Should the persecuted Christians in Nigeria be armed?

I believe the Lord clearly allows us to defend ourselves and these people seem to meet the criteria:

Luke 22:35-38

Good point. No objections here. Christians fight in Sudan, but hide in other places which is ok too. If it’s 1000s then maybe close to an attempt at genocide. The murderers are fulani tribesmen to a large extent. It’s often governments too in other islamist countries. Brave Christians, open with their faith. They need some m16s . Though maybe they wouldn’t hurt a flea as in the first century- raise their hand against a brother. Though provoking righteous anger and only have to turn the other cheek once. They might want to live and protect their churches. But war?

Bob8102 said:

Christians in Nigeria are being killed by the thousands by illegal militant Islamist groups. It might be especially questionable for Christians to take up arms against a persecuting government; I don't know. But the Christians in Nigeria are being assaulted by criminals, not by the government.

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Most of the deaths in Nigeria over the past three years have been the result of government security forces. Also, the conflict taking place in that country is complex.



There were numerous violent incidents between predominantly Muslim herders and mostly Christian, but also Muslim, farmers in the North Central and South West regions and between predominantly Muslim herders and mostly Muslim, but also Christian, farmers in the North West. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, there were an estimated 1,112 deaths during the year from violence among ethnic groups, herdsmen, and farmers.

Terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa (ISIS-WA), attacked population centers and religious targets, including churches and mosques, and maintained an ability to stage forces in rural areas and launch attacks against civilian and military targets across the North East, according to observers.

According to NGOs such as ICG, the level of insecurity and violence increased, including in the predominantly Muslim North West, where expanded numbers of criminal groups carried out thousands of killings, kidnappings, and armed robberies. Because issues of religion, ethnicity, land and resource competition, and criminality are often closely linked, it was difficult to categorize many incidents as being solely, or even principally, based on religious identity. According to information on its website, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), an NGO, reported 3,699 civilian deaths from the violence during the year, compared with 2,455 in 2020. According to a survey conducted by NGO Mercy Corps, a minority of the violence in the north of the country was interreligious, and both Christians and Muslims were perpetrators and victims. The NGO stated that “rather than religious belief or animus, we find that intercommunal violence is largely driven by insecurity and a lack of trust between ethno-religious groups competing for political power and control over natural resources.”

There were instances of mob violence against clergy and members of religious groups and mass killings of Muslims and Christians that press reports and observers described as planned and carried out by organized groups. For example,

• In May, criminals shot and killed eight Christians and burned down a church and several homes in Kaduna State.
• In June, the Tiv and Jukun communities, both of which are Christian, clashed over land and water resources, often razing churches.
• In August, Christian youths killed 27 Muslims on a bus in Plateau State.
• On September 26-27, according to international NGO CSW and subsequent reports by other NGOs and press, Muslim herders killed at least 49 persons and abducted 27, most of whom were Christian, in several attacks on communities in religiously mixed southern Kaduna State.
• On October 25, gunmen killed at least 18 worshippers and abducted 11 during early morning prayers at a mosque in Mashegu Local Government Area in Niger State.
• On December 8, at a mosque in the same area, ICG reported an armed group killed between nine and 16 persons and injured 12 others during early morning prayers.
• CSW reported several cases during the year of Muslim men kidnapping young Christian girls and forcing them into marriage and conversion to Islam.

Wouldn't it be awkward to be a child of a Christian who doesn't believe in Christ but is persecuted nevertheless? Unless the attackers ask them individually whether Christ is their savior...

Thanks for caring. I actually live in Nigeria.

In the past militias like Bokoharam attack only Christians, and burn Churches but

These days they just target Predominantly Christian communities and kill or kidnap anyone they find. Indiscriminately, old or young.

Sadly, these villages usually have a government that doesn't care about them. Probably because they are poor. too poor to afford guns.
They are left to defend themselves with local guns, cutlass and arrows.

Imagine protecting your family with a knife when they come at night with sophicated firearms.

silver_belle said:

Wouldn't it be awkward to be a child of a Christian who doesn't believe in Christ but is persecuted nevertheless? Unless the attackers ask them individually whether Christ is their savior...

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This is not unheard of in many places around the world, though I don't know about Nigeria in particular. I know that in the takeover of a mall a few years ago in Kenya, Islamist attackers with guns ferreted out who is a Muslim and who isn't by asking them to recite common Islamic formulae (I don't remember exactly which; probably the bismillah and maybe the opening lines of surat al-fatiha, the beginning of the Qur'an; I'm told that these are two things that most Muslims know by heart, regardless of their cultural or linguistic background; maybe surat al-ikhlas, if they wanted something that Christians specifically would not say on religious grounds). Those who couldn't were killed.

During the 1975-1990 civil war in Lebanon, it was apparently not uncommon for gunmen at checkpoints and other places to stop civilians in their cars or on the street to ask them their last name, as many names in Arabic reveal a person's sectarian leanings (no Muslim is going to be named Abdelmasih 'Slave of Christ', for instance). There are plenty of names, even theophoric ones, which can be shared by Muslims and Christians, and some names that don't really reveal anything of the person's religion. There is a very interesting and tragic scene in the excellent 2003 documentary We Loved Each Other So Much (on the Lebanese Civil War and the unifying power of Lebanese musical icon Fairuz) where one of the survivors of the war talks about giving a gunman the name 'Dagher' (which is non-sectarian) in order to be allowed to live. I cannot even imagine how terrifying that was, just like it is hard to imagine what our brothers and sisters go through in certain parts of Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, etc. at the hands of various Islamist and other religiously or ethno-religiously driven movements. Lord have mercy.

Yes

Bob8102 said:

Christians in Nigeria are being killed by the thousands by illegal militant Islamist groups. It might be especially questionable for Christians to take up arms against a persecuting government; I don't know. But the Christians in Nigeria are being assaulted by criminals, not by the government. The American Center for Law and Justice has been calling for the U.S. military to intervene but this is not happening. Read the Old Testament book of Esther. It is short. A high-ranking leader in the government of that empire had caused the king to issue a decree saying that the Jews could be attacked and killed on a certain future day. Then the queen, Esther, a Jewess, intervened with the king and pleaded for her people. The king's decree, by law, could not be reversed. But the king issued another decree saying that the Jews had a right to defend themselves. The Jewish holiday of Purim, to present, celebrates the legal, Jewish, armed defense. Since Nigerian Christians are being unlawfully attacked by terrorists, I would say that the book of Esther provides biblical precedent that they have the right to physically defend themselves.

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Bob8102 said:

Christians in Nigeria are being killed by the thousands by illegal militant Islamist groups. It might be especially questionable for Christians to take up arms against a persecuting government; I don't know. But the Christians in Nigeria are being assaulted by criminals, not by the government. The American Center for Law and Justice has been calling for the U.S. military to intervene but this is not happening. Read the Old Testament book of Esther. It is short. A high-ranking leader in the government of that empire had caused the king to issue a decree saying that the Jews could be attacked and killed on a certain future day. Then the queen, Esther, a Jewess, intervened with the king and pleaded for her people. The king's decree, by law, could not be reversed. But the king issued another decree saying that the Jews had a right to defend themselves. The Jewish holiday of Purim, to present, celebrates the legal, Jewish, armed defense. Since Nigerian Christians are being unlawfully attacked by terrorists, I would say that the book of Esther provides biblical precedent that they have the right to physically defend themselves.

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The Good Lord has said that Christians can arm themselves.As a matter of fact he encourages it in Luke 22:36.

Blaise N said:

The Good Lord has said that Christians can arm themselves.As a matter of fact he encourages it in Luke 22:36.

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This was not a call to arms, the purpose of the sword found in Luke 22:36 was to fullfill prophesy.

And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was counted with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.” (Luke 22:35-38)

The events that took place at the Garden of Gethsemane were necessary so all prophecies concerning Him be fulfilled.

“For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors (Isaiah 53:12)’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” (Luke 22:37)

This is why Jesus replied with "That's enough," when his disciples said, “Lord, look here are two swords." (Luke 22:38) Two swords were more than enough needed for that moment in the garden when Peter would draw his sword on one of the men who came to arrest Jesus. Jesus allowed Peter to do this in order to fulfill the prophecy that He would be "numbered with transgressors."

So when Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11) It was at this point the prophecy found in Isaiah, "He was numbered with transgressors", had been fulfilled.

Above. But he said sell your cloak and buy a sword too. Arm yourself.