Persecution Is Hard // Braylan Stringfellow
In the prologue of “Silence”, we learn that Ferreira has given up his faith in Christ due to the persecution he was experiencing in Japan. Persecution is something that is horrible to have to deal with. It involves torture to the highest degrees that is intentionally designed to break anyones will that is unfortunate enough to have to experience it. It is logical to assume that anyone who is just threatened to have to face this torture would immediately renounce their faith and just quit. However, we know from the prologue, as well as history and the Bible, that there are plenty of Christians that refuse to renounce their faith while facing persecution, and in many cases they die as a result.
Persecution is probably the worst thing that a Christian might have to face. For those that have to face it, God has promised to reward those that stay strong in their faith and refuse to renounce it. If persecution was easy to deal with, I don’t think that God would give such an award for those who deal with it. Ferreira, who people looked at as a hero of the faith, is proof that it is hard to stay strong in the faith while facing persecution.
I commented on Abigale’s and Madalyn’s post
It is incredible to see how strong of a faith some of these missionaries had in order to face death because of it. But it is also sad to see people renounce it due to fear. Perhaps Ferreira was in over his head or was on what we call now a "Jesus high", such as after you come home from youth camp. Either way, it's sad to see someone who was admired for their faith turn out to not be as strong as they were thought to be.
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