Church Life

Quotation Marks

Selections from Christian leaders during the Iraq War

“Prayer works. It’s why we use it as a first resort. It’s the only viable means of defending our boys.”

Randy Engel, deacon at Immanuel Baptist Church in Newton, Kansas, speaking shortly after the Iraq War began.

“I have a problem with violence as well, but we also have to be realistic. Peace sometimes just cannot be found and sometimes you have to show your muscle.”

Capt. Richard Compton, an Army chaplain with the 101st Airborne Division, who distributed Bibles with a human skull and bat wings on the cover.

“I arrived in Iraq a pacifist Christian and left Iraq as a Bonhoeffer Christian.”

Victor Eremita,” a pseudonym for an aid worker who worked with Doctors Without Borders and the Gulf Peace Team after the last Gulf War.

“Everybody is praying to whomever they claim is the sovereign God, so we all agree that however this comes out, it will be God’s will.”

Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, president of the World Prayer Team, and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs.

Sources: The Newton Kansan, Reuters, Obedient Houndblog, The Washington Post

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere

Stories referenced above include:

Church lifts up names in prayersNewton Kansan

Bibles back up bullets in U.S. war campaign—Reuters (March 16, 2003)

How a visit to Iraq can change your mind—Weblog posting

Across the Nation, Christian ‘Prayer Warriors’ Join BattleThe Washington Post (March 21, 2003)

See Christianity Today’s Quotation Marks from April, March, February, January, December, November, October, September, August,July,June, and May.

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