A profound bow to Fr. Martin Fox over at Bonfire of the Vanities for his article “The Islamic Threat: same as it ever was”

The words of Paul to Timothy are not ‘more’ true today, but just as true, because the human heart becomes blinded to its desire for the one true God and covers that desire with words that sound sweet but will taste bitter.

To wit:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.

We all want to believe in the good motives of people and want them to be able to relate to us. In doing this we often try to morph others into the person we think they should be. They become a ‘kind of Christian’. An examination of the basic facts often destroys that fallacy.

The basic fact is there is no alternate Christianity. There is only one Jesus Christ who is not Buddha, Mohammed, Siddhartha, or Lao-Tse. None of these are God, but Jesus Christ. None provides us with salvation, but Jesus Christ.

To be true to truth, to bear it and proclaim it, we are required to proclaim Christ as true God and true man who purchased for all, by his blood, eternal life in heaven. Of this we are certain, of this we are required to preach and baptize.