Is Your Christ a Cruel Tyrant?
Sometime around 1769, the Quaker John Woolman fell ill and nearly died. He related later in his journal that for several hours he was so near death that he no longer even knew who he was. He was only aware that he was a part of the gray mass that is the misery of humankind. But then he heard what he thought must be "an holy angel" saying to him, "John Woolman is dead." Then, remembering that he was John Woolman, and recognizing that he was still alive, he was... "...carried in spirit to the mines where poor oppressed people were digging rich treasures for those called Christians, and heard them blaspheme the name of Christ, at which I was grieved, for his name to me was precious. I was then informed that these heathens were told that those who oppressed them were the followers of Christ, and they said among themselves, 'If Christ directed them to use us in this sort, then Christ is a cruel tyrant.'" As Woolman began to recover and as he lay sti...