Beacon2Light

The Global War on Christians by John L. Allen is a 2013 addition to the body of works addressing persecution. So why should you read this one and not one or more of the others? I believe it is because Allen’s treatment of the ongoing crisis of persecution is both traditional and unique. As do many of the other authors of books on persecution, Allen presents a world-wide, extensive, view of what has been happening. For his purposes, Allen’s focus is on the past twenty years. What is different about Allen’s work is quite compelling. He differentiates the political “war on Christians” from the worldwide phenomenon he calls “the global war on Christians.” Persecution is defined by the author, not in the typical, logical sense but in a more comprehensive and perhaps somewhat more controversial sense. Unlike other works, Allen dives into the historical and political backgrounds to the persecution in each region and country profiled. Bucking the trend of other works on persecution, ...