The killing of Christians in Syria

Killing Christians because they are Christians is nothing new. Sometimes the persecution is intense, sometimes not as much.

Right now, many Christians are reportedly being killed in Syria, following the downfall of that nation’s long-time dictator.

The Daily Mail (U.K.) reports: “More than 1,000 Syrians have been killed in just two days in brutal revenge killings as the conflict-riddled nation is gripped by bloody clashes between its new rulers and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad.”

And they add, “The leaders of Syria’s three main Christian churches issued a joint statement Saturday condemning ‘massacres targeting innocent civilians,’ following reports of mass killings.”

Of course, the ones being killed are not exclusively Christians, but many followers of Jesus are being specifically targeted.

An article in Newsweek declares, “The recent fatal clashes mark the worst violence since al-Assad was thrown out, with high casualties reported among religious minorities, including Alawites and Christians. … The Christian population in Syria has drastically dwindled since the start of the civil war, with The Syrian Observer estimating only around 300,000 Christians remain in the country.”

And Newsweek also points out: “Local reports have also highlighted targeted killings of Christians, who have a significant community in Latakia.”

Intense persecution of Christians in Syria is ironic in some ways, in that that country historically was important to the faith.

For example, consider a few facts just from the first century alone:

• The believers in Jesus were first called Christians in Antioch, Syria.
• Paul’s conversion – which occurred when he was known as Saul of Tarsus – happened in Syria. He was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians there, when Jesus appeared to him and asked, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” “Who are You, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Because of this incidence, we still talk about a Damascus Road conversion.
• The missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas that helped change the world was first launched from Antioch.
• One of the chief companions of Paul on his missionary journeys was a doctor, Luke, who was the author of the Gospel that bears his name and of the Acts of the Apostles. Luke was from Antioch.

Of course, since Islam conquered the Levant in the 600s, Christians have been persecuted in what is now Syria and elsewhere across the Middle East – particularly by Islamists, i.e., radical Muslims. Nonetheless, at different periods Christians were tolerated – albeit as second-class people, but at least they were allowed to live.

Almost 30 years ago, I interviewed the late Dr. David Barrett, a leading church statistician and researcher who was the founding editor of the massive World Christian Encyclopedia (1982), about anti-Christian persecution.

Barrett told our viewers: “Martyrdom is a continuing phenomenon, affecting roughly one in every 200 Christians. Some time or other in their lives, that number of people will be murdered for their faith or they will lose their lives. And it’s been the same, right from the beginning. People tend to think that martyrdom belongs to the early church, the first three centuries; but it went on after that, and it is going on exactly the same rate today – 0.5% per annum.”

Jesus told His disciples that they were to be His witnesses for Him unto all the world. The Greek word we translate as “witness” is the word from which the word “martyr” is derived. So many of those early Christians, including almost all of the apostles, were witnesses for Christ unto death that the word came to mean, “one who testifies unto death.”

After having seen and even touched Jesus following His resurrection from the dead, the disciples were willing to be put to death for their message rather than deny what they had witnessed.

America was born for the most part by those seeking religious freedom. Tragically, around the world, religious freedom is still at risk in some places, such as Syria. Wendy Wright is the president of a Washington, D.C.-based group called Christian Freedom International, which has a tagline, “unshackling the persecuted church to survive and thrive.”

For this piece, I asked Wright for a comment on the current crisis in Syria. She told me, “When Islamists gain power, Christians and others suffer. Several Christians have been killed in Syria in the mass killings in the streets. Christians in Syria are afraid that when Islamists finish off the Alawites, they will go after Christians. Christians in Syria do not have any weapons to defend themselves. They are not meeting together or going out of their homes.”

Wendy Wright has told me in previous discussions that around the world there are about 360 million Christians at risk. That would include the Christians in Syria, about which she observes, “It is a very dangerous situation. Please pray for peace.”