Pentecostal Christians and Protestant evangelical are more likely to be persecuted than mainline Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, or other Christians associated with ancient churches, a new report has reveal.
The report further notes that in response to persecution, evangelical and Pentecostal Christians are more likely to engage in strategies of survival or, on rare occasions, confrontation.
These findings by Under Caesar’s Sword have been published after a team of seventeen leading scholars of global Christianity carried out the project through qualitative field research, including interviews with persecuted Christians, conducted between October 2014 and November 2015.
The report covers twenty-five countries, including most of those where the worst persecution is taking place.
Overall, the report finds that Christian responses to persecution embody a creative pragmatism dominated by short-term efforts to provide security, build strength through social ties, and sometimes strategically oppose the persecution levied against them.
“In response to persecution, Christians have carried out strategies of all three types: survival, association, and confrontation i.e ( 43% survival – 19% confrontation – 38% association).” The report says.
“The fact that these efforts are pragmatic should not obscure that they often are conducted with deep faith as well as creativity, courage, nimbleness, theological conviction, and hope for a future day of freedom. In this spirit, the report closes with policy recommendations for persecuted communities as well as non-governmental organizations, outside governments and multilateral institutions, outside churches and Christian communities, the media, academia, and businesses who seek to lend their support to these Christians.” The report adds.
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