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Smuggling Bibles

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Servent, Jun 27, 2007.

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  1. Servent

    Servent Member

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    I just read an article that Say's many people, many Christians believe we should not be smuggling bibles into places like China,or Iraq because it is illegal. what do you think.

    I say the more the better, as a matter of fact all the money we raised at VBS goes to that cause.
     
    #1 Servent, Jun 27, 2007
  2. Scarlett O.

    Scarlett O. Moderator
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    Acts 5:29 is your answer.

    Peter and the other apostles said that they ought to obey God rather than men.

    However, this was in response to Acts 4:13-20 where the Sanhedrin were trying to stop them from preaching in the name of Jesus. They tried to make it illegal and Peter and John said that the Sanhedrin had a right to judge whether or not what they were doing was "legal", but whatever they decided was moot because they were compelled to preach about Jesus.

    The Sanhedrin let them go, but in chapter 5, the apostles were brought before the high council and the high priest said, "Didn't we tell you guys to STOP teaching in Jesus' name? And now you want to stir things up and get the people all mad at us because they will blame us for his death?"

    That's when they said that they were going to obey God rather than men.

    So, yes, you can smuggle bibles into places where it is illegal. That would be obeying God rather than men in the same spirit as Acts 5:29.

    However, I do not believe that you can take this verse and make a blanket defense for disobeying the government whenever you felt like it. God said in 1 Peter or 2 Peter (I can't remember) that we are to honor those in our governments and I interpret from that.....obey authority.

    So you can't take Acts 5:29 and say, "Well, I'll cheat on my income tax because God might want me to give some money to a charity someday." or "Well, I'm just going to run that red light because I am late for church and God wouldn't want me to be late."

    So we have to be careful how we apply Acts 5:29.
     
    #2 Scarlett O., Jun 27, 2007
  3. FBCPastorsWife

    FBCPastorsWife New Member

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    Well, I do believe Scarlett just answered that question quite efficiently!
     
    #3 FBCPastorsWife, Jun 27, 2007
  4. ktn4eg

    ktn4eg New Member

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    If Iran can smuggle weapons, etc., into Iraq to be used against both our military personnel and innocent Iraqi civilians, then why shouldn't Christians smuggle the only truly effective "weapon" there is in this world--the Word of God?

    If China can flood our marketplace with items that oftentimes are produced by forced child labor in sweat shop conditions, then why shouldn't Christians attempt to flood China with the one item that will set the captives free--the Word of God?
     
    #4 ktn4eg, Jun 27, 2007
  5. Gwen

    Gwen Active Member

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    Amen, Scarlett!

    Did anyone here ever hear of the Anglo-American Team? They smuggled Bibles into Russia in the 1970's, and came to our school to speak. They had some amazing stories, and I have often wondered what happened to them.
     
    #5 Gwen, Jun 27, 2007
  6. EdSutton

    EdSutton New Member

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    I had never heard of them, personally. But when speaking of smuggling Bibles, others include Brother Andrew and associates, Dimitru Duduman, and the Dynekas, as well, to name just a few.

    And one might remember William Tyndale, from history, whose own translation of the Bible served as an important starting point for the KJV. He, too, was a Bible smuggler, way back then.

    And I have actually heard of a couple of apocryphal stories, where the 'smugglers' actually had multiple Bibles right out in the open, and they were ignored at the checkpoints, as the guards went through everything that was closed up, from boxes to luggage; or just glanced in the vehicles, before okaying the passage, and the Bibles actually "were hidden in plain sight".

    God bless any and all those who have taken on this as their ministry!

    Ed
     
    #6 EdSutton, Jun 27, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 27, 2007
  7. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    I had the joy (and gut-wrenching fear) of smuggling Bibles, NT and commentaries into the USSR and Eastern Europe when I was a pastor in Wisconsin and working on my BS/MS at the University of Wisconsin (mid-1970's) nearby.

    Paid to travel in those regions doing educational research, I was able to take in and distribute these items.

    In visiting with a pastor he expressed wonder that MORE Americans did not do this. "We would do it for you", he said.

    And I believed him.
     
    #7 Dr. Bob, Jun 27, 2007
  8. Gwen

    Gwen Active Member

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    The Anglo-American Team had a story about a lady who gave them a Romanian Bible. They tried to graciously tell her that they were going to Russia, not Romania, so they didn't need a Romanian Bible. But she insisted that the Lord laid it on her heart to give it to them, so they put it in the box with all the other Bibles.

    When they got to the check-point, the guard picked up the Romanian Bible, looked at it, and said, "No one here speaks Romanian." And let them pass without incident.

    They had a practice of taking the Bibles through without hiding them, or lying. They got through every time, without any trouble.
     
    #8 Gwen, Jun 27, 2007
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