Dispelling the Myth of Beneficial Persecution

Last night, I began our mid-week Bible study's study of the Book of Acts. I began with a survey of the book and touched on who the author was (and why we know this), the date of the writing, the theme of the book, the outline and significant events that happen in Acts. Then, I touched on a personal pet peeve of mine: I talked about how persecution is a bad thing for the church. Now, that may not seem like such a revolutionary idea, but I have encountered plenty of folks who seem to think that persecution is a good thing for the Church. I have encounter this in a wide range of people, as well: from the average Christian up to the Seminary professor. I specifically remember attending a Bible study in college, where, when it came time to share prayer requests, one young lady requested that we pray that the Church be persecuted. I was shocked.

The reason I brought this up last night, as we began our study of Acts, is because I believe Acts give us examples of the success of the gospel and the growth of the Church, once persecution ceases. And, negatively, we have examples of times of persecution where we are not told that the Church grew. Let's look at a few of these passages.

First, examples of early church growth are found in Acts 2 (Pentecost sermon by Peter--3000 converted), Acts 5 ("Believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women" because of the the apostles' preaching in Solomon's Portico (5:14)), Acts 5:42-6:1 records the Apostles' tireless preaching "in the Temple, and in every house," and because of this "the number of disciples was multiplying," then in Acts 6 after the seven deacons were appointed to their tasks, we read that more disciples were added, including a great number of the priests (6:7), then, we come to the martyrdom of Stephen in Acts 7. There is no mention of church growth being caused by this persecution. As a matter of fact, the next thing that happens in chapter 8 is the church being scattered due to the persecution of Saul (8:1). However, note, that when Saul's persecution ends (through his conversion), "the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and...they were multiplied" (9:31). It is not persecution that causes the Church to grow, as if persecution is beneficial for the Church, but when the persecution ceases, then the Church grows. Of course, there are examples of the Church growing in the face of persecution, but in these cases, the Church grows in spite of the persecution, not because of it.

If you don't think the case of Saul is sufficient, then read Acts 12 and the case of Herod persecuting the Church. No where does it mention the church growing under this persecution, but, after Herod dies, "The word of Good grew and multiplied." (12:24).

Note also that the Proconsul in Paphos converts after Elymas the sorcerer, who opposed Paul and Barnabas, is blinded and no longer able to oppose them (Acts 13:4-12). The persecution of Elymas was not beneficial to the spread of the Gospel in Paphos. The silencing of the persecutor certainly was, though!

Now, all this is not to say that these persecutions recorded in Acts were somehow outside the will of God: obviously He ordained these things to come to pass for our ultimate benefit and His glory; however, I think it does trump the idea that persecution is a thing to be desired, sought after, and prayed for! What we ought to be praying for is that the Gospel can go forth freely and without resistance.

Dispensationalism and the Westminster Standards, Part 1: WCF

I recently finished reading through the Westminster Confession of Faith (ARP edition), cover to cover, and while this was not my goal, I was pleasantly surprised to find many statements in the WCF that contradict Dispensationalism, which I had never noticed before. Below, I’ve posted all the parts of the WCF that I believe a dispensationalist would have to take exception to in order to subscribe to it. I plan on reading through the Larger and Shorter Catechisms next, and will the parts of those documents related to dispensationalism, as well.

As a side note, I believe it would be beneficial to have “cheat sheets” like this for different doctrinal errors, so that if a candidate were to hold to an errant view on, say, paedocommunion, those examining him would have a handy guide with which to challenge him and note any and all exceptions he would have to take to the Standards.

Sections of the Westminster Confession of Faith related to Dispensationalism:

WCF 7.6, “There are not, therefore, two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations.” (Gal 3:14, 16; Acts 15:11; Rom. 3:21-23, 30; Ps. 32:1 with Rom. 4:3, 6, 16-17, 23-24; Heb. 13:8.)

WCF 8.4, “and shall return to judge men and angels at the end of the world.” (Rom. 14:9-10; Acts 1:11; Acts 10:42; Matt. 13:40-42; Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4.)

WCF 20.1, “all which were common also to believers under the law;” (Gal. 3:9, 14.)

WCF 25.2, “The visible church…is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Matt. 13:47; Isa. 9:7.)

WCF 25.5, “there shall be always a church on earth to worship God according to his will.” (Matt. 16:18; Ps. 72:17; Ps. 102:28; Matt. 28:19-20.)

WCF 25.6, “The Pope of Rome…is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all this is called God.” (Matt. 23:8-10; 2 Thess. 2:3-4, 8-9; Rev. 13:6.). ***NOTE: This wording is not the in the ARP edition of the WCF, but was part of the original WCF. I’ve included it for historical perspective, and because I do believe this statement to be correct. It obviously contradicts the Dispensational idea of a future antichrist.

WCF 28.1, “Baptism is…to be continued in his church until the end of the world.” (Matt. 28:19-20.)