A Book Burning I Could Support
Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center
in Gainesville, FL continues to stir controversy with his declared
intention (and multiple reaffirmations) to burn a hundred or so
copies of the Quran at the church site in Gainesville, FL on
Saturday, September 11, 2010 in commemoration of 9/11 and in protest
of Islam. Published reports say that Pastor Jones has received a
hundred death threats and now packs a 40-caliber pistol as a means
of personal protection. His comment on 9/08/2010: “We are not
convinced that backing down is the right thing.”
President Obama used his bully pulpit to admonish
Pastor Jones: “I hope he listens to those better angels and
understands that this is a destructive act that he's engaging in.” I
agree with the President on this one. If Jones wants to take
meaningful action regarding the evils of Islam, why not schedule
prayer vigils for Muslims, invite members of the community to join
in, and then follow up with efforts to locate and evangelize Muslims
in their area? After all, but for the grace of God, Pastor Jones
might be packing a Quran instead of a Bible and pistol.
In defense of Pastor Jones, he has a First Amendment
right to burn all the Qurans he wants to burn. Remember when
President Obama endorsed the right of Muslims to build an Islamic
Center near Ground Zero? He later amended his remarks by
differentiating between the “right” of Muslims to build it there and
the “wisdom” of so doing. Why not give Jones the same deference by
affirming his First Amendment right to burn those Qurans and then
questioning the wisdom behind it?
I understand his frustration. We can count on the
ACLU these days to defend the rights of those who burn the American
flag and urinate on a picture of Jesus Christ. Liberals have shown
us they are willing to protect from public protest just about
everything but the Christian faith. Do you know that, in May of
2009, the United States military in Afghanistan confiscated-burned
Bibles sent by an American church? The reason: Fear of offending
Muslims and endangering our troops—the same reasoning employed by
General Petraeus for NOT burning the Quran! It’s no wonder he’s
outraged. Unfortunately, his justifiable passion has outsmarted his
common sense!
The scheduled book burning in Gainesville, FL prompts
recollection of another book burning that took place in Ephesus
nearly two thousand years ago (Acts 19:13-20). It took place after a
two-year ministry of disputation and persuasion in the synagogue and
school of Tyrannus (19:8-10), wide-spread evangelism (19:10), a
message-confirming ministry of miracles (19:11-12), and a botched
exorcism that further magnified the name of the Lord Jesus
(19:13-17). As a result, many in the Ephesus region came to saving
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
A certain number of these new converts—former
practitioners of “curious arts”—brought their books together, and
burned them before a gathering of city residents (19:19). Curious is
periergos, a combo of peri (“around”) and ergon (“work, activity”).
Its only other NT usage is found in 1 Timothy 5:13 (“busybodies”).
The meaning is that of pursuing the trivial in neglect of the
substantial. Perhaps the best word picture is that of a dog spinning
around and around in pursuit of his own tail. If and when he finally
catches it, what has he really got?
Our context, however, suggests that these “curious
arts” represent more than mere trivial matters. The books that
facilitated the use of these arts are clearly a reference to
magic…perhaps astrology, witchcraft, etc. The embrace of Jesus of
Nazareth as the Lord of heaven and earth spelled the end to such
spurious devices. Few acts are more demonstrative of true conversion
than abandonment of that which is evil-trivial in the pursuit of
Christ!
This book burning was conducted in a public—not
private—forum. Apparently there was at least one individual present
with the accounting skills to produce an estimated retail value for
the books—fifty thousand pieces of silver. That’s a hefty sum,
especially when you consider it only took thirty pieces to
incentivize Judas to betray the Son of God. Assigning a monetary
value to the books by silver’s current market value is illusive. But
if we reckon a piece of silver to be the rough equivalent of an
ounce of silver (now priced at $20), we arrive at a street value of
$1,000,000. At a piece of silver per volume, you’ve got a Bible
College library. The book burning that took place at Ephesus makes
the one proposed by Pastor Jones look like a Boy Scout campfire.
The media reports the
membership of the Dove World Outreach Center to be fifty. Yet this
group that numbers half a hundred has agitated the viscera of
leaders around the globe. In the negative reaction to Pastor Jones
and his little flock, there is encouragement for every true man of
God who labors in relative obscurity, preaches the Bible and loves
his people. What if heaven-sent Holy Ghost revival swept through a
small rural church with the result that it spread to surrounding
cities, counties and states?
In addition, what if every Muslim
affected by the winds of revival was
converted to the Lord Jesus Christ with global notice...and these
new converts conducted a Quran book burning as a public affirmation of Jesus
Christ and renunciation of their former “curious” religion? That, my
friend, is a book burning with biblical precedent…and one that I
could support!
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