Answering A Few Questions About Youcef Nadarkhani

As we reported previously, Youcef Nadarkhani is still awaiting a ruling on his apostasy case from the Gilan provincial court. We anticipate the verdict will be delivered sometime in December. Under normal circumstances the court is required to provide a written verdict 10 days after the trial is complete. That would have been early October. However, as a result of the international pressure on the Iranian government, the jurists wrote a letter to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini. They have asked him to give his legal opinion prior to issuing the written verdict.

We have been asked about whether or not Youcef has been tortured. Since he has been in prison he has been tortured on two different occasions. It happened in the first few months in 2009 after he was arrested and immediately after his trial in the fall of 2010. Based upon a wide variety of cases all throughout the country it is common for Christians and other minorities in Iran to be mistreated in prison.

We’ve also been asked on many occasions about Youcef’s beliefs. Based upon my conversations with Iranian church leaders, they agree with the rejection of Sabellianism (Jesus Only) and Arianism. Their belief is that God is three properties in one being, a tri-unity.

It is clear that Youcef is being persecuted by an Islamic government because of being a Christian and leading others to salvation in Jesus. In Turkey I was privileged to meet with refugees who were members of his church. Based upon my conversations with them they are Christians that had powerful testimonies of transformed lives with a sincere desire to stand for the Bible.

The most powerful weapon we have access to is prayer. God works through and changes the hearts of men by it.