BOOK REVIEW: The Global War on Christians

You will not want to read this book...but I dare you to.

In The Global War on Christians, by John L. Allen Jr., the author exposes an absolutely horrifying epidemic in the world today: the persecution of Christians worldwide. In the American church, we know that this happens. Every once in a while we remember to pray for the persecuted church. But we have no idea of the enormity of this movement around the world, to our shame and to the hurt of the unity of the body of Christ.

The author informs us that since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been more martyrs for the faith than in the entirety of history: "There have been 70 million martyrs since the time of Christ. Of that total, fully half or forty-five million, went to their deaths in the twentieth century." In just the last 13 years, since the beginning of this new century, 1.3 million Christians who have died for their faith.

The first part of the book, exhaustingly documented with statistics, tells the story of opposition to Christianity throughout the world, country by country. Allen combines statistical overviews of each country's opposition to Christianity with stories of those who were opposed, imprisoned, harassed, attacked, and killed because of their devotion to Christ. The second part of the book examines the response of many to these accounts of persecution, exposing as myth the opinions that "It's all about Islam", "No one saw it coming", "It's only persecution if the motives are religious" and more. The last section of the book takes it forward, theorizing the effect on the Church as this information emerges into our understanding and we begin to react.

This was a difficult book to read, because it constantly confronted me with my ignorance. Born, raised, and having always lived in the United States, I realized how small my world of faith is. I know that I will not be alone in this experience as a reader of this book. It makes me ask myself what can I do? Well, I can pray--for those who are persecuted and for those who persecute them. I can support organizations that minister to the persecuted church. I can talk actively about this issue with others in my life. The most important thing I can do is to "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them--those who are mistreated--since you yourselves are in the body also." Hebrews 13:3

You can find out more about the author here.

I received a copy of this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers for review purposes.