God's people have always been opposed by Satan's forces. It began with the temptation that led to the fall of Adam and Eve, soon after followed by the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. And even then, God had said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15). This is not entirely unlike how Jesus promised his disciples, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Indeed, the latter is the fulfillment of the former. The promise is that we will face opposition and persecution, but we will never be defeated. The promise is absolute and unconditional. It is simple – exegetically, there is nothing more that I must say – but the implications are far-reaching.

The Book of Acts records a variety of attacks that Satan and non-Christians launch against the church. For the sake of convenience and learning, we may place them under several categories. Although these categories partially overlap, so that an example of opposition may come under two or more categories, it is helpful to list them to bring awareness to the different kinds of attacks that Christians have faced since the first century.

There are at least three reasons to increase awareness of persecution. First, becoming conscious of the great variety and number of attacks against the church helps Christians realize the extent of the wickedness of Satan and non-Christians. Second, it helps Christians gain appreciation for the necessity and the power of Christ's promise for the construction and perpetuation of his church. Third, it helps Christians to detect these attacks, so they may confront and address them. The third point is just as important as the first two, since some of these attacks are subtle, and since some attacks occur with such frequency and constancy that believers have become accustomed to them, so that perhaps they are no longer recognized as satanic assaults against the faith.

Theological opposition attacks Christian doctrines. Although all attacks are in fact attacks against Christian doctrines, theological attacks are more based on religious disagreements than anything else, as when the Jews opposed the Christian faith by saying, "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1). Whether directly or indirectly, obviously or subtly, opposition against the Christian faith comes from all non-Christian religions, such as Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, as well as all lesser known religions that are against the doctrines of Christ.

Philosophical opposition comes from an allegedly rational viewpoint. We recognize an overlap with the theological, since some philosophies are inseparably integrated with religions. One example may be the opposition to the resurrection of Christ by the people of Athens. Christianity replies, "Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?" (Acts 26:8). The opposition is indeed puzzling. There is no rational argument against the resurrection. We may subsume scientific opposition under the category of philosophy. All the theories of science, and not only the theory of evolution, are based on irrational thinking, since its method entails the triple fallacy of empiricism, induction, and experimentation.

Historical opposition is the attempt to distort history in order to discredit the gospel. The attacks that come under this category would include baseless and unreasonable claims concerning who Jesus really was, what he really did, and what he really said. This occurred immediately after Jesus' resurrection, when the Jews bribed the Roman soldiers to lie about what happened to the body. Textual opposition might also be included under this category, and that is when the attempt is made to distort the text of Scripture in order to discredit the faith or undermine people's confidence in it.

Cultural opposition refers to the attacks against Christianity that stem from a difference in the ethical climate between the church and the world. Ethical opposition, then, maybe included under this category, although it could also belong to the theological and philosophical. Coming under the cultural and ethical might include attacks relating to how we view our work, the place of entertainment, our standards regarding language, etiquette, religious differences, friendship, marriage, sexuality, and also things like art and music. That is, when the world produces works of art and music that are against the standards and the teachings of Christianity, that should be considered opposition against the existence and commission of the church.

Again, it is not our aim to place every kind of opposition in a category so well-defined that it does not overlap with other categories. Rather, the purpose is to alert ourselves to the fact that the forces of hell are constantly attacking the church from many sides, and that these attacks assume many different forms. This awareness increases our vigilance in confronting these attacks, and our confidence in the promise that the church will never fall, as we perceive that Christ has been preserving his own against all the forces of hell since the beginning. It is not that we have not been attacked, or that so far there has been no strong opposition, but that Christ has been true to his promise all along.

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