In the name of Jesus Christ

Posted on by

A young man went on a murderous spree today in a children’s park in France. He stabbed repeatedly four very young, defenceless children, a woman who was looking after one of them and an elderly couple. As he did so, he shouted, not Alluha Akbar, but ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’.
Religion is responsible for so much evil in the world.

16 thoughts on “In the name of Jesus Christ”

  1. I have as much reason to believe this young man was directed by God through the Spirit as I do that Don Camp is.

    We need to give up fairy tales and following the voices in our heads and embrace reality.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  2. I’ve read four accounts of this stabbing and only one said he invoked the name of J.C. However, most did report that he wore or was carrying some sort of Christian insignias.

    In any event, I totally agree with your last sentence. And yet, the “believers” are certain they emanate the “love of Jesus” in the deeds and words.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

    • I can’t bring myself to watch the video recordings to discover whether this despicable human being did shout ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’ (presumably in Arabic as he was from Syria) but I have noticed how – and I don’t want to stray into conspiracy theory territory here – the media downplay the religious elements of such atrocities after their initial reports. They become focused instead on whether they are terrorist related (apparently not in this case) or on the mental condition of the perpetrator (which is self-evidently unstable).
      Religion would seem frequently to fuel both.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  3. Evil is responsible for so much evil in the world, Neil. Sometimes it looks religious.

    “By their fruits you shall know them.”

    Nothing you describe looks at all like what Jesus did. Nothing you describe follows the principles or directions for living he gave us. It all looks like rotten fruit to me.

    Like

    Reply ↓

    • And yet we’ve just been talking about how Jesus said his ‘enemies’ and the enemies of the faithful (because let’s not forget it was they who created his words) should be bound and cast into outer darkness, thrown into a fiery pit or slaughtered in front of him. Or, as you point out, eliminated with a single magic word.

      It seems to me those who harm others in his name are conforming to these ‘principles and directions’. Jesus wasn’t the all-loving, Prince of Peace you portray him to be when you cherry pick the Bible.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply ↓

      • You are right, Jesus is not the humble all loving man YOU would like to think we portray. Nor is God.

        There is judgment coming. Maken no mistake. And that judgment is what you are seeing in the parable.

        But for this time prior to the judgement there is grace. Everything we see of Jesus demonstrates that grace.

        Paul says as much in 2nd Cor. 6
        As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,

        “In the time of my favor I heard you,
        and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

        I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

        We as his ambassadors do the same. This is the day of God’s favor. Don’t miss it.

        Like

      • I don’t view or present Jesus this way – look back at multiple previous posts. I see him as something of an egotistical, maniacal bastard. It’s you and your lot who portray him as Prince of Peace, wonderful counsellor and beautiful saviour. Tune into any God channel and see hundreds of his followers declaring, trance-like, how much they love him because he’s so absolutely bloody marvellous. Yuk.

        Interesting you should quote Paul saying ‘Now is the time of God’s favor…’ That time would be in the first century. Paul makes clear that that’s the ‘now’ he’s talking about. Your hope is in vain, your beautiful saviour a figment of his and your imagination.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Did you read the first sentence in the piece of my reply you inserted?

        Paul’s “now” was of course the time of his writing, but it continues until the end of this age when Christ returns. That is why I can confidently tell you that today is the day of salvation. It is still possible to avail yourself of God’s mercy.

        Like

      • There’s no ‘of course’ about it. Aren’t you always telling us to take things in context? The context of Paul’s ‘now’ is his expectation of Christ appearing in the sky at any moment. There is no sense anywhere in his writing that that time would be thousands of years in the future.

        But we’ve been here before. You know best and can add whatever you like to the NT belief that God’s Kingdom was imminent. You do, after all, have to explain away the failure of its predictions.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Nan: There is judgment coming. So they say …

        Yep. Any minute now. Sure thing. You’ll see. Right away. He comes QUICKLY. . . .

        Liked by 2 people

      • Here’s a lovely image from jesus meek and mild…from the beautifully poetic revelation:

        Rev: 14:20:
        They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

        Wow! Flowing, deep, rivers of blood…sounds peaceful to me.

        Now, take all the violent imagery in the Bible, combine it with a bunch of angry, white, baby boomers with guns, and do you kind of see where people get their wacky beliefs?

        Like

      • I can see the connection. But that is not the way Christ8ians are in most of America and certainly not around the world.

        Nevertheless, the warning in Revelation is clear. Mess with Israel – that is the point in the passage you referenced – and it will not go well with you.

        Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.