Islamic ideology thrives because Christians deny truth of Bible, says Egyptian pastor

Dr. Michael Youssef, founder and president of Leading the Way Ministries, has said that one of the reasons why Islamic ideology succeeds in spreading all over the world is because Christians are denying Biblical truths.

In an interview with The Christian Post on Thursday, Youssef noted that he has written numerous books that warn about the dangers of radical Islam, but he said he waited over 20 years to write his new book, "The Barbarians Are Here: Preventing the Collapse of Western Civilization in Times of Terrorism."

The pastor said that he hoped that Christians would be more aware so that he would not need to write the book, but he felt that it was necessary because he saw that more and more Christians are being killed and persecuted.

Youssef, who attended the first-ever Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association this week in Washington, D.C., said that his new book is different from the other books he has written in the past because it really serves as a "challenge to Christians."

"Islamic ideology flourishes whenever there is a vacuum. If there is a Christian vacuum, Islam fills it," the evangelist said.

"Historically, from the first century ... that is the Islamic first century, the seventh century for us, all the way to this day, if you study history — whether it be the Church in North Africa or the Church in the Byzantine empire that has become Turkey now — it is the same story," he added.

He warned that Christians start to believe that there are other ways to God other than Jesus Christ when they deny biblical orthodoxy and the truth of the Gospel.

Youssef noted that there was a time in history when most of the people in North Africa were Christians, but they started to embrace a heresy called the Montanus, which taught that the biblical canon has not been closed.

"The Arabs came in and they faced resistance in Egypt because they would not buy into these heresies, so they came to Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Algiers. It literally was a walk in the park. Within 35 years, so many of these churches turned into mosques," he warned.

The evangelist warned that Islamists have "succeeded" in intimidating secularist institutions in the West.

He noted that the American Civil Liberties Union have sued Christians who tried to meet in school, but they have ignored Muslim students when they demanded their own prayer room in school and requested that they be allowed to leave the classroom at 12 o'clock to do their prayers.

Youssef said that Islamists are also intimidating the media and Western government officials. He asserted that Islamic radicals will keep killing and subjugating Christians unless Jesus Christ returns to Earth. But he said that he is still hopeful because there are more Muslims that are converting to Christianity today than in the last 1,400 years of Christian missions to Muslims.

Leading The Way is now in its 28th year of ministry, and its television and radio programs are broadcast in 25 languages across six continents. It has partnered with in-country follow-up teams to evangelize, disciple new believers and help persecuted people in places where it is dangerous to follow Christ.