more divisions. In history we trace back literally all popes back to Peter. Even the modern Vatican was accidentally built on apostle peters tomb.

        Yes their are bad kings and bad popes as everyone is imperfect. However just becuase we don’t know why their is a bad pope does not mean the whole church or pope idea is false. Look at judas he was an apostle with Jesus and still betrayed him. Or look at Saint Peter he denied Jesus 3 times. Point is we should just trust in Jesus. As a Catholic I personally don’t have to listen or believe everything a pope says so it’s not we have to agree with pope Francis liberal attitude.

        regardless of what pope does the doctrine of Catholic Church is un changeable and infallible. Even if the pope wanted to he could not change it.

        • carol says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 11:50 pm

          Tony

          I think you’ve inadvertently hit upon why the Pope won’t criticize Islam. Their “religious industries” have too many deep similarities.

          I believe the English Reformation was a TRUE BLESSING and any differences between Protestants themselves is trivial (and not at ALL to be inadvertently likened to the never-resolved Islamic sectarian hate-fests).

          Attending church with young Catholic friends made me aware of definite patterns in Catholicism:
          1/ Moral guilt-peddling to keep people from straying away.
          2/ Not allowing young Catholics to attend Protestant churches (a deliberate “closing” of minds and dismissal of the “other”).
          3/ doctrinal rigidity at high emotional cost to adherents (e.g. self-denial and rote as PROOF of moral superiority and goodness).
          3/ MAN/Priest as wise idol, and FEMALE (at best) as virgin/mother.
          4/ Power CORRUPTS and when there’s NO competition money schemes evolve (shrines) or money becomes unaccounted for (Vatican banks) and vices are ignored or covered up (molestations).

          Much silence had been justified in the name of not BESMIRCHING such a would-be lone, AUTHORIZED beacon (by the Peter/Mohammad icons) of all that’s holy! Pope Francis and cohorts undoubtedly feel it’s wonderfully wise to travel smoothly alongside the “competition” (Islam) rather than break out into an unbecoming, public brawl. The show must go on after all.

          Churches have filled human needs and deserve their due but people have a responsibility to be honest and consult common sense and their best inner selves FIRST, LAST AND FOREMOST.

          Remember humbly the words of Will Rogers:

          “If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?”

    • Kepha says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 5:46 am

      Wellington–In allowing the election of Dhimmi Francis, the Christian God was up to the same sort of thing he has always been up to since the beginning of time; namely, working all things to the good of those who love him (Romans 8). Today, we may see all clouds, gloom, and doom, but perhaps this is for a future generation to see some silver linings (or, even our generation at a later point).

      Were it not for Israel’s folly in rejecting God’s kingship for “a king like to the nations around”, we would not have known King David, the ancestor and model for the greater Anointed One who conquered sin and death for us.

      Were it not for the Babylonian Exile, we would not have the synagogue, the model for the church, and the means whereby the good news of salvation spread through the world.

      Were it not for the oppression Israel suffered under the Pharaoh who knew not Joseph, then there would have been no Exodus, and no Old Testament that informed Christendom of the dangers of unchecked power and the necessity of subjecting political power to law (yes, I’ve read a lot of 16th and 17th century political theorists).

      Were it not for Christ’s humiliation from his birth to his death on the cross, there would be no triumphant resurrection and ascension–and no teaching of faithful people to love and trust even during times of adversity.

      Now, I write as a Protestant, for whom the Popes carry little weight. But I have often wondered if this current furor islamicus might not be a way God will drive many Christians back to a meaningful faith. We may not know now, but I will choose to trust in the meantime.

      • somehistory says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 9:39 am

        The True God always works things out for the good of those who love Him. And the warm sunshine and the cooling rain falls on both those who love Him and upon those who don’t. He knows more about us than we do (each hair of each head is numbered) and knows just when to step in and act for the most good for the greatest number, all according to His will.

        • Mark Swan says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 5:45 pm

          To somehistory, I wrote this after reading your post here,I hope you like the take on it.

          What exactly are trials and tests, anyway? Is there a right way and a wrong way to approach trials? We all have them. The Apostle James tells us to count them all joy,
          but, as we know, that is easier said than done.

          The Patriarch Job is pointed out as an outstanding example of steadfast faith in the way he handled severe trials. The book of Job is the story of a normal human being who is beset by misfortune and suffering. Look at the specific lessons we can learn about responding to trials as revealed in the book of Job.

          One of the most overwhelming things about a severe trial can be the sense of isolation. We want to make sure that God knows because when He finds out, surely He’ll do something about it! In Job we are given a behind-the-scenes look at events of which Job was completely unaware.

          God, however, was very much aware of Job and of the wholehearted obedience he sought to render. In fact, God Himself called Satan’s attention to Job. Christ reminded His disciples in Luke 12:6–7 that God, who even takes detailed note of the sparrows, is much more deeply interested in the affairs of His own children. The Father is aware of everything about us down to the smallest detail. Even the hairs of our head are numbered

          When we are struck with personal tragedy or persecuted for obedience, we can be sure that God knows. This is vitally important to keep in mind to counteract the sense of isolation and loneliness that will often beset us at such times. “No one understands what I’m going through,” we think. But Jesus Christ does! We have a faithful High Priest who was tested in all ways like us and is therefore able to empathize and give us the needed help (Hebrews 4:15–16).

          Though Job could not begin to understand why all of these things were happening to him, he knew God was aware of it. He did not react, as Satan had predicted, by cursing God. Rather, Job told his wife, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).

          The story recounted in chapters 1 and 2 makes us privy to actual conversations between God and Satan! When we begin reading the book of Job we learn that, while God allowed Satan to afflict Job, He set limits beyond which the devil could not pass. From the start we know there are limits to Job’s trial, and we know what those limits are. Initially, God restricted Satan from harming Job’s health. Later, He allowed Job to be personally stricken, but insisted that his life be spared.

          In all of this we have an advantage over Job. At the time he was going through adversity, Job knew nothing of the conversation between God and Satan. He knew nothing of any limits God had pre-imposed upon his trial.

          When we find ourselves in the midst of great adversity, we must always keep in mind that there may have been a similar “behind-the-scenes” conversation regarding us. God has established the limits of our trial, but we just do not know what those limits are!

          What we as Christians experience is not generally time and chance. The devil does not “sneak up” while God’s back is turned. God is involved in every test that we undergo and He has established preset limits beyond which Satan cannot go. Neither the duration nor the intensity of the trial is completely open-ended. Ultimately, God is in charge!

          This is perhaps one of the hardest lessons to keep in mind. Job wanted God to vindicate him in the eyes of his friends. People ridiculed him (30:1, 9) and that can be hard to take. When Elihu began to answer Job on behalf of God in chapters 32 through 37, he pointed out that Job had been wrongly focused during much of his trial. In Job 33:12–22, Elihu explains that God instructs and chastens in various ways. God has His reasons for how He deals with us. And sometimes they are beyond our understanding.

          The first of Job’s friends to speak was Eliphaz. He declared, “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off? Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same” (4:7–8). Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, Job’s three friends, were all sure that Job must have had some dirty secret at the root of his newfound troubles. They “knew” there had to be a reason. So, they badgered poor Job to confess this suspected secret sin.

          Job knew there was no great hidden scandal in his life engendering his trials. He was defensive in the face of his accusers, but he also wondered—’ ‘Why?” One of the difficult things for us to accept is that many of the sufferings we go through simply cannot be neatly categorized. The why is often elusive. Bad things do not only happen to bad people. Job recognized that many times the wicked live to reach old age and even appear to prosper (21:7–13).

          There are many whys that we will never know in this life. Acceptance that the why may prove elusive sets the stage for a fifth vital lesson from the book of Job.

          Job was in despair. His whole life had been turned upside down. He had lost his wealth and his loved ones in a series of sudden calamities. Now his health was gone too. Why? Job was deeply frustrated because he could not make sense out of his trials. Yet in the depths of perplexity and despair he made one of the most profound declarations of faith recorded in the Bible: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (13:15).

          In Job 19 we read the words of anguish that poured from Job’s lips. “Know that God has overthrown and put me in the wrong, and has closed His net about me…. He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and He has set darkness upon my paths…. My kinsfolk have failed me, and my familiar friends have forgotten me…. I am repulsive to my wife and loathsome to the children of my own mother” (vv. 6, 8, 14, 17 Amplified Bible). Yet even at this low point of anguish and bewilderment, Job declares his heartfelt trust in God. “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth…. I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself” (vv. 25–27).

          Job understood the truth of the resurrection. “If a man die, shall he live again?” Job asked. He went on to record the divinely inspired answer. “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come (14:14 KJV). Job knew that God would call and that he would answer and come forth from the grave, because God would have a desire to the work of His hands (v. 15).

          It is relatively easy to trust God when things are going the way we like them. When the world around us makes sense it is fairly easy to believe God is in charge. But what about when things turn upside down and inside out? It is in the midst of such perplexity and anguish that faith in God is most needed.

          One of the things Satan never understood about Job was his motive. Satan thought Job only served God because it was to his advantage here and now. He was convinced that if God removed blessings and protection, Job would curse and revile Him. But that was not true. Job loved God and served Him out of sincere devotion. He trusted God even when he was feeling abandoned. This lesson of steadfast trust is one of the most important aspects of character we can gain from any trial.

          Many public schools in the United States promote and graduate students regardless of what they’ve actually learned. But God does not operate that way. He is the great Teacher who is preparing us for a role in His Kingdom and He insists that we learn our lessons properly. It was only when Job began coming to grips with the lessons that God wanted Him to learn that he began emerging from his period of great trial.

          God focuses on the bottom line. He wants us to become like Him. Job was an exemplary man but he had a flaw. The Scriptures say Job’s problem was that “he was righteous in his own eyes and that “he justified himself rather than God” (32:1–2). Ultimately Job emerged with a far deeper understanding of the Almighty as well as a deeper understanding of himself and his own human nature. “Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes,” Job told God (42:6).

          A vital lesson that all of us must learn in order to please God and to begin emerging from a trial is that of mercy and forgiveness. Job’s friends were miserable comforters. Regardless of their motives, they were a great part of Job’s trial. Yet notice the turning point when Job began to emerge from his great adversity. ‘And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends” (v. 10).

          Job came to really know God deeply, not simply to know about Him. He became a far more humble and compassionate man as a result of what he went through. Learning these lessons was the key to his emerging out of the dark shadows of life and into the sunlight once again.

          Our trials can make us bitter or they can make us better! Which will ours do for us?

        • somehistory says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 8:58 pm

          Mark,

          I do. You covered the points in Job in an excellent manner. One thing I always liked about the account was that a “young” man corrected the older men. This can sometimes be hard for older ones to take.
          Also, getting to read of a conversation, that like you point out, may take place for each of us without out knowledge. After all, the Proverb says to be wise and faithful so that God will have a reply to give to the one who is “taunting” Him. We can be wise and faithful.
          And other faithful ones benefited from the fact that God “does not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear,” just as you stated in your explanation of Job.
          There is so much there to recall, but the main point is not to forget that God does not forget us and like His Son said, we can get under the yoke with Christ, having His help to carry what we must. Even Christ Himself cried out just before dying, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” But He reminded His disciples that He “is with them all the days.”
          Thank you for sharing such important thoughts. I hope others enjoy reading of Job as much as you and I.

      • Tony says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 8:24 pm

        God might be using Muslims to being people back to the faith If that’s what you are saying. If you mean pope Francis is being used to promote Protestant than That makes no sense. Catholicism has a majority of Christians. No offense but their is already enough Protestant churches and anyone can randomly create one as they constantly do with their own teachings. More Protestant converts just means more confusion and random teaches based on ones own feelings. Where as Catholic teaching is based on unchanging doctrine which even pope Francis can’t change.

        Also Their have been bad and weak popes before but that is due to free will. I look back at history and see those bad and weak popes as ways to strengthen our faith kind of like a furnace. I am Catholic and seeing pope Francis make the bad decisions he does in a weird way gives me motivation to even more fight against Islam and liberal ideology

      • Tony says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 8:27 pm

        Without the Catholic Church their would be no modern western civilization or many of the things we take for granted from charities,orphanages,hospitals,universities and even the scientific method.

        Basically it’s bad if their are less Catholics not good.

      • carol says

        Sep 8, 2016 at 12:17 am

        Tell it to the Copts. The only good to come out of this will be to wipe a certain cancer off the face of the earth. They can gut and contort their stinky religious fish all they like and sprinkle it with sugar – but you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

    • Wellington says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 11:38 am

      Thanks to somehistory, gravenimage, Nancy and Kepha for their comments to my initial comment. Much appreciated and indicative of the diverse but amicable way many here at JW have of posting some of their convictions.

      For the record, I see most everything in terms of probabilities. For instance, I think it was probable that a sophisticated religion or two would come along that would work well with democratic tenets. Two such religions did come along, Judaism and Christianity. I see it probable as well that other religions would develop that, while not optimally compatible with democracy, would not be averse to it either and would be subtle in their own right.. Such religions as Hinduism and Buddhism sustain my actuarial take on things here. I also think it was quite probable, not a given but quite probable, that mankind would develop a major faith that was rotten to the core, a menace to liberty and other fine and wonderful things like equality under the law and romantic love. Of course this happened. Mankind got Islam.

      Being the Humean skeptic that I am, however, and not possessed of a shred of anything approaching a religious nature, I look at religions differently from those who have faith and are inclined to believe. I have long thought that being like I am, as opposed to being someone like Kepha or somehistory, is at least in part due to one’s biochemical, physiological make-up. Some are ready-made, for whatever intricate biological reasons, to have faith. Others are not—–for instance, me. I do not see this as some kind of vertical difference, with one superior to the other, but rather as a horizontal one.

      I would close here with David Hume’s assessment of miracles, which would of course include prophecies and divine inspiration for the writing of religious texts, it being that no miracle can be accepted unless the non-miraculous explanation for the event in question would be even more amazing than the miraculous explanation I believe following this approach one can provide a non-miraculous explanation for every claimed miracle in all religious texts that is not more astounding than the miraculous alternative. And so like Hume I accept none. This doesn’t mean that I could not be wrong, though I am inclined to think I am not for the obvious reason that no one adheres to an opinion they think is wrong, but then this leads to the matter of certain knowledge, something else Hume dealt with in great detail, but I digress here and believe I have written enough. Best to you all.

      • gravenimage says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 1:37 pm

        Good post, Wellington.

      • somehistory says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 3:57 pm

        Thank you, Wellington.
        If you are right on this thing about a person’s biology being set for faith or not, then I know definitely my DNA says believe, because I do with all my heart. I can recall being five years old and having faith in Jesus Christ, though not having much knowledge of all that I have learned since. I had questions then that have been answered, acquired other questions and am waiting for answers to some.
        And I have personally witnessed miracles…my belief is that miracles only come from God. Other things happen that man can cause, but these are not miracles.
        In the end, “the truth will out.” Then we can all know for sure.

        • Wellington says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 4:48 pm

          I would be interested in what miracles you witnessed, somehistory, because, in Humean fashion, I think I could provide a non-miraculous explanation for such events.

          In any case, It is my conviction that that portion of the complex universe we live in that we don’t yet understand completely (and which we as a species may never understand fully) lends itself often times to a religious explanation of said portion, though this in and of itself does not prove the truth of any religion’s contentions———nor, to be fair, does it, ipso facto, disprove them. Ah, it’s a complexity all right.

          And yes, I do think religious faith, or the lack thereof, is, in part, rooted in the specific biochemical make-up of the individual (hmmm, wonder why Jesus never addressed this). Mirroring your religious take on things from a very early age, I, from the earliest times I can remember, regularly thought myself a stranger in a strange land when others around me (including my parents) went into some kind of religious mode, explanation or fervor.

          Thanks for your comments. Now, back to the common fight we share, i.e., opposing religion gone terribly wrong, which is to say opposing Islam.

        • Mirren10 says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 5:22 pm

          Hi, somehistory.

          I’m not going to get into arguments about faith and miracles et al, because, like Wellington, I am an agnostic.

          However, it seems to me that Francis, and various Protestant clergy who seem to be hell bent on conflating ‘allah’ with the Christian God, are actually **denying** what Christianity teaches. These churchmen spit on what they’re supposed to believe, spit on their fellow Christians, and instead choose to coddle that which, by any rational assessment, is an all out attack on Christianity.

          Which leads me to believe these people have no belief in Christianity, at all, since they are deliberately going against every tenet, do nothing to protect those who are supposed to be their co-religionists, and ignore every commandment in the New Testament.

          Your thoughts on this ?

        • somehistory says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 9:03 pm

          I would be happy to tell you of them, but not on a computer screen where so many come. Perhaps we will meet one day face to face and I can relate them at that time.

          And as the Bible says, there are those “rightly disposed for everlasting life.”

          islam will be defeated, although it may not seem so now. 🙂 But oppose it, we must.

        • Champ says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 9:05 pm

          Somehistory, I have experienced personal *miracles* as well! Thank you for sharing your great comment, my friend 🙂

        • somehistory says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 9:14 pm

          Mirren10 .

          I agree with you. They don’t know the real Christianity, they don’t really have it in their hearts. Many make use of it, much like those guys who would go on television and shout and have everyone sing and pass a plate every few minutes. Some, maybe all, would sell their books and tapes and *healing prayers* in order to enrich their pockets.
          I have known many who would call themselves Christian, but then do things clearly against Christian principles and the commandments Christ laid down.
          These ones have as “spiritual leaders” those like you mentioned and they follow those instead of following Christ.

          The Bible says that the greater the gift, the greater the responsibility. If one chooses to take a course in life where they claim to be speaking for our Creator and His Son, and then go against the Divine Laws, they will have a heavy price to pay for misleading others.
          Like the saying of Jesus, “If a blind man follows a blind man, both will fall into the pit.”

          The only reason I can see that people do as you describe is because they see some personal gain…money, people waiting on them, recording their every word, unearned respect, doors of opportunity, etc. Otherwise, it makes no sense.

          Thanks for asking. 🙂

        • somehistory says

          Sep 8, 2016 at 9:29 am

          Thank you, Champ.
          When one experiences a miracle as we have, it is most wonderful to recall.

          You are often a port in a storm when encouragement is needed. 🙂

    • Angemon says

      Sep 14, 2016 at 8:38 pm

      Well, these were truly interesting and pleasant exchanges to read 🙂

  5. KrazyKafir says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    Yup, this dhimmi stooge Pope should have taken the name Marx instead.

    • senor doeboy says

      Sep 6, 2016 at 7:21 pm

      “Communist in the Cloth” is the term I like for this “Pope” and his “pontification”, but he’s well beyond “Cafeteria Catholic”

  6. epistemology says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 7:09 pm

    Very. interesting, please send a copy to all Catholic dignitaries and apologists. Great research Raymond

    • le mouron rouge says

      Sep 6, 2016 at 11:17 pm

      epistemology,

      Amen.

      We should all learn a lesson from Mr. Ibrahim and arm ourselves with “the facts of History” rather than opinion and conjecture.

      “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
      – George Santayana

      • Kelly says

        Sep 6, 2016 at 11:53 pm

        Yes, and there are revisionists. Some would like to portray the meeting of St Francis and the Sultan as entirely amicable, leaving out the beating and chains and threats.

        Thanks for this article Mr. Ibrahim, and for introducing me to Botros.

        It really is a sign of Christian love to want to save others’ souls.

        • le mouron rouge says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 12:24 am

          Kelly,

          Thank you for pointing out “revisionists” that is an excellent observation.

          You are absolutely on target as “the left” has been working overtime “revising” History to conform to their narrative.

          As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “You’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.”

  7. Dom107 says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    If you don’t believe God exists then all this stuff is just a concoction of the human mind.
    We are driven by basic human impulses, one of which is to compete with each other at the tribal level.Religion is merely an extension of tribalism.The strongest and fittest mentally will create the superior technology through science and rational thinking putting primitive notions of god or gods to one side.Those who don’t,like the Muslims,can never win in the end and can only be a serious nuisance but we must not let our societies through unrestricted immigration fall back to the lazy thinking and absurd beliefs of former centuries

    • Keys says

      Sep 6, 2016 at 9:47 pm

      Couple thoughts, Dom. Tribalism is an invention of the most “basic human impulse” – survival – will to live – life.

      Thus, the appeal of many religions is to survive, in some way, after death. The best kind of survival is a paradise type, or a union/share of life with a higher power or creator. The worst is a hell-type.

      Technology and science can not provide/promise “life” after death, consequently, for many religion will always appeal to our most “basic human impulse” – life.

      Life, liberty, and the pursuit of …….

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 12:11 am

      Dom, whether you have spiritual beliefs or not, clearly it matters whether an influential figure like the Pope is savvy about Islam or not.

      • Mark Swan says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 9:32 pm

        Absolutely—Good Point Here.

  8. Angemon says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    Francis admired the deeds of such brave men because “… the holy martyrs died fighting for the Faith of Christ”

    This one seems to take pleasure in the deaths of innocent Christians at the hands of muslims because that allows him to play the role of peace-maker – “this was a tragedy and we must make sure it doesn’t happen again. Now listen to my left-leaning ideology and give muslims all they want so we can have the perfect worker’s utopia… I mean, a fair, peaceful world”

    • Kay says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 12:06 am

      Martyr is yet another word Mohammedens have an alternate meaning for.

      Come to think of it, seems most of their alternates have to do with everything good:
      peace, justice, purity, martyr, God, prophet, religion, law, choice . . .

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 12:13 am

      Angemon, St. Francis did not cause any of these deaths–the violent Muslims did. He thought they died for a purpose, but he did *nothing* to make this happen.

      • Mirren10 says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 10:35 am

        Graven, I think Angemon, when he says, ”This one”, is referring to *Pope* Francis, not *St* Francis. He’ll correct me if I’m wrong.

        • gravenimage says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 1:41 pm

          Ah–you are probably correct, Mirren. Thanks.

        • Angemon says

          Sep 14, 2016 at 8:03 pm

          Exactly 🙂

      • Angemon says

        Sep 14, 2016 at 7:58 pm

        I’m not trying to say, or imply, he did, GI. By “This one” I was referring to Pope Francis, not Saint Francis 🙂

  9. linnte says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    This makes me want to read about St. Francis! I see his trek into Saracen country similar to what would happen if a Monk did the same thing by going into Islamic State territory. Wow! Poor Pope Francis. He is a sheep himself, who needs rescuing.

    • Kelly says

      Sep 6, 2016 at 11:55 pm

      Watch “Of Gods and Men.”

  10. biff says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    Does the pope slaughter the lamb and drink it’s blood?

    WTF does he need a lamb on his shoulders for?

    • Keys says

      Sep 6, 2016 at 9:55 pm

      biff-
      If you know the Christian parable of the lost sheep or the good shepherd verses or Jesus as the lamb of God, you might see the photo as ironic.

      • gravenimage says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 12:19 am

        Yes–that’s the reference, Keys.

        Here’s an image of Jesus as the Good Shepard:

        https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/69/b4/6b/69b46bc0204f4cc842d8bbeb47e5c325.jpg

        • biff says

          Sep 7, 2016 at 8:59 am

          Hmm, I’m not sure symbolism like that works anymore.

          Our attention span is too short too pickup on that these days!

          We need shit spelled out for us now!

    • carol says

      Sep 8, 2016 at 1:01 am

      biff

      At the risk of looking sacriligious it ran through my mind that maybe the sheep was used as a “sexual convenience” and thus was soiled and sold off to “another village” as is good form in Islamic circles.

  11. spa says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    Please send this to Pope and all his cardinals by email …Very essential

  12. gravenimage says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 10:37 pm

    Raymond Ibrahim: Pope Francis vs. Saint Francis on Islam
    …………………..

    *Excellent* article, Mr. Ibrahim.

    Here’s St. Francis preaching to the Sultan while undergoing trial by fire, by the great early Renaissance artist Giotto:

    http://www.wikiart.org/en/giotto/trial-by-fire-of-st-francis-of-assisi-before-the-sultan-of-egypt?utm_source=returned&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=referral

    I wrote a paper on this cycle of frescoes when I was at university.

    • Kay says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 12:00 am

      Beautiful! I see St. Francis shielded by the fire of the Holy Spirit.
      I’ve seen another artist showing flame in Francis’ hand.

      • gravenimage says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 12:21 am

        Exactly, Kay.

  13. CogitoErgoSum says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 10:39 pm

    The Pope needs to clarify in his own mind whether or not the god (Allah) who is worshiped by Muslims is the same god (The Trinity) which Christians worship. I myself can not make the connection between the two. Allah and The Trinity are very distinct and separate entities which are completely incompatible and contradictory to each other. The Pope does not seem to want to accept this. He is trying to mix oil and water and hoping to change them into the blood of Christ. It will never work. The only blood to come of it will be that of the lambs and the sheep he is supposed to be tending.

    • Frank says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 3:12 am

      The truth has suffered for 1400 years under pathological islamification.
      Peruse into Pagan Arab Mythology and the history of islam and you find that “Allah” (Allat) was a moon goddess. A daughter of Baal. (HuBal). The totem deity of the Koresh (Moham-mad’s tribe) And one of the 360 gods, goddesses, spirits and heroes worshiped in the Pagan shrine of Ma-Akka (Mecca) which is now their Mosque. The shrine was erected to house and worship a meteorite that fell there sometime in pre-history. Meteorites were regarded as holy as they fell from heaven and were an unknown metal. (Iron) And did stupendous damage.
      Mohammed whitewashed or destroyed all the images in the shrine except Allat, the statue of which he wrapped in a blanket and it disappeared from history. It was an image of “the Madonna and Child”, a common pagan icon and the same image the Catholics use to portray the Virgin Mary.
      The symbol of Allat was the crescent moon. She had two sisters. Uzzah and Manet. Who’s symbols were the Full and new Moon. The triune moon goddess was also a common pagan motif.
      Allah (Allat) is the equivalent of Artimus (Diana), and has also much similarity to Aphrodite (Venus).
      Moham-mad was illiterate. The Koran was composed after his death by his 5th wife and one of his generals. It was then that the idea that Allah was YHWH of the Hebrews and that the Arabs, not the Jews, were the chosen race.
      They fabricated a dream that Moham-mad was supposed to have where he rode a mythical beast to Jersalem, was transferred to heaven and received divine training from Abraham and Moses. And then rode the beast back to Arabia.
      There is no absolutely no legitimacy to islam.
      Moham-mad was a murdering, raping, sand pirate. Not a prophet, not even a “holy man”.
      Islam is a deathcult.

      • Mark Swan says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 9:50 pm

        Thanks Frank, for putting this together, Good Comment.

      • carol says

        Sep 8, 2016 at 1:30 am

        Frank

        Appreciate your sharing that. I read one book however that claimed he went into a cave with his first wife and family/chums and concocted this stew (oops – received dictation to pass on to his scribe).
        The unbelievable audacity of Islam to blatantly deceive people about their history and WORSE – to try to undermine Christianity by placing the Hebrew prophets and Jesus under their BLACK wing. And they largely get away with it!

  14. Jack Diamond says

    Sep 6, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    The first words St. Francis said to the Sultan were even more memorable:
    “We have come to preach faith in Jesus Christ to you, that you will renounce Mohammad, that wicked slave of the devil, and obtain everlasting life like us.”

    —“Saint Francis of Assisi, A biography”, by Omer Englebert, 1979, Pg. 178-9

    St. Francis confronted Islam, in the lion’s den. And yet this shameless Pope claims to walk in his footsteps, and yet the meeting with al-Kamil gets used by Christian dhimmis as some kind of model for more craven “interfaith dialogue”–only because his actual words to the Sultan are never quoted.

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 12:21 am

      Important point, Jack.

  15. Ian H says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 12:21 am

    Is the Pope Catholic?

    These days it is hard to tell.

    • Larry says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 3:15 am

      This one? No he’s a Jesuit Peronista. While he may not have gone all in with liberation theology like so much of the rest of the Jesuits, in particular the South American ones, he is politically a socialist.

  16. Dennis says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 2:16 am

    Well, it is your religion and your Pope. Do something about it, don’t just criticize!

  17. Benedict says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 3:46 am

    This Pope is an idiot. St. James says ” if you like the world, you dislike Christ”. This Pope is forgetting who he represents

  18. Ali Bey says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 5:03 am

    Nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare cum Hannibal ante portas.

    • Praeceptor Maximus says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 7:13 am

      Certe, Ali Bey, but unfortunately for us Hannibal is not standing before our portas; he is already within our portas because the insipientes decided to grant Roman citizenship to Hannibal’s army.

    • Mirren10 says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 10:41 am

      I don’t see him as a fool, exactly. It’s worse than that. I think, myself, he doesn’t believe a word of Christianity. As others have noted, he’s a Marxist.

  19. Tony46 says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 7:01 am

    St Francis of Assisi’s prophecy on the last Pope:

    ”…….because in that time the Lord won’t send us a Shepherd but a Destroyer”

    • Praeceptor Maximus says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 7:32 am

      Francis is definitely that – a destroyer. He is an absolute disgrace because he is an apostate. The same goes for John Paul II. It was he who kissed the Quran, bowed to Quran, and said ‘may John the Baptist protect Islam.’ No true Christian would say that. It would be like Churchill kissing Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Vatican says that Muslims worship the same Abrahamic God. Well, that is just pure nonsense. Allah is a name and not a generic term for God, despite what Muslims claim. Had it been so, then names like Abdullah wouldn’t have existed in pre-Islamic Arabia. Abdullah was a common name and it meant slave of Allah. A pagan doesn’t name himself “slave of God”. Furthermore, in Deut. 6:14 God Yahweh warns people not to worship other gods. Allah is a pagan rock god. If truly God exists and everything that the Bible says is true, then all the members of the Christian church who have accepted Islam and Muslims in their midst are heading straight for hell. There is a difference between turning the other cheek to your enemy and allowing evil to flourish. Jesus told Satan off. He did not show kindness to Satan.

      • Tony46 says

        Sep 7, 2016 at 4:18 pm

        Agree 100%
        Speaking of John Paul II, will be very interesting for Catholics to watch him celebrate mass in St Francis of Assisi–wow, Italy–years ago hand on hand and cheek to cheek with imans, Buddhists, shamans, witch doctors and all the Satan’s army in one place.

  20. Ali Bey says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 7:50 am

    I agree turning my other cheek to the enemy, but after striking my foot in the midst of his legs.

    • Praeceptor Maximus says

      Sep 7, 2016 at 7:58 am

      Go, Ali Bey, hahaha, That was good. Very good.

  21. Screeminmeeme says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 9:03 am

    The Good Shepherd gave his life for his sheep. Pope Francis will not speak a word in their defense.

    He’s NOT the Vicar of Christ. He can’t say he represents the Man who was Incarnate Truth and then tell lies about Islam. Instead of being a warrior against the vile ideology, he delusionally embraces it.

    He’s NOT a disciple of Christ, for Jesus taught that his disciples can be identified by the love they have for the brethren. No true Christian can stand by and watch the fiendish persecution and torture of ME Christians without forcefully addressing and opposing it.

    .There’s nary a peep from the Vatican.

  22. Rames says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 10:07 am

    “in short, there’s a fine line between St. Francis’ compassion and Pope Francis’ cowardice—or worse, complicity.”

    That line is not so fine.

  23. Rich says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 10:46 am

    Ibrahim brilliant as usual.

  24. Adolph says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 1:04 pm

    Pope Frances is not a Pope of the Catholic Church, he is the head of a false counter church. I have heard quite a few priests, that have begun to publicly voice that they believe that Frances is an anti Pope, we need to support these priests, Frances after all does not uphold the Catholic Faith, and seems to have quite a bit of contempt for it. From the point of view of a Traditional Catholic his beliefs are more heretical than Luther or Calvin, they both after all insisted on faith in Christ our Lord, Frances basically believes that you are saved by simply being human. So, things like morality, religion, philosophy is just a matter of choice. Islam under this understanding is just as good as Christianity, so what if you like to rape girls, made in the image and likeness of God, God is an idiot that will not defend His own Image, is this not the teaching of Frances, he is not only not Catholic, he has even rejected the Natural Law. Why has God allowed such a vial inhuman man to seem to made Pope? God, is punishing us for our sins, secularism, the denial of God, if we want to make ourselves God, God will let us do it, but we will lose our humanity and become animals just like the pious Mohammedans have.

  25. Malcolm (South Africa)5 says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 1:53 pm

    Few know how vigorously pope Francis boldly and courageously approaches the Islamic world, on the plight of the persecuted

    It is time now to fight for the right of Muslims to choose without fear the religion they wish to follow in Islamic lands also the right for Christians to covert, build Churches,open schools, there.

    • Mirren10 says

      Sep 8, 2016 at 7:20 am

      ”Few know how vigorously pope Francis boldly and courageously approaches the Islamic world, on the plight of the persecuted.”

      Can you give some evidence of this ?

  26. Bassam Michael Madany says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 5:37 pm

    Unfortunately, long before this confuse Pope uttered his unbiblical comment, Vatican II that authorized the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

    “841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.”

    How can the above be squared with these words from Chapter 112 of the Qur’an?

    1. Qur’an 112 “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; 2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; 3. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; 4. and there is none like unto Him.”

    “Based upon the Scriptural data and the historical evidence the only logical and consistent answer that can be given is that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God. These Gods have acted and spoken in contradiction. It is these opposites, in command, in statement, and in nature that are grounds for rejecting the proposal that we worship the same God. They are not one and the same Person or Divinity. “A” cannot be “non-A.” Islam’s Allah is not the same as Christianity’s Allah. They are not the same God! Muslims may believe that they worship the same God. However, the Quran’s description of Allah’s attributes and characteristics are distinct and different from the Bible’s description of God. While both refer to a One All-Powerful Creator-God, their portrayals and characterizations of that God contradict each other.”
    http://wwhw.answering-islam.org/authors/silas/same_god1.html

  27. solange silverman says

    Sep 7, 2016 at 5:44 pm

    Spirituality is a personal relationship with the Divine. Religion is crowd control and the cause of much of the ills of the world. Religious dogma will be the end of us all, unless we remember who we are, and of what we are capable.

  28. Ali Bey says

    Sep 9, 2016 at 5:14 am

    To remember who we are and to acknowledgw what we are capable …….standing on our feet looking at the stars, not bowing with our front, face and knees against the floor with buttocks toward the sky(Frons vultus genua in humo, clunis at sidera…Pedes in terra, ad astra visus praefero).

  29. Ali Bey says

    Sep 9, 2016 at 5:31 am

    Pope Bergoglio has tantrums when contradicted due to his orgoglio since he cannot bear any scoglio threatening his Vatican soglio where he feels more important than Maresciallo Badoglio.

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