Finnish Christian On Trial For Quoting The Bible On Twitter: ‘God Is Working’Paivi Rasanen spoke to The Federalist about her free speech case that has huge implications for Christians across the West.
By Joy Pullmann
February 14, 2022
Today in Finland, lawyers for Member of Parliament Paivi Rasanen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola will make their final arguments defending the two against “hate crimes” charges for publicly expressing their Christian beliefs. While intended to suppress Christianity and criminalize the Bible, with ramifications for the entire West, the prosecution has also created opportunities to proclaim Christian theology all over the world, Rasanen told The Federalist in an exclusive interview last week.
“I was happy to have the possibility to also tell the gospel—the solution to the problem of sin—in front of the court and in front of the media,” she said. Speaking about the first day of her trial, which occurred in January, Rasanen said, “When so many people were praying for the day, God also answered the prayers. It was quite a hard day, but I thought it was a privilege to stand for the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion and stand for the truth of the Bible.”
Rasanen and Pohjola are being prosecuted for stating basic Christian beliefs about sex and marriage. One of the three charges against Rasanen is for tweeting a picture of a Bible verse at Finland’s state church to criticize its cosponsorship of a homosexual parade.
“This is a very serious issue, because for Christians the Bible is the word of God, and there is no Christianity if you are not allowed to agree with the Bible,” Rasanen said.
The court will issue its verdict within the next month. If convicted, Rasanen and Pohjola face fines or up to two years in prison. The Federalist interviewed Pohjola, the bishop of non-state Lutheran churches in Finland, in the United States in November.
“Two years ago, I would never have believed that this would happen in Finland,” Rasanen said.
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Source:
https://thefederalist.com/2022/02/14/finnish-christian-on-trial-for-quoting-the-bible-on-twitter-god-is-working/
