On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (07/27/20), Hank discusses the great differences between Christianity and Islam—differences highlighted by the recent reversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Hank draws from an article by Charlotte Allen in the Wall Street Journal, “Turkey Retreats from Modernity,” in which she makes the ominous observation that Islamic Turkey seems to take their religion more seriously than does the Christian West. Hank notes that, paradoxically, just as Hagia Sophia is in process of completing its transition from monument to Messiah to Muslim mosque, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox National Shrine at Ground Zero is in its final stages of completion. As luminous as the architecture itself is the tradition and hospitality that the St. Nicholas Church will exemplify as the only non-secular building at Ground Zero. It is a reminder of St. Nicholas of Myra who lavished gifts on needy children and valiantly championed the doctrine of the Trinity at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. Saint Nicholas reminds us that wherever there is schism, it cries out to be healed. It begs an answer to the Lord’s High Priestly Prayer that “all may be one, as you Father are in Me, and I in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” May St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox National Shrine at Ground Zero inaugurate a second iteration of Pentecost.

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