As Churches Burn to the Ground, the God of Jacob is Sovereign Over Every Flame
It looks like the end of "Christendom" - that is, the historically Christian European era - is at hand. The question is: should American Evangelicals care?
Every two weeks in France, a church burns to the ground and a new mosque is built.
Did you know that? I certainly didn’t.
It happened again this week when the 19th century Church of Immaculate Conception of Saint Omer in Calais went up in flames, likely beyond any restoration.
Built in 1854, despite lasting through two World Wars, the Church of Immaculate Conception is now a charred husk, a remnant from a time long since past, when the Cross of Christ was venerated in Europe not merely by the state, but by the people who inhabited its borders and created its legacy.
The fire even caught the attention of Elon Musk, who tweeted from a profile pic in which he sports his now trademark satanic “Devil’s Champion” costume, “Is this definitely arson?”
For those who may not be unaware, the “Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception” and is “one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church.”1
And lest you think this was a one-off, “right-wing media” fixation, chew on this: some 40 churches in France have burned since January 2023, according to Catholic News Agency, which also reported this:
“Attacks on religious monuments in recent years account for around 90% of the 1,000 or so anti-Christian acts recorded annually by the country’s Ministry of Interior.”
One of these churches, of course, was the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2019. In July, L’église Saint-Georges in Descartes was destroyed. Gutted by flames.
Earlier this summer, the spire of Rouen Cathedral also went up in flames before firefighters were able to save it.
Forty churches in two years. A thousand anti-Christian acts of vandalism.
This is France, where the Gospel has flourished since the first century when Roman soldiers brought the good news of Christ Jesus and gradually proclaimed it throughout the region then known as Gaul.
While historic churches burn, meanwhile, Edouard de Lamaze, President of the French based Observatory of Religious Heritage told the CNA in 2021 that two-thirds of religious building fires are caused by arson.
All this, Lamaze added, while one mosque is built every 15 days while another Christian building is “destroyed at the same pace.” Whoa.
But it’s not just France: 33 Canadian churches have gone up in flames since 2021, according to CBC News, with 24 of those confirmed as acts of arson.
Why is this happening? What should we do about it?
What can be done?
I want to confess something to you.
As a Evangelical, I see the idolatry in some of these churches go up in flames and I wonder whether the God of Moses who said “Thou shalt not” isn’t exacting an appropriate end to these structures.
I wonder whether most of us understand that the age of what we know as “Christendom” is coming to an end.
I wonder whether the people of God are ready for a world which not only does not respect the glory, the covenants, and all the rest belonging to Yahweh and His people, but which actively hates and opposes them.
If you’re an American Evangelical and you’re reading this, I think it’s time to be honest about where we are and what we could see here in the U.S. sooner than later.
Our Bible Belt churches, those in the former New England colonies, with perhaps less history than Notre Dame but still historically significant, these churches are next. And if they’re not being vandalized or destroyed, they’re closing.
Here’s a startling graphic from graphsaboutreligion.com showing the number of churches closing in the United States. The blue states (fittingly) are in negative growth, while orange and red states are positive.
Most of the assemblies that occupy these buildings have long since abandoned a Biblical faith, the God of our fathers, and the promise of His Kingdom to come. Instead, they preach another Gospel, one of rainbows and glitter and sodomy and mutilation.
The 2,000-year fever dream of a world under the authority of Jesus Christ is coming to a close. Now that the peoples of the world have been allowed to flood historically White and Christian nations and bring in their foreign gods, the gods of their fathers, all that is left will be the cataclysmic and long-sought “clash of civilizations” between Christianity and the false religions of man.
And we’re outnumbered. We’re outflanked. The odds are not in our favor.
But here’s the thing: that’s exactly how Yahweh likes it.
That’s what a Savior does. He delivers His people when there is no other possible way.
That’s where we are on the timeline. Waiting for our Blessed Hope.
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Tinsley, E.J. (2005), "Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary", in Richardson, Alan; Bowden, John (eds.), The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology, Presbyterian Publishing House