You may not have heard of Shagufta Kiran, who has been a Christian nurse in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. I wouldn’t have heard of her either except that her case is being featured by Church in Chains this month. Shagufta has been kept in custody since July 2021 when she was arrested for blasphemy. So far, no trial, no bail, no company (she’s in solitary confinement) while her husband and three children wait at home. She has one shaft of light – she now has her Bible to read.

As soon as Shagufta gets to the end of the first gospel, she will remember that her Master was accused of exactly the same ‘crime’. ‘The high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy”’.[1]

(This was memorably depicted by Anthony Quinn in the film Jesus of Nazareth where he made a great show of tearing his robe.)

Shagufta will also know that, in the case of that same Master, there was no blasphemy involved. Jesus was indeed the Son of God. She will also notice that she’s not the only Christian whose activity has been labelled ‘illegal’. As soon as the Book of Acts gets going, all sorts of jumped-up lawyers have a field day making up iffy applications of suspicious-looking ‘laws’.

When the disciples went out to preach the gospel, they told people that there was a great God over all who could forgive their sins through Jesus. Some of the authorities didn’t like the idea that there was a ‘great God over all’ because that would mean he was over them too. Totalitarian regimes still have this problem. Some people didn’t like the message of forgiveness of sin because it was in their interests for sin to continue. So, to try and stop the preaching in various locations they came up with the same story (independently of each other) – that this preaching was ‘illegal’.

Some examples –

Stephen, innocently involved in food distribution, was met with: ‘They produced false witnesses, who testified, ‘This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law’, meaning the law of Moses.[1]

When Paul and Silas rescued a trafficked, enslaved girl in Phillipi, ‘They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice”’, meaning the Roman law. [1]

Thessaloniki – Paul preaching again. Same old story – there’s somebody in heaven bigger than Caesar: ‘These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus’, meaning the Imperial cult. [2]

In Ephesus the problem wasn’t Caesar, but Artemis (whoever she was): ‘The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defence before the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!…If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges”’, meaning the byelaws in Ephesus.[3]

Back in the Jerusalem temple, some people didn’t like the way Paul walked around the building with his friends, resulting in, ‘Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place’, meaning the ceremonial Temple law.[4]

Eventually a Roman general topples to the fact that this was a makey-uppy charge and writes to Governor Felix, ‘I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment’, meaning Jewish law.[1]

And Shagufta isn’t the only one on the current list.

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[1] Acts 23:3, 29

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[1] Acts 16:20,21

[2] Acts 17:6,7

[3] Acts 19:33-38

[4] Acts 21:28

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[1] Acts 6:13

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[1] Matthew 26:65