During the 9th century it sometimes looked like Christianity was about to be wiped out. From the East, Muslims were pouring into Christendom while Barbarians from Russia were conquering Christian Europe. Meanwhile, as the Scandinavian regions grew progressively colder, wild people pushed into Europe from the North, destroying the Christians who lived there. While all this was going on, England was being overrun by Danish boatmen. Led by the evil King Guthrum, the Vikings would raid villages, kill the Christians who lived there, level churches to the ground and leave a wake of destruction in their path.

It was into this turbulent state of affairs that the Lord raised up Alfred the Great to contend for the faith and to fight the enemies of Christendom. Thanks to the efforts of Alfred and others, including the missionaries who eventually converted these pagan peoples to the gospel, the nations of the West were relatively safe for Christians throughout most of the second millennium. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of many non-Western nations which continue to persecute Christians with a merciless energy that would rival anything England experienced under the Vikings. It is crucial that Christians in the West be aware of these international struggles, since they are a foretaste for what we in the West may soon experience if our society continues to embrace pagan values.

To alert Western Christians to this international struggle, and to support the efforts of those who are labouring – often in secret – to build Christendom on hostile soil, the Alfred the Great Society provides a growing list of country profiles. These profiles look at the history of various nations, the state of the church in those nations and the challenges that face Christians who live there.

Articles on the Persecuted Church

• Criminalizing the Criticism of Islam

  The Obama administration joined forces with the OIC to implement a UN Resolution which many fear may the result in a clampdown against criticizing Islam.

• Domenic Johansson Update

  A court hearing has been scheduled for 11 May for the Johansson family, who have been deprived of justice after the Swedish Social Services snatched their 9-year old son Domenic.

• Muslims Aim at Reconquering Spain

  It took Christendom 700 years to regain and repopulate their lands in Spain and the rest of the Iberian Peninsula after the Muslims invaded in the 8th century. Now Muslims aim at reconquering Spain - a project that is given implicit support by the present Spanish government.

• Persecution Brings “Oriental Christianity” Back into Limelight

  This year started off with an incredible burst of violence against the Coptic Christians in Egypt. The Copts belong to an ancient and obscure branch of Christendom known as "Oriental Christianity." This article explores their fascinating history in addition to highlighting the challenges that modern-day Coptics are facing in Egypt today. Click HERE to read more about the persecution of Christians.

• Hundreds of Nigerian Christians Ambushed in Mass Genocide

  At 3 am on the morning of 7 March, over 500 Nigerian Christians were subject to an indescribable genocide. It began when Muslim Fulani herdsmen set the homes of Christian villagers on fire. As the occupants (mostly women and children) fled, they were cut down and killed by rampaging Muslims. Many of the fleeing villagers were trapped in nets and then hacked to death with machetes. Other Christians fell into animals traps that had been carefully set outside the huts. Above the shrieks of the butchered women and children could be heard the Muslim war cry: “Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar.”

• Christianity under attack in France

  Though historically a Christian nation, France has been increasingly hostile to the gospel ever since its revolution. In modern France, Christianity is under attack from a number of different quarters. In this article we explore the threat against the French church from militant homosexuality, Islam, the media, and a state that is becoming increasingly totalitarian.

• Christianity under attack in North Korea

  In North Korea, the punishment for being a Christian, or for even carrying a Bible, includes the imprisonment of the person’s mother, father, sisters, brothers, children and even grandchildren. A quarter of all North Korean Christians are housed in concentration camps where inmates face everything from starvation to beatings to Nazi-style gas chambers to experimental torture techniques that defy comprehension. Inhuman experiments are also performed on babies that come to the camps.