True Discernment

I have been asked because I posted this article and that since Piotr Stanczak was a Roman Catholic does this mean I endorse Roman Catholicism. The answer is no I do not. Roman Catholic Theology is false teaching and idolotrous. Its strucutre and teaching deny and contradict most of Sola Scriptura.

So that begs the question could someone be a member of the Roman Catholic faith and be saved. I would say it is possible but very difficult, and only if they did not adhere to the parts of Roman Catholic teaching that are idolotrous, so in that case someone could be saved DESPITE Roman Catholic teaching but not BECAUSE of it.

This story is well worth reading as it higlights what may become a common event not only in Muslim countries in Asia and the Middle East, but also in western countries in the not too different future. Despite the fact that it is about a Catholic martyr.

No one knows the condition of Piotr Stanczak’s heart when he was killed, that is between him and God. My hope is that he did in fact make peace with God before his murder.

from blogprof:

That is a tough question that every Christian should absolutely both ask and answer to themselves. For most, it would be so tempting to take the easy way out, even though it is likely that the terrorists would murder you anyway after the conversion. From No-Pasaran via conservativegrapevine: This is what a Martyr Looks Like.

No, not the corrupted Jihadist notion of one, the kind that chooses to actively murder others because of who they represent to him, even if the use of the word has infected the rest of the Arab world and now most of the perceptual boundaries of the European left.

Piotr Stanczak did not exhibit the slightest hint of hesitation when the Pakistani Taliban asked him to choose between execution and conversion to Islam.

Whether the Polish geologist acted out of pride or religious conviction, he decided to pay through his blood to save his faith, a choice that bewildered his killers and keep them talking about him with respect after his murder.

Stanczak, 42, was kidnapped September 28 on his way to survey for oil exploration in Attock district, of Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab. The kidnappers also killed his driver and two guards.

Late Polish engineer Piotr Stanczak is a martyr, a man who died holding on to his convictions, even though dispensing of them would be easy.

The description of a martyr given by the pagan historian Ammianus Marcellinus (XXII, xvii), shows that by the middle of the fourth century the title was everywhere reserved to those who had actually suffered death for their faith.

I don’t think anyone would choose beheading because of pride. It was without question the conviction of his faith. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here to say that his faith was in Jesus Christ as Poland is almost exclusively Christian. In that case, what a brave man Peter (Piotr is Peter in Polish) was! How absolutely easy would it have been to give up Jesus out of fear of bodily harm and death. Another more famous Peter did the same thing out of fear of far less harm to himself, and he did it not once or twice but thrice! I am amazed that Piotr accepted death “without hesitation.” Had he pondered such a question before going to Pakistan? Had he made up his mind before accepting the trip even? If so, then he was more spiritually mature than most. Sitting behind my keyboard, I wonder what I would have done in such a situation. It would be so easy to say I’d do the same thing, but reality is so different when you’re in the heat of the situation rather than seeing it from the outside as a detached third person. Rest in peace Piotr Stanczak.