december 28, 2006
Iranian President Offers Troubling Greeting to Christians
In a recent speech, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad surprised many when he wished "all Christians happiness and prosperity on the occasion of the birth of the Christ." This message was sent to the world by the Iranian Students News Agency.
During the speech, the Iranian president referred to Jesus Christ in reverential tones. "To guide mankind, Jesus offered all his love and sacrificed all his being," Ahmadinejad said. "He tolerated all the misunderstandings, the insults, pressures, agonies and imposition of all those around him. He was drawn into isolation and bore all this pain just to carry out his divine mission."
Then the speech took on an ominous and unusual tone.
"I wish all the Christians a very happy new year," he said, "and I wish to ask them a question as well. My one question from the Christians is: What would Jesus do if he were present in the world today? What would he do before some of the oppressive powers of the world who are in fact residing in Christian countries? Which powers would he revive and which of them would he destroy? If Jesus were present today, who would be facing him and who would be following him?"
Ahamdinejad also called for the return of Jesus along with, as he put it, "the emergence of the descendant of the Islam's Holy Prophet, Imam Mahdi." Together, he said, the two would "wipe away every tinge of oppression, pain and agony from the face of the world."
Dr. Ergun Caner, president of Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University, and a Christian expert on Islam believes that the Church and the West should not take the radical Muslim leader's statement as just a strange type of Christmas greeting, but as a very serious theological pronouncement. He believes that Ahmadinejad is sending a wake-up call to the West.
According to Caner, the Jesus he's talking about is different from the Christian's conception of the Savior.
Speaking to Focus on the Family's CitizenLink.com, Caner said, "It's important for Christians to understand that Muslims are not monolithic. That is, all Muslims don't believe the exact same thing. And among the subsets -- the Shi'ia and Sunni -- there is a group called the 12th Imam Shi'ites. Iran is filled with Shi'ites. And many of the ayatollahs (religious leaders) there are 12th Imam Shi'ites.
"A Shi'ite Muslim believes that Jesus never died -- he wasn't crucified, but was assumed into Paradise -- and that there will come a day when Allah sends Jesus back to Earth and He will meet up with the other one who the Shi'ia believe has not died, Al-Mahdi, and they, together, will fight the Anti-Christ.
"So, all of this preparation that Ahmadinejad talks about, is in preparation for Al-Mahdi to return. Al-Mahdi was a caliph in the 9th Century who they believe never died -- he's hiding in caves, waiting to return.
Caner, who was raised as a Muslim, told CitizenLink.com that he heard this kind of talk "just about every week of my life" before he converted to Christianity at age 18. Applying it to the War in Iraq and to Iran's creation of an atomic bomb, the theologian expressed concern.
"It's a wake-up call for politicians who think that all we need to do is negotiate," he said. "This is not going away."
Many Islamic experts believe that Nuclear warfare would not be beyond what Iran might do to try to bring about the return of Jesus and Al-Mahdi. "For the Muslim, especially for those in Iran, and especially for the Shi'ia, this is prophecy," Caner warned. "And it is incumbent upon them to prepare the Earth for the coming of Allah, and for the sending of Jesus."
Related articles by George Thomas of CBN News:
Inside Iran: Signs of the Apocalypse
Inside Iran: The Ultimate Martyrdom
Inside Iran: A Rising Chorus
Inside Iran: Truth and its Consequences
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More from Dr. Ergun Caner of Liberty University
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