If Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik is a fundamentalist Christian, he forgot something
fundamental to the teachings of Jesus: “Love your enemies.”
A variety of prominent news organizations have described Breivik as an extremist Christian or a fundamentalist Christian.
"At the age of 15 I chose to be baptised [sic] and confirmed in the Norwegian State Church," the 32-year-old Breivik wrote. "I consider myself to be 100 percent Christian."
Was the Norwegian terrorist really a fundamentalist Christian? In his rambling 1500-page manifesto he describes himself as “moderately religious,” and he calls for “a reformation of Protestantism leading to it being absorbed by Catholicism” – an unconventional view for a fundamentalist.
In the manifesto he also mocks salvation by faith, referring to Protestantism as “the Marxism of Christianity.”
Moreover, on page 1361 he states that those who join his cause do not need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “As a cultural Christian, I believe Christendom is essential for cultural reasons. After all, Christianity is the ONLY cultural platform that can unite all Europeans, which will be needed in the coming period during the third expulsion of the Muslims,” he writes.
“You don’t need to have a personal relationship with God or Jesus to fight for our Christian cultural heritage,” Breivik continues. “It is enough that you are a Christian-agnostic or a Christian-atheist (an atheist who wants to preserve at least the basics of the European Christian cultural legacy (Christian holidays, Christmas and Easter)).”
Breivik’s tepid, lukewarm, cultural Christianity should not be confused with a vibrant, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. His version of Christianity has more in common with those who perpetrated the Bosnian genocide.