Hi Woodrow (or 'Uncle Woody' as you seem to be going by! :giggling: )
Nope, they get a little stronger in their word. Does not Christianity teach that the only way to the Father is through the Son. So, Therefore God(swt) is going to send everybody to Hell that believes other wise. Somehow, that seems a bit more drastic then killing the person.
That argument doesn't make sense to me at all.
Yes, scripture teaches that non-believers will be punished in hell.
But the ultimate judgement is Gods, it is not for his followers to make any such judgements! Therefore killing anybody who leaves the faith, would be utterly wrong and non-Christian!
Besides, does the Qu'ran not teach also that non-believers will be punished in hell?
Do you then not, by killing an apostate, send him straight to hell, rather than letting him live and giving him an opportunity to mend his ways?
To be honest I do not know off hand any Christian scripture that would say that a person who rejects Christianity Should be killed. However, abandoning Islam is much stronger then abandoning just a religious belief. It means treason to your nation, alliance with the enemy (another country, not a religion), and many other factors. It is not a thing that would be that extreme if the person was a loyal citizen of another country. It is understood a person can be loyal to another Nation. Christians are not persecuted or killed if they come into an Islamic country, simply because they are Christian. Muslims are not killed if they convert to another religion and have not sworn allegiance to to an Islamic Nation.
I have to admit that I don't get that at all.:?
It has been discussed in other threads. I guess it's bet if I just le it be.
Early Christian practice was to Baptise non-believers and then execute them immediatly before they could sin. That was common with the early missionaries in the Americas, some how they found justification for that. Then there was the inquisition, that was pretty nasty, somehow justification was found for that. I know those things are not happening now, but they have happened and the words are still there, what is to keep it from happening again?
What can I say?! :uhwhat
I am just reading a book on the history of Christianity, and there is no doubt that people committed horrendous crimes in the name of Jesus Christ! It breaks my heart! :'(
It demonstrates the dangers of following your faith so fervently that you take things into your own hands rather than follow God's word!
These things happen in other religions too, and we do well to
stamp such attitudes out amongst the followers of our religions!
However, the difference remains that the New Testament does
not (to both our knowledge) instruct followers to kill apostates - whereas the Qu'ran does. :hmm:
Peace.