greg@zinfandel.UUCP (05/29/84)
#N:zinfandel:20600006:000:4343 zinfandel!greg May 24 17:49:00 1984 Since there has been some debate on the issue of Bible smuggling, I thought it might be interesting to read what a smuggler had to say in defense of his actions. I therefore read _The_Ethics_of_Smuggling_, by Brother Andrew, head of Open Doors, perhaps the biggest and most effective ministry of Bible smuggling today. (They were responsible for the 1 million Bibles smuggled into China recently.) The book is copyright 1974 by Tyndale House Publishing, and my copy, a 1979 printing, has a sticker on the front saying that it is soon to be reissued with the title _Why_I_Smuggle_Bibles_. This won't be strictly a book report, as I would like to concentrate more on Andrew's defense of his actions, and the book is at least as much a call to arms (spiritual arms) as it is an apology. The critical issue is submission to government, as stated in Romans 13 (and elsewhere) in the Bible. Should one to submit to a government that restricts religious worship and literature? The issue of Bible smuggling is not black and white to most people. But Andrew is not one of those people. He points to Matthew 18:18-20, and says, We see that Jesus first claims that he has all authority, both in heaven and on earth, and then he commands, "Go, therefore..." which implies that we do not need anybody's permission... We simply have to *do* it... The requirement of God's Word is submissiveness of heart to all authority, but absolute obedience only to God. (p.51) Lest he be accused of twisting Scripture to meet his own views, Andrew has included a number of cases recorded in the Bible where authority is resisted in accordance with God's will. One of the most compelling cases is in Acts 5, where the apostles were jailed by the high priest, but released by an angel of the Lord and told to preach to the people in the temple. Here's how Andrew summarizes the situation when the apostles are brought before the high priest: In Acts 5:28, the high priest says: "We expressly ordered you to desist from teaching and preaching in that name, and what has happened? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are trying to make us responsible for that man's death." Now listen to the reply Peter gave for himself and the apostles: "We must obey God rather than men." (p.35) He concludes: That's it. Here again is the main issue: Jesus said we *must* take the gospel into every country. If any of those countries resist -- whether the police, the government, the army, the culture, or even the religion -- we still have the commission to go, regardless! (p. 35) If a government, local or national or international, limits the church in its activity, and curbs the witness of Christians and even persecutes them, then we are no longer under any obligation to observe this government in this respect of conscience and worship... To obey government and to oppress the church would be just as silly as... it would have been for the Jews to obey Hitler... Whenever any government restricts the traveling of the Christians to witness, then we must go directly against the government. (p.72) Clearly, we must resist the government whenever it is in direct opposition to God; the question then becomes: Are the governments of those countries into which Bibles are being smuggled in opposition to God? Brother Andrew answers: I want to be very plain here: if we are consistent in keeping the law of God, of necessity we will have to break the law of many governments. At this moment, in all the godless, atheistic governments where they tell us not to teach, not to take Bibles, we've got to break *that* law or break God's law. (p. 48) He is quite convinced that many governments oppose God's will. (He offers documentation of the persecution of Christians by Communists in pp. 84-89.) In her introduction, Corrie ten Boom, in support of Brother Andrew's ministry, says, "We do what we do in the way we do it because we believe with all our hearts that it is right for us before the Lord. No Christian should serve Christ on any other basis." Andrew's heart is clearly in this work. But for those who remain unconvinced by his argument, Andrew says, "Well, then, it means that the Lord is not calling *you* to do this." Greg (I'm convinced) Boyd ...zehntel!zinfandel!greg