War on Christianity - 6th Century Byzantine Cathedral to Become a Mosque

Matthew 24:15. "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION

OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet,

standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)

..

Turkish President Erdogan Signs Decree Turning Istanbul's

Hagia Sofia into a Mosque After Court Ruling

© Reuters / Murad Sezer

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed a decree opening the world-famous Hagia Sophia as a mosque, after a court ruled that its conversion to a museum in the 1930s was unlawful.

The court ruled on Friday that the 1934 decree converting the ancient Byzantine cathedral into a museum was not lawful. Immediately after the ruling, Erdogan shared a copy of a decree on Twitter, mandating that the site be turned over to the country's religious directorate and reopened for worship.

In a televised address later in the evening, the Turkish leader said that the first prayers will be held in the Hagia Sophia on July 24.

Dating back to the 6th century, the Hagia Sophia is one of the most visited cultural sites in Turkey, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

UNESCO has expressed concern over Erdogan’s vision for the historic structure, noting in a statement on Friday that the building has a “strong symbolic and universal value.” It called on Turkey to "engage in dialogue" before taking any steps that might impact its universal value.

Even before his decree was issued, the Turkish president’s plan was condemned by leaders of the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches, who warned that it would be seen as an affront to Christians and create a fracture between East and West. Washington has also urged Turkey to maintain the Hagia Sophia as a museum.

Moscow has also highlighted the cultural significance of the building while acknowledging that the matter was an "internal affair" for Turkey.

Erdogan himself said that opening the Hagia Sophia for worship will not prevent local or foreign tourists from visiting the iconic site, which he said is a part of “humanity’s common cultural heritage.” 

"Like all of our other mosques, the doors of Hagia Sophia will be open to all, locals or foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims,” he added.

I think this will not end well for the ambitious Erdogan.

Erdogan: Christianity’s Iconic Hagia Sophia Might Be Active Mosque Again

Is Erdogan the Abomination of Desolation?

Once the very centre of Christianity, the first church on this site was built by Constantine the Great. But in 404, John Chrysostom was exiled by another Emporer's wife. Riots ensued and the church was burned to the ground. 

Another church was erected in 415 by Theodosius II, but a revolt in 532 resulted in it being burned down. Within weeks, Justinian I began planning the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) which stood as the largest building in the world for nearly a thousand years. 

The Ottomans turned it into a mosque in the 15th century and Attaturk secularized it in 1935 turning it into a museum. President Erdogan is a devout Muslim and, so, it was just a matter of time before it was profaned again.

FILE PHOTO © AFP / Yasin AKGUL

Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, originally a Byzantine Christian church, might be turned into a mosque again – a potential back-down from the legacy of Turkey’s secular government that turned the site into a museum in 1935.

“This is not unlikely,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a live interview with Turkish television on Monday, adding, “We might even change its name to Ayasofya Mosque.”

The Hagia Sophia became a museum under Turkey’s secularist government back in 1935, but “we may as well take a step and change that,” he said.

Erdogan hinted that the change in status would benefit tourists. “Tourists come and go at the Blue Mosque. Do they pay anything?” he asked, referring to another popular site in Istanbul. “Well, we will do the same with the Hagia Sofia.”

The Hagia Sophia was first built as a church by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century and served as the main Orthodox Christian church. Following the conquest of Constantinople, now Istanbul,  by the Ottomans in 1453, it was immediately converted into a mosque.

It was the world’s largest cathedral surpassed only in the 16th century by  the Catholic Seville Cathedral was erected in Spain and later by St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican. 

The idea of turning the Hagia Sophia into an active mosque has been around for several years. Some high-ranking politicians and Muslim clerics suggested that the place be opened to worshippers, triggering backlash in Greece, Turkey’s historic rival.

That aside, in 2016, the traditional Muslim call to prayer, the adhan, was chanted from a prayer room, not from inside the historic landmark.

In 2015, thousands of worshippers performed a morning prayer in front of the Hagia Sophia on the 562nd anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.

Matt 24:14-16

"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

"Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

Is it possible this refers to Erdogan standing in the Hagia Sophia? It's a remote possibility, but, it could be the signal that Turkey will invade Israel. Perhaps he will announce the invasion from the pulpit just as the invasion is happening.