Jun 14 • General Discussion
Article: Influence of Christianity on The Lion & Sun Revolution?
Has the Spread of Christianity in Iran Significantly Influenced The Lion & Sun Revolution?
Countless hours have been spent by experts, pundits, and supporters of the current Lion and Sun Revolution analyzing and scrutinizing every aspect of it from seemingly every angle possible. Yet for all of that time, I wonder if there isn’t a major factor that has influenced the current political atmosphere in Iran that has virtually been completely overlooked. I personally wonder whether or not the rise of Christianity in Iran hasn’t helped in bringing about the demise of the Islamic Regime. If you’ll indulge me a bit, I’ll set out a bit of a buffet table for this discussion. Note: I’m not looking to proselytize or engage in religious debate, but merely to analyze the societal impact of the rise of Christianity on Iran.
Important Lessons from the American Revolution
I’ll set up this discussion with a brief look at the impact of Christianity on the American Revolution, as I believe that it’s relevant to our discussion. So, I’m both an American and a former history teacher. One of the things that bothers me the most regarding the current state of education in American Schools is the fact that much of our history has been virtually erased from our students’ textbooks today. Liberal educators and scholars, such as Howard Zinn, have whitewashed the fact that Christianity has had an unbelievable historical and political impact on America. When teaching the American Revolution, most liberal teachers and scholars will tend to look at it pretty much through a pure economic lens. Like good socialists, they will focus on the American Colonists' hatred of taxes and upon their desire for land, resources, etc. Yes, some of that is true. Yes, “No Taxation Without Representation” was a cry of many American Revolutionaries. True. But what was behind all of that? Why did they say those things? I would argue that the real true motivating factor behind the American Revolution was the fact that there were deeply embedded Christian Values that were driving their Revolutionary Ideals.
For those who don’t know, America was founded on the idea of religious liberty. Freedom of Religion is literally the central reason why America was founded in the first place. Numerous Christian Denominational groups such as the Pilgrims, the Quakers, the Puritans, Dutch Reformed, Catholics, and many other religious groups all poured into America in search of religious freedom. They came to America and established colonies because they had been persecuted for their faith throughout Europe. Freedom, especially religious freedom and expression, is why these groups came to America in the first place and it’s something Americans have always highly cherished to this day.
What most Americans sadly don’t know is that all of this had a massive impact on the American Revolution. The 1730s-1740s was a time of massive spiritual revival in America known as the Great Awakening. Preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and the fiery George Whitefield began to increasingly use terms such as “liberty” and “freedom” and “justice” in their sermons.
American Christians read passages in their Bibles such as John 8:36; Romans 8; Ephesians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 3:17; and many others that stressed these values of liberty and freedom for those who believed in Jesus. They read Old Testament passages such as 1 Samuel 8 that taught that God begrudgingly conceded to give Israel a King because they were rejecting God as their King. Bible passages such as these are the reason why cries of “No King, But Jesus” became very popular rallying cries leading up to and during the American Revolutionary War.
Unlike King Reza Pahlavi, many Americans viewed England’s King George III as a tyrant and a dictator. One of the things that particularly upset the colonists was censorship by the Crown. King George III insisted that pastors send their sermons to him for review before preaching them in order to censor out this revolutionary freedom laced language. There was a particularly charismatic group of preachers in the years leading up to the American Revolution that were collectively known as the Black Robe Regiment. There is a popular myth surrounding one of these preachers, Peter Muhlenberg, who legend says at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War preached a revolutionary sermon from the pulpit, tore off his robe revealing his Continental Uniform, which inspired several men in his congregation to join him in fighting the British Redcoats. Muhlenberg served in the Revolutionary War as an officer and later served in the U.S. Congress after the war.
The impact of the Christian Faith on the American Revolution and in the later formation of its government and legal system cannot be denied or underestimated. An 81 year old, Benjamin Franklin, whom many considered to be our least religious Founding Father, gave a rousing speech at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, talking about the importance of the role God played in the American Revolution. This speech is why the US Congress starts each session with prayer to this day …
Few realize that a huge source of America’s system of government, including our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and many of our laws comes from the Bible itself. Much of America’s values, standards, and even laws today related to equality, civil rights, civil liberties, and justice for all are derived from Christianity and are rooted in the Christian Scriptures.
How is all of this possibly related to the current Lion and Sun Revolution in Iran?
Well, I know that for many years now, Christianity has reportedly been growing by leaps and bounds within Iran. In fact, most experts I hear say that Christianity is growing faster inside of Iran than anywhere else in the world.
It’s obviously hard if not impossible given the current circumstances to get any semblance of a credible estimate in size, but some believe that there could be as many as 6 million or even more Iranians in the underground Christian Church today. If memory serves, I believe our very own Potypto has said that he’s a Christian.
Why? Why would many Iranians be so attracted towards Christianity?
Stepping back for a second, for those who don’t know, Christianity as a faith finds its roots in Judaism. As Armin, Goldie Ghamari, and others have noted on many occasions, the ties between the Jewish and Iranian People goes back thousands of years. In 586 BC, a significant percentage of the Jewish Population (the exact amount is highly debated) was carried off into captivity by the Babylonians. Artaxerxes issued a decree to Nehemiah, allowing him and several of the Jewish Exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem on March 14, 445 B.C. (Nehemiah 2:1-8). Many scholars believe that only perhaps 20% of the Jewish Population chose to go back to the land of Israel beginning at that time. In other words, nearly 80% or more of those Jews chose to stay in Babylon.
And the ties between Jews and Iranians can be seen throughout the Bible. The land of Iran and many of its historical leaders (such as Cyrus the Great) can be seen in many books of the Old Testament (or the Tanakh for our Jewish Readers) such as Esther, Daniel, Jeremiah, the Psalms, Ezra, and Nehemiah. All of that alone would naturally draw many Iranian People towards Christianity. But there is far more that has made Christianity an attractive option to them in recent years.
For those who are interested, the documentary Sheep Among Wolves Vol. 2 was produced in 2019. It’s the story of Global Catalytic Ministries, the underground church in Iran. Watching this documentary about 6 years ago now, is where I first learned about the underground Christian Church in Iran and that most Iranians were no longer following Islam. Before watching this, I too believed much of the propaganda narrative put out there by the IRGC. This is an excellent documentary and I highly encourage people to watch this …
This is an interview that Pastor Tom Hughes had with Dr. Hormoz Shiriat, an Iranian Christian Pastor and founder of Iran Alive about 2 years ago now. Iran Alive is a ministry that works to spread Christianity throughout Iran. They have broadcasted Christian Messages and Programming via satellite and the Internet for many years now. Dr. Shariat boldly predicts in this interview from 2024 that he believes Iran will eventually become a Christian Nation …
There have been absolutely incredible stories coming out of Iran for many years now. As hard as it may be to believe, Muslims have been reporting miraculous stories for years now. There are many stories of devout Muslims reporting seeing Jesus or angels suddenly appear to them. Iranian and Ex Hezbollah Terrorist Afshin Javid is one of those people. I know someone who actually met Afshin. His story is an amazing one and given his background, it’s hard to argue that his life has been completely changed …
During the January uprising in Iran, Lily Meschi, director of Iran Alive Ministries, gave an interview to CBN News on January 15th. In the interview, she not only talked about the protests and about brutal treatment by the Islamic Regime, but also talked about the persecution of Christians. She talked about how Iranians often contact them, saying that Jesus is appearing to them in visions and dreams and even that they are experiencing real physical healings …
Another noteworthy voice out there is Shahram Hadian. Shahram Hadian is an Iranian Christian who is a Pastor, Preacher, and Teacher. He lives in America and travels around to Christian Churches, speaking to them about the dangers of the indoctrination and takeover of America by Radical Activist Muslim Groups in the U.S. Today. I’ve heard him speak a couple of times and have met and talked to him regarding the situation in Iran and the internal politics there. I mention him because I know that there are Iranians who follow him …
From a pure sociological perspective, there are a number of Traditional Christian Values that have undoubtedly resonated with the Iranian People as they have read the Bible and encountered Christian Teachings.
The following values can be seen reflected throughout the Biblical Scriptures (these are in no particular order):
A Faith motivated by love that is freely chosen instead of being imposed or forced upon people.
Liberty
Freedom
Marriage and Family
Private Property
Boundaries
National Sovereignty
Nationalism
Capitalism
Submission to Governing Authorities (unless that authority significantly violates God’s Teachings & Standards)
Civil Rights
Love, Care, and Concern for the Individual
Humility
Selflessness
Service of Others
Importance of Truth
Justice, Fairness, and Righteousness
There’s a reason why Socialist, Communist, and Totalitarian Dictatorial Governments (like Iran’s Islamic Regime) have looked to suppress Christianity throughout history.
And it seems to me those are all values that are much more aligned with traditional Iranian values, norms, and cultural practices — much more so than Islam. Many of those values are diametrically opposed to those of the Shia Islam that Iranians have experienced over the course of the past 47 years.
A question to seriously consider is this:
Has the spread of Christianity been partially responsible for the downfall of Islam within Iran?
Has Christianity helped set the table for the Lion & Sun Revolution?
I think that’s a very important and legitimate question to ponder. Which God would be more appealing to the Iranian People?
Allah, who the Islamic Regime has historically taught is impersonal, hates and condones the killing of Jews and kafirs, demands perfect obedience, harshly punishes sin and disobedience, and whom Muslims hope to merit heaven by strict adherence to moral standards, practices, and by rigorously following the 5 Pillars of Islam.
OR
The Jesus of the Bible, whom the New Testament (the Brit Hadashah in Hebrew) portrays as perfectly loving, compassionate, kind, full of mercy and grace as well as truth, who freely gives his life as an atonement for sin, so that anyone who simply believes in him and puts their faith in him has eternal life. His followers are then motivated by loving God with all of their hearts and loving others as themselves.
Perhaps this helps partially explain why in 2003 it was reported that 50,000 of 75,000 mosques have closed their doors inside of Iran …
Lastly, a potentially significant objective I can hear someone raising is this — Iran is a nation of 90 million people. Even though only about 5% of the population supports the Islamic Regime, that’s potentially 4.5 million people to overcome and subdue. There may or may not be that many Iranian Christians. Can a small minority actually make a difference?
Let me answer that question by having you consider this.
In the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), one thing that’s important to understand is that not all Americans were revolutionaries.
A good way to think about it is that roughly ⅓ of Americans were Tories (Loyal to England).
Another ⅓ of the population were apolitical. Those people just wanted to live their lives and be left alone.
And ⅓ were the Colonials - on the side of the Revolution (to one degree or another).
The population of America in 1775 was around 2.5 million. A grand total of somewhere around 230,000 soldiers ended up serving in the Continental Army between 1775-1783 (and not all of those at once). But even those statistics are a bit misleading. The most that ever served at one time was 48,000 and there were never more than 13,000 soldiers in any one place.
In the case of the American Revolution, the truth of the matter is that only roughly 10-15% of the American Population were your activists – the ones who fought in American Revolution and were involved in protesting against the British Crown.
So, can a minority make a difference? Well, a small minority currently in power (somewhere around 250,000 IRGC inside Iran and around 4 million supporters) have certainly made a difference in keeping the Iranian People brutally repressed for 47 years. If estimates are correct that there are as many as 6 million or more Christians inside Iran, that would seem to me to be a force to be reckoned with — if they were properly armed. They could form the backbone of an Army that could overthrow the Islamic Regime and help establish a free Iran once again.
So, what do you guys think? Has the spread of Christianity in Iran had a significant influence on the Lion & Sun Revolution? I would love to hear any thoughts and reactions to all of this that you may have.
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Article: Influence of Christianity on The Lion & Sun Revolution?
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