Apathy - an attack from the inside.
Thank you to everyone thinking outside the box.........I should have been more clear. I meant, "Between these two choices, which is the biggest threat?"
Apathy, in my opinion. I say that because as time flows and younger generations are questioning their parent's allegiance to something intangible, they may begin to try to destroy it from the inside because it's obviously still big enough that an external attack hasn't succeeded yet. )O(
Your an idiot. There is no attack on personal salvation. If everyone in the world was an atheist and you where still a Christian and God did indeed exist, then you would still go to heaven, along with all the other believers.Christians belong to a religion, not a para military group(in general).
Firstly, Christians are still God's people and He will protect them. There is nothing except God Himself that can do any harm.
With that being said, I would have to say that apathy is somewhat of a bigger threat. I say that because if a "Christian" is apathetic s/he damages the testimony of other true Christians around them. Jesus even said in Revelation 3:16: "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spur thee out of my mouth." God can do something with a person who knows they are a sinner, God can do something for a person who really loves the Lord and is on fire for His sake, but for the person who goes through life with a "ME" attitude and thinks they are fine when they are not... That is where the problems come in.
Apathy, definitely. In atheist China, the church is actually growing at 10,000 new converts a day. But here in America, our freedom of religion and the fact that Christianity is the majority has made the church apathetic, slowing our growth to the point of near-stagnation.
Edit: I don't think people here understand what is meant by a threat to Christianity. A threat to Christianity is anything that specifically tries to destroy our faith, and the biggest threat in this case is indeed apathy--the temptation to take for granted what God has given us, to lose focus on God, and to allow ourselves to be distracted by the things of the world. If faith is like a seed, then there are weeds in our garden, choking out our faith and keeping it from producing fruit.
Atheism is not a threat to Christianity. Like I said, in atheist China, the church is growing at 10,000 new converts a day!
Lack of evidence is not a threat, either, as our definition of evidence and the atheist definition of evidence seem to be totally different. To us, evidence is defined as any finding that supports a hypothesis or belief. To an atheist, evidence is defined as something scrutinized carefully by Richard Dawkins and published in some big name anti-theistic journal. Christians include the testimony of witnesses in the definition of evidence. Atheists do not. Ergo, we do have plenty of evidence to justify our faith. But even if we didn't, we still have Puddleglum's Creed.
Christians being a threat to Christianity falls under the category of apathy. Apathy can breed legalism--caring more about the procedure of religion than about the grace of faith. Legalism also chokes out our fruit, and it repels people.
Science is not a threat to Christianity, either, as the majority of history's most renowned scientists were dedicated Christians, and their faith was actually strengthened by their studies. Most top scientific minds of the 20Th and 21st centuries are theists. Take Albert Einstein, for example. Kepler and Newton are two more good examples, and it's because of their work that we can now calculate exactly what the night sky looks like from any point on earth at any point in history. Because of this, we have been able to scientifically confirm an astronomical event described in detail in Matthew's gospel: The star of Bethlehem. I challenge you to say that's not science!
Other religions are not much of a threat to Christianity, for the same reason atheism is not a threat. Persecution is actually beneficial for the church, as it's a persecuted church that grows and remains healthy.
To reiterate, apathy is by far the biggest threat to Christianity. Truth be told, Christians are as spiritually ADD as the Jews. Perhaps more so in some cases, such as America.
The biggest threat to Christianity is the knowledge that there's no reliable evidence that Jesus even existed. The story of Jesus is just a myth bolted together out of prophesy and stories from the Old Testament and previous myths -- created in the 40's and 50's by Paul of Tarsus (who exhibited evidence of epilepsy and had delusions of Christ talking to him), the other apostles, the unknown authors of the gospels in the 70's or later, and many other people. The reliable evidence for this is overwhelming.
Paul and the other epistle writers don't know any biographical details of Jesus' life, or even the time of his earthly existence. They don't refer to Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee, Calvary or Golgotha ? or any pilgrimages to what should have been holy sites of Jesus' life. They also don't mention any miracles that Jesus was supposed to have worked, his virgin birth, his trial, the empty tomb, his moral teachings, his disciples, or even when he existed. To them Jesus was largely a sky-god, who existed in the spiritual past.
If Jesus had actually existed, Paul would have written about his life, disciples, and teachings. Paul did not write about any of this.
If Jesus had actually existed, the gospels would have been written in first person format. Instead, they were written in third person format like a Harry Potter story, with Matthew and Luke extensively plagiarizing from Mark.
If Jesus had actually existed, at least one of the approximately 30 local historians of the first century would have written about him. No historian of the first century wrote about him or his disciples.
A man made Armageddon could create some very strong "China like" ruler ships. If the "masses" [you and me] start becoming pan iced at what we know they have done, could be real be threat. Especially for any believing in the second coming. [inciting to violence through panic]
The biggest biggest threat. Not a pleasing answer but one I believe to be true..... God and His judge the resurrected Jesus Christ. Do not think they are very happy with Christians. [think WW II]
Thanks Richard,
A fiercely Independent Irish Christian Eschatologist.
The bigger threat is apathy for obvious reasons. As you note it is an "attack" from the inside, and the danger is the lack of a counterattack. Christendom, of course, is the Christian community of believers. Christianity itself is not threatened by either atheism or apathy. It can survive either condition.
It is the community which is targeted by nonbelievers and which is in danger of dissolving due to apathy.
Christians should realize that their faith can survive only if it is practiced daily.
Biggest threat to Christendom: Atheism or Apathy?
