How recent is freedom of worship in western civilization?
Freedom of worship in Western civilization is only a couple hundred years old. It is only in the last couple hundred years that Western civilization has been able to guarantee the rights of the individual and freedom of worship. Before that, such freedom was for the most part unheard of.
Les teaches that freedom of worship is a recent development in Western civilization, having been guaranteed only in the last couple hundred years. He says that before this, such rights were for the most part unheard of. This observation comes in the context of believers who suffered severe persecution, as seen in the church at Smyrna. They experienced tribulation, poverty, imprisonment, and pressure under the Roman Empire, yet they remained spiritually rich and faithful unto death, with the promise of a crown of life.