The "Christianity" of the Oslo terrorist

Yesterday I posted my response to the claims that the Oslo terrorist was a Christian. Many others have written about this much better than I have. One I want to point out is Tim Challies, who offers an excellent analysis on his blog Another one is the piece below, written by my friend Conrad Myrland, who has taken the time to analyse what the terrorist says about his own faith in his manifesto. He has graciously allowed me to republish it on this blog

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The terrorist who committed the horrible atrocities in Oslo and Utøya 22 July 2011 recorded his faith as "Christian" in the Facebook-profile he designed short time before the attack.

He has therefore being portrayed as a "Christian terrorist" or a "Christian fundamentalist" in both Norwegian and international media.


NO RELATIONSHIP TO GOD OR JESUS

But this is how the terrorist describes his own Christianity in his 1500 pages "manifest":

If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God then you are a religious Christian. Myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God. We do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christian. (Quote page 1307)

He is saying that he doesn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God. So HE IS NOT a Christian, according to Jesus and the apostles. He is NOT a Christian according to the New Testament. HE IS NOT a Christian, according to the doctrine of the church(es) through two millenniums.

The terrorist has created a Christianity in his own image.

It reminds me of a note to self I made 12 July 2011: When you study Christianity you will either become proud to partake of its uniqueness and its blessed effect in the Western world, or you will be humbled by it's great God. The former path leads to hell. The latter to eternal life.

The great danger is that many people in the West has the terrorist's kind of "Christianity".

Dear reader: Is this the Christianity YOU follow?


NO RELATIONSHIP TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is mentioned twice in 1500 pages (according to a limited search). One time as a name of a local church, the second time where the terrorist declares that a personal relationship to the Trinity is not important. (See further down.)

A person with no relationship to the Holy Spirit is NOT a Christian.

The great danger is that many people who regard themselves as Christians is in the same situation as the terrorist.


PERVERTED UNDERSTANDING OF THE CROSS

Moreover, a Christian will always have somehow an understanding and a personal experience of the cross. This is the terrorist's understanding of the cross: European Christendom and the cross will be the symbol in which every cultural conservative can unite under in our common defense. It should serve as the uniting symbol for all Europeans whether they are agnostic or atheists. (Quote page 1307)

This is such an affront to Jesus and the cross on which he died, that no words can describe it. The terrorist believed in the supremacy of Europe, and hated marxists and Muslims. This should disqualify him as a Christian in itself. The one who hates, is a murderer, and has no eternal life. Moreover, there is no little dot in his manifest suggesting that he was a Christian with a personal relationship to God the Father, Jesus the Son and The Holy Spirit.


A PERVERTED UNDERSTANDING OF MARTYRDOM

The terrorist believed in "fighting for the cross". It was a fight for the perverted cross, and therefore also a perverted fight. He writes on page 1360: If you want to fight for the cross and die under the “cross of the martyrs” it’s required that you are a practising Christian, a Christian agnostic or a Christian atheist (cultural Christian). The cultural factors are more important than your personal relationship with God, Jesus or the holy spirit. Even Odinists can fight with us or by our side as brothers in this fight. Followed by the quote from page 1362: You don’t need to have a personal relationship with God or Jesus to fight for our Christian cultural heritage. It is enough that you are a Christian-agnostic or a Christianatheist (an atheist who wants to preserve at least the basics of the European Christian cultural legacy (Christian holidays, Christmas and Easter)).

No true Christian martyrs throughout the centuries would have accepted a definition of martyrdom anywhere like this. Christian martyrs die because of their loyalty to Jesus Christ, being ready - because their Savior and Lord lives in them - to forgive their killers, even love them.

Dear reader! May God's grace bring all of us under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and renew our hearts by His Holy Spirit every day.

God bless you! One day he will sweep away every tear from the eyes of those who belong to Him!

Conrad Myrland
conrad@myrland.com