Greek Orthodox Bishop Calls on Turkey’s Erdogan to Convert or Face ‘Unending Hell’ With Muhammed
Greek Orthodox Bishop Calls on Turkey’s Erdogan to Convert or Face ‘Unending Hell’ With Muhammed
By Michael W. Chapman
The Greek Orthodox bishop, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, sent a lengthy letter to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which he detailed some of the differences between Christianity and Islam and called on Erdogan to convert to Orthodoxy or face “eternal and unending” suffering in Hell, along with Muhammed and his followers.
In the letter, Metropolitan Seraphim criticizes Islam and says Muhammed was a “false prophet” and that the Quran is not a “holy” or “sacred” book. He presents examples of where the Quran uses material from the Bible and other religious texts, and he also discusses some of the more controversial aspects of Muhammed’s life, including that one of his wives, Aisha, was only nine-years-old when she married the prophet.
Near the end of the letter, Metropolitan Seraphim pleads with President Erdogan and his family to convert to Christianity. He calls on them to “renounce all errors, heresies, and innovations of Islam” and “repent, to weep bitterly, be humble, and believe in Christ, the God-Man, Savior and Redeemer of the world.”
Metropolitan Seraphim further advises Erdogan to be instructed and then baptized in the Orthodox church and to ask his ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, to be his godfather.
As translated by the European Union Times, Metropolitan Seraphim says to Erdogan, “If you want to save yourself and your family you should convert to the Greek Orthodox Church, the only real faith.”
“We propose and we advise you to come to the arms of the Greek Orthodox Church before the end of your life on Earth,” he writes. “Otherwise, you will unfortunately find yourself, your family and your people in the same place where Allah, Muhammad and his followers are, i.e., in the place of suffering, eternal and unending Hell.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 63, is a Sunni Muslim. He is married and has four children. He became president of Turkey in August 2014. His parents followed Islam and reportedly were devout, practicing Muslims.