The Islamic State Is Threatening the Catholic Church

https://www.thetrumpet.com/16527-the-islamic-state-is-threatening-the-catholic-church

Ideas like these don’t die. That’s why the Trumpet watches so closely when radical Islam pushes and threatens the Catholic Church or Christianity as a whole. It’s why our editor in chief Gerald Flurry has written articles like “The Last Crusade,” which isn’t a picture of history but a prophecy of the future.

“The Jews have Jerusalem now,” Mr. Flurry wrote. “But not for long. Both Muslims and Catholics have designs for Jerusalem. These two great powers are about to clash again—go head-to-head in the final crusade over Jerusalem!” The key scripture used in this prediction is Daniel 11:40, where a “king of the south” and a “king of the north” battle. Note that this event was never fulfilled in history—it is for the future. “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (Daniel 11:40).

Mr. Flurry, along with Herbert W. Armstrong before him, has emphasized the phrase “push at him,” which has the insinuation of provoking. That is the reason radical Islam is so dangerous. It’s not because the Islamic State has taken control of large swaths of territory. Nor is it because of its horrific, torturous methods of killing. But it is because it has an ideology that looks to push at Catholics, to provoke and threaten them. It is aiming to scare them with terrorist attacks. Because eventually there will be a bloody response worse than the regional crisis we see today. All of this is explained in our free booklet The King of the South.

Radical Islam pushes when it mows down 86 people with a truck in Nice, France. It pushes when it kills hundreds more at musical concerts. It pushes when it threatens Europe because of its Catholic heritage. And it is definitely a push when the Islamic State threatens the heart of the Catholic Church—St. Peter’s Basilica—with a terrorist attack, right around Christmas celebrations.