Specification: Component 2 (Route A) Study of Christianity – Beliefs and Teachings: Persecution of Christians Past and Present
At a Glance: In the United Kingdom, the religion with the largest majority is Christianity. It may be surprising to learn that Christians are the most persecuted religious group worldwide.
This is partly because there are many regions in the world where Christians are a minority and minorities of all sorts can be too easily blamed for issues that concern the majority.
Exam questions in this area may ask you to describe how, or explain why, Christians are persecuted today.
There could also be a question that asks you to discuss and evaluate an aspect of Christian persecution.
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Read the passage below and then take the quiz:
On April 9 [2017], which was Palm Sunday and the start of the Holy Week, two Egyptian Coptic churches became a target for terrorists. At least 27 people were killed in the explosion at St. George’s Coptic church in Tanta [Egypt] and 17 people lost their lives in St Mark’s Coptic church in Alexandria [Egypt]. Over a hundred people were injured in both attacks. A few hours after the attacks, Daesh [Islamic State] claimed responsibility for the unleashed terror.
Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. Research published in August 2011 by Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life revealed that Christians were harassed in 130 countries (between mid-2006 and mid-2009). In 104 countries, the harassment was conducted by governments and organisations, and in 100 countries, by social groups and individuals. The harassment of Christians was the highest in the Middle East and North Africa (90 percent of countries).
(Source: Ewelina U. Ochab, Persecution Of Christians In Egypt, Forbes, 10 April 2017, http://bit.ly/38wP0mo [accessed 29/12/17])
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Task: Research two other recent examples of the persecution of Christians in the world.
What the Bible says about the persecution of Christians:
…and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)
TIP: You don’t have to remember Bible passages and other quotes word for word. You can paraphrase them – this means putting them in your own words, without losing the meaning of the original quote.
Insight: Jesus does not hide the harsh reality that might come with being his follower, but he also shares a reason why people might still want to follow him despite the persecution: salvation.
Look up this word (‘salvation’) in a dictionary to more fully understand what Jesus is saying and write the definition here:
Suggested answer: Salvation means being free of sin and spiritual death. (Note that this is one of many definitions that will help you to explain why Christians may stay faithful in the face of persecution – they are hoping that doing so will help them to be saved, free of sin and spiritual death).
More knowledge of some other verses in Matthew 10 will help you to answer a question on why Christians may continue with their faith in the face of persecution.
Bible verses from Matthew 10 – Answer the following questions
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In Matthew 10, Jesus lists three sources of persecution:
But if Christianity is a religion of love, why are Christians persecuted? Maybe the answer is closer to us than we think. Here in Britain there have been instances of religious persecution; for example, graffiti left on synagogues and violence against some Muslims who themselves have nothing to do with violence.
Research an example of a recent attack on the British Jewish community and an example of a recent attack on the British Muslim community.
Why do people persecute other people?
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Go to http://bit.ly/2PqU8ks and list 4 things that this Christian organisation is doing to help. In the left-hand column, name the activity and, in the right-hand column, describe the activity in your own words. The first one has been completed for you.
The activity | Described in your own words |
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Giving out Bibles and Christian literature. | Open Doors translates and distributes Bibles and other Christian literature to places where these are not allowed. |
The activity There are 10 activities listed on the website; you need to choose only a few of these – these don’t need to be the same as the ones listed below. |
Described in your own words Keep in mind that there are different ways to describe the activity – just make sure that your description is (i) accurate and (ii) is more than just re-stating the words in the left column. |
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Giving out Bibles and Christian literature | Open Doors translates and distributes Bibles and other Christian literature to places where these are not allowed. |
Training Christians and Church Leaders | Open Doors holds courses and seminars on theology, dealing with persecution and trauma counselling. |
Supporting Victims of Violence and Disaster | Open Doors helps with relief aid, livelihood support and community development projects. |
Bringing Hope to the Middle East | Open Doors also focuses on the Middle East with vital aid and long-term support for families fleeing war and persecution. |
The answer below is 8 sentences long. However, 4 of the sentences are relevant to the question and one is relevant as a lead-in, the other three are not. Your task is to identify the 3 sentences that are not relevant. Use the text editing tool to delete the irrelevant sentences.
(c) Explain why Christians continue with their faith even though they could be persecuted. [8]
Out of a possible total of 8 marks that can be earned for this question, how many marks would you give this? Look at the marking bands for a (c) question and remember that (c) questions must explain.
1. If you are living in a place where Christianity is a religious minority you might see signs of persecution – in Egypt, for example. 5. Those who do continue to practice their faith when it is hard do so because they hope to be rewarded in heaven. 6. After all, Jesus said that those who endure persecution will be saved (Matthew 10). 8. Another reason for faithfulness in persecution is that Christians feel that Jesus is present with them in a special way at these times. [4 marks]
We have judged this answer to be a level 2, 4 marks.
Explanation: if you remove the 4 irrelevant sentences you are left with an answer which displays:
What is missing? There is another accurate suggestion in sentence 8 as to why Christians may be faithful, but this is not developed. More specialist language could have been used (see section 1) and more knowledge could have been used to explain how Christians might find encouragement to be faithful (Bible reading, prayer, support from other Christians/Christian organisations).
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Hint: You may be asked a (b) question: ‘Describe the persecution of Christians.’ If this is the case, then many of the points you make for this (c) question will still be relevant, but you will just be describing the ways in which Christians are persecuted and not explaining why.