Justin Welby to Speak in Dallas

From The Living Church-

The Diocese of Dallas has announced a vocations conference that will feature the Archbishop of Canterbury as a plenary speaker. “Ancient Order, Radical Vocation: The Anglican Priesthood as 21st Century Calling,” or “RadVo,” is scheduled for Sept. 20-22 at Church of the Incarnation.

Other speakers include:

Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, general secretary of the Anglican Communion

Stanley Hauerwas, professor emeritus of divinity and law at Duke Divinity School

Oliver O’Donovan, professor emeritus of Christian ethics and practical theology at the University of Edinburgh

Ephraim Radner, professor of historical theology at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto

Bishop N.T. Wright, professor of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews


More here-


https://livingchurch.org/2018/04/13/justin-welby-to-speak-in-dallas/

Anglican priest pleads guilty to sending child abuse images during online conversations

From Australia-

An Anglican priest who boasted online about his child abuse fantasies has pleaded guilty to transmitting child abuse images using a carriage service.

Former Sunshine vicar Philip John Murphy, 53, on Monday pleaded guilty to the offence, which was committed during numerous sexually explicit online conversations he had with men in 2016 and 2017.

Murphy spent several months chatting to paedophiles online about child abuse fantasies involving young boys before police seized his computer in February 2017.

Murphy told one man that he wanted to sexually abuse hundreds of children as young as two years old, prosecutor Jessica Mackay told the Victorian county court.

When the man told the priest he was “having some fun with a six-year-old boy with a slight handicap”, Murphy replied: “Nice, wish I could join you.”

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/16/anglican-priest-pleads-guilty-to-sending-child-abuse-images-during-online-conversations

and here-

http://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/melbourne-priest-would-only-travel-if-really-young-boys-were-on-offer/news-story/1a5ab94ca0138fb3ca9e1a09f9e25aed

and here-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5619855/Anglican-priest-admits-wanted-sexually-abuse-HUNDREDS-kids-young-two.html

Over 150 Genocide victims get decent burial in Ruhanga

From Rwanda-

Thousands of mourners gathered yesterday at Ruhanga memorial site in Gasabo District to accord a decent burial to 157 Genocide victims recovered recently from different parts of Rusororo Sector.

Ruhanga Genocide Memorial is located at the former Ruhanga Episcopal Anglican Church (EAR Ruhanga) and has a mass grave inside the former church.

This is the only Anglican Church parish in the country which was converted into a Genocide memorial site.

Currently over 36,700 victims massacred from both inside the church and from surrounding areas are buried at the memorial site.

Over 25,000 were killed at the church compound where they sought refuge, according to accounts by witnesses.

More here-

http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/over-150-genocide-victims-get-decent-burial-ruhanga

Sex for marks: Lecturer may go free –Investigation

From Nigeria-

After all the hues and cries, especially on the social media, against the purported conduct of a Professor of Management and Accounting at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife- Richard Akindele, who was accused of demanding sex to help an unnamed female student pass his course, strong indications have emerged that the embattled lecturer and a senior pastor with an Anglican church may escape trial.

A top management official at the university, who spoke with Saturday Telegraph on condition of anonymity, said apart from the damage the social media account may do to the lecturer’s image, there is yet to be any case established against the accused. The source, who confirmed that the university had on Wednesday set up a committee to look into the matter and give its report in one week, said only four top officials of the institution know the membership composition of the committee to avoid unnecessary influence. Meanwhile, further investigations have revealed that as at Friday night, just about four days to the expiration of the oneweek tenure of the committee, the female student, whose voice was heard in the recording that has gone viral on social media, has refused to either meet or forward any relevant document or information to the committee members for prosecution.

More here-

https://newtelegraphonline.com/2018/04/sex-for-marks-lecturer-may-go-free-investigation/

Real concerns Archbishop Welby raised before Buhari

From The Guardian-

Contrary to official statement from the Presidency concerning the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Justin Portal Welby, it has emerged that the Anglican cleric raised concerns about the security situation in Nigeria, particularly attacks on Christian communities.

This is coming just as The Guardian gathered that President Buhari kept away from Abuja House, where he experienced some heckling from protesters last August.

A transcript of the discussion between the two leaders, which The Guardian obtained, showed that the Archbishop was very worried about the herders farmers’ conflicts and excruciating poverty in the country.

More here-

https://guardian.ng/news/real-concerns-archbishop-welby-raised-before-buhari/

Former Episcopal priest indicted on sexual assault charges

From North Carolina-

A former episcopal priest who served in Waynesville for over two decades has been charged with several felonies stemming from alleged sexual abuse dating back to 1985.

The charges against Howard "Howdy" Willard White, Jr., 76, were filed after he was formally indicted by a Haywood County Grand jury.

The charges, which pertain to two alleged victims — one male and one female — are first-degree forcible sex offense, two counts of indecent liberties with a child, first-degree forcible rape, four counts second-degree forcible sex offense, and second-degree forcible rape.

More here-

https://www.themountaineer.com/news/former-episcopal-priest-indicted-on-sexual-assault-charges/article_b172555e-3da1-11e8-9504-6772559e0656.html

Anglican Church still ‘equality-free zone’ for same-sex couples, says Archdeacon Peter MacLeod Miller

From Australia-

St Matthews Church in Albury has been warned against blessing any same-sex marriages, despite having the support of the congregation.

Archdeacon Peter MacLeod-Miller says he is frustrated and ashamed he cannot marry gay couples who now have the same legal, if not religious rights.

“I’ve been warned that if I was to officially bless anyone that my head is on the line,” he said. “At the moment the church won’t allow it, and that’s not because our congregation won’t allow it or because I’m unwilling.

“I don’t have the religious freedom to conduct it - the church is an equality-free zone.”

More here-

https://www.bordermail.com.au/story/5341157/anglican-church-still-equality-free-zone-for-same-sex-couples/?cs=12

Anglican Communion tasks FG on release of Dapchi schoolgirl

From Nigeria-

DIOCESE on the Niger, (Anglican Communion) yesterday  said that the continued detention of Dapchi schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu by Boko Haram insurgents is confirming the belief by many Nigerians that the violent activities of the  herdsmen and Boko Haram insurgents are aimed at Islamizing Nigeria.

Bishop on the Niger, Rt. Rev. Owen Nwokolo who spoke to journalists in Onitsha yesterday, wondered why weeks after the release of her colleagues, Miss Sharibu is still being held by Boko Haram insurgents. He therefore urged Present Muhammadu Buhari to prove Nigerians who have that belief wrong, by ensuring the immediate and unconditional release of the school girl.
Read more at:

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/04/anglican-communion-tasks-fg-release-dapchi-schoolgirl/

Church hosts barbecue to unite inmates’ families, law enforcement

From Texas-

A pickup basketball game two years ago was the inspiration for a free barbecue hospitality event Saturday to unite two unlikely groups: law enforcement and families of those incarcerated in the McLennan County Jail.

The Holy Spirit Episcopal Church has partnered with the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office to host an event at the Shepherd Mullens Visitation Center, 3241 Marlin Highway in Waco, to help break down barriers. Organizers expect about 100 law enforcement officials and more than 400 loved ones of inmates to attend.

Social service agencies will be on hand to assist with needs families of those incarcerated may be facing, and guests can eat lunch while socializing while they wait to visit their loved one. Organizers are eyeing the forecast as thunderstorms are expected Friday night.

More here-

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/religion/church-hosts-barbecue-to-unite-inmates-families-law-enforcement/article_b905f434-c46e-5fcc-bfa4-5b5749c49339.html

Gallup asked Americans why they go to church. It’s not for the music.

From Intellectual Takeout-

On Good Friday, Gallup published results of a survey that asked respondents why they go to church (or some other place of worship).

Some fifteen hundred adults across the nation were asked to which degree these seven things were important to them:

1. Sermons or talks that teach you more about scripture;
2. Sermons or lectures that help you connect religion to your own life;
3. Spiritual programs geared toward children and teens;
4. Community outreach and volunteer opportunities;
5. Religious leaders who are interesting and inspiring;
6. Social activities that allow you to get to know people;
7.  A good choir, praise band, cantors or other spiritual music.

As one can see from the results below, respondents identified sermons as the primary factor they go to church.

More here-

http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/gallup-asked-americans-why-they-go-church-its-not-music

Orlando church helps displaced Puerto Rican families welcome post-Maria babies

From Orlando-

Jinny Santos found out she was pregnant with her fourth child about a month after Hurricane Maria had left her town in the heart of Puerto Rico without power, communication or running water.

Now eight months pregnant, she’s getting ready to deliver her second son in their new home in Orlando with the help of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, hoping the post-Maria birth can help mark a new beginning.

The church is helping 10 expectant mothers from Puerto Rico cover their basic needs.

On Tuesday, Santos scanned the aisles at a Target on Alafaya Trail, filling her shopping cart with clothes, diapers, nail clippers and tiny hangers. She turned occasionally to her husband, who was carrying their youngest daughter, to make sure they covered the basics.

More here-

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/puerto-rico-hurricane-recovery/os-puerto-rico-hurricane-baby-20180410-story.html

Will churches need signs banning guns? STL clergy members speak out against concealed carry bill

From St. Louis-

Religious leaders across denominations spoke out in St. Louis on Wednesday against pending legislation that would allow concealed weapons in places of worship in Missouri without permission of the clergy.

“The bill would broaden Second Amendment rights at the expense of the First Amendment right of religious liberty,” said Most Rev. Robert Carlson, archbishop of St. Louis, who presides over some 500,000 Roman Catholics in the region.

Carlson was joined at a press conference by eight religious leaders representing the Jewish, Episcopalian, Methodist, Baptist and Evangelical Lutheran faiths, among others.

More here-

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/will-churches-need-signs-banning-guns-stl-clergy-members-speak/article_42245790-1e9d-5c82-817d-aed289751420.html

Seven Types of Atheism by John Gray review – is every atheist an inverted believer?

From The Guardian-

There has been a rash of books in recent years by thinkers for whom the human race is getting nicer and nicer. Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Matt Ridley and Sam Harris are rational humanists who believe in progress, however many famines and genocides may disfigure the planet. We are en route to a vastly improved future. Perhaps this return to the values of the western Enlightenment is not unrelated to the threat of radical Islam. The philosopher John Gray’s role has been to act as a Jeremiah among these Pollyannas, insisting that we are every bit as nasty as we ever were. If there is anything he detests, it is schemes of visionary transformation. He is a card-carrying misanthrope for whom human life has no unique importance, and for whom history has been little more than the sound of hacking and gouging. One might note that Christianity is as pessimistic as Gray but a lot more hopeful as well.

The answer to the question of whether history has been improving is surely a decisive yes and no. For Marx, the modern age was both an enthralling emancipation and one long nightmare. The wide-eyed optimism of Pinker or Ridley is just as one-sided as the prophets of doom who refuse to concede that there is something to be said for such modern inventions as feminism, spin-dryers and antibiotics. The truth is that everyone believes in progress, but only a dwindling band of Victorian relics such as Dawkins believe in Progress. So this book is really hammering at an open door. How many champions of a vastly improved future are there in a postmodern culture?

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/11/seven-types-atheism-john-gray-review-atheist-believer-material-world?CMP=share_btn_fb

Extraordinarily Ordinary

From The Living Church-

In October 2009, under the direction of Pope Benedict XVI, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued an “apostolic constitution” named (as is customary) by its opening words, Anglicanorum Coetibus. This was in response to persistent requests over the years from various Anglican and para-Anglican individuals and groups to enter full communion with the See of Rome, while retaining both married clergy and certain liturgical forms and ceremonial practices that have evolved and become beloved within the broader Anglican tradition.

Anglicanorum Coetibus paved the way for the creation of what are now three personal ordinariates — one each in the United Kingdom, North America, and Australia. These entities function almost as dioceses that geographically overlap the familiar diocesan boundaries of the Roman Catholic Church, with a few key distinctions. (They are analogous but not identical to groups of Eastern Rite parishes within the Roman Catholic Church.)

In the United Kingdom and in Australia, the Ordinary of each ordinariate is a former Anglican bishop, who has all the power and authority of a Roman Catholic bishop, but has not actually been
(re-)ordained to the episcopate, since the accommodation for married clergy in the Roman Catholic Church extends only to priests, not bishops.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2018/04/06/extraordinarily-ordinary/?platform=hootsuite

Polygamy not part of Bible teachings: Bishop Ole Sapit

From Kenya-

The Anglican Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit has said the church will oppose any laws meant to legalise polygamy and homosexuality in the country.

While addressing the press on Tuesday at St Crispin ACK Church in Bungoma town, the leader said that the church will not allow marriage of people of same gender or multiple partners.

“The church is very clear through the teachings of the Bible especially the New Testament that one man and one woman make a family. We want to make it clear from the perspective that as a church, a family is one wife and one husband joined together to form a couple and form a family,” said Mr Ole Sapit.

Last week, Kiambu Woman Representative Gathoni Wamuchomba asked able men from the Kikuyu community to consider marrying many wives, and to also put a brake on family planning.

More here-

https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Church-wades-into-polygamy-debate--/1056-4381054-3aq654z/index.html

and here-

http://allafrica.com/stories/201804110447.html

Forget culture. It’s a new theology we need

From The Church Times-

LISTENING to the evidence of abuse and cover-up in Chichester diocese has been a miserable experience. The experiences recounted by survivors were harrowing, the explanations offered by senior clergy were shocking, and the juxtaposition of the two was a lesson in inhumanity.

Nobody who spoke at IICSA, including Archbishop Welby, denies that the problem goes deep and calls for serious reform. Everyone agreed that procedural and structural change was insufficient without a change of culture. But no one drew the obvious conclusion that this must include theology. Operative theologies in the Church of England are part of the problem; so a ruthlessly honest theological audit is going to have to be part of the solution.

An urgent place to start is a Christian understanding of forgiveness. In Chichester, a faulty doctrine of forgiveness was used by abusers to salve their consciences, by church officials to move on without dealing with the problem, and by parishioners and clergy to marginalise “unchristian” victims and whistleblowers.

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/6-april/comment/opinion/iicsa-forget-culture-new-theology-we-need

Wellington's new Anglican dean was signatory to letter opposing gay blessings

From New Zealand (with video)-

New Zealand's notably liberal Anglican Church has picked a man who opposed same-sex blessings to become the new dean of Wellington.

The Rev David Rowe will head the ministry at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, just a stone's throw from Parliament, which this month moved to expunge homosexual convictions, and in 2013 voted to allow same-sex marriage.

In October 2016 a letter from 83 evangelical leaders in Britain urged the Church of England to affirm "the marriage of one man with one woman as the only context in which physical expression is to be given to our sexuality".

More here-

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/102971549/wellingtons-new-anglican-dean-was-signatory-to-letter-opposing-gay-blessings

Newport Beach Episcopal church reopens after a three-year battle

From Los Angeles-

They had been waiting for the moment for years.

After the sermon, and before Communion, their priest, the Rev. Canon Cindy Voorhees, stood before them in resplendent white vestments and proclaimed simply but exuberantly, "Welcome to St. James."

From pews that had sat empty for three years, a packed house at St. James Episcopal Church in Newport Beach rose Sunday to embrace Voorhees like a rock star with cheers and whistles.

It was the first service since 2015 at the church, which had been locked and mired in an emotional ecclesiastical and legal battle as the past bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles twice tried to sell the land to developers, incurring church sanctions before his retirement. A flock stayed together, following Voorhees to services at a park, in a museum and, for the last year, a community room at Newport Beach City Hall.


The past was inescapable Sunday, but so was the present.

Sue Rawlings brought her Havanese, Rawlie, as she always does — dogs are welcome at St. James' Mass — and without prompting the little dog, with red bows in her silky ears, trotted down the aisle directly to Rawlings' usual pew — to the right and two rows from the front.


More here-

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-church-reopens-20180409-story.html

Appeals court delivers victory for Episcopalians in decade-long church property dispute

From Ft. Worth (I know it's "old" news but still)-

The latest court ruling in the decade-long battle between two groups that both claim to be the true Fort Worth Episcopal Diocese went in favor of the group that has remained loyal to the national church.

But attorneys for the group that broke away in 2008 vow to bring the case back to the Texas Supreme Court for another look.

Both groups call themselves the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and seek ownership of about $100 million in church property in a 24-county area.


The 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth said in a ruling issued Thursday that a lower court overstepped its bounds in 2015 when it overruled the Episcopal Church's decision about which group was authorized to represent the Episcopal Diocese.

Read more here:

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article208170879.html#storylink=cpy

On Vacation. We'll be back next week

Rwanda closes thousands of churches in bid for more control

From The Washington Post-

Rwanda’s government has closed thousands of churches and dozens of mosques as it seeks to assert more control over a vibrant religious community whose sometimes makeshift operations, authorities say, have threatened the lives of followers.

President Paul Kagame has said he was shocked by the high number of churches in this small East African country. “700 churches in Kigali?” he said of houses of worship in the nation’s capital in March. “Are these boreholes (deep wells) that give people water? I don’t think we have as many boreholes. Do we even have as many factories? This has been a mess!”

Kagame said Rwanda doesn’t need so many houses of worship, claiming that such a high number is only fit for bigger, more developed economies that have the means to sustain them.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/rwanda-closes-thousands-of-churches-in-bid-for-more-control/2018/04/04/1a758880-37f0-11e8-af3c-2123715f78df_story.html?utm_term=.3363f0f7cbc5

Climbers scale the tower at 90-year-old St. Paul's Episcopal Church

From North Carolina-

The last time anyone scaled the 90-foot bell tower of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Winston-Salem was nearly a century ago when it was built.

And they surely weren’t doing it with iPads in hand, like rappellers did Tuesday at the property on Summit Street.

“While rappelling, they’re identifying types of damage and how severe and marking it on the tablet,” local architect Joe Oppermann said. “We’re giving this building a physical, to use a medical analogy. We’re looking carefully at the masonry and the mortar joints to see how it’s all holding up.”

Oppermann’s firm prepared digital drawings of the building’s structure, based on the original blueprints, so that experts could use the iPads to map places in the stone that were problematic.

More here-

http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/climbers-scale-the-tower-at--year-old-st-paul/article_145b866a-479d-5b6e-8548-f062d9a4b8c8.html

Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute but a devoted disciple who supported Jesus financially and spiritually, scholars say

From The Independent-

If there’s a feminist figure from the Bible for the #MeToo era, it could very well be Mary Magdalene.

The major character in the life of Jesus was long maligned in the West and portrayed as a reformed former prostitute. But scholars have adopted a different approach more recently, viewing her as a strong, independent woman who supported Jesus financially and spiritually.

The New Testament tells how Jesus cast demons out of her. She then accompanied Jesus in his ministry around the Galilee, before witnessing his crucifixion, burial and resurrection in Jerusalem, which is being commemorated by Christians this week and next. The Roman Catholic Church and Western Christian churches observe Easter on Sunday, Eastern Orthodox Christians a week later. 

More here-

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mary-magdalene-feminism-metoo-jesus-disciples-apostle-christianity-judaism-pope-francis-vatican-a8281731.html

What makes A Wrinkle in Time Christian?

From Christian Century-


Works of art can become holy to people, and these “sacred texts” are miracles. A book, a song, a film, an image created by someone decades or centuries ago, is picked up and read or heard or seen—and in this encounter, something opens up for us. Something in the world makes a little more sense; we make a little more sense. As our life goes on we refer back to that text again and again, and with each reference it becomes more and more holy. Perhaps we believe that this holiness is intrinsic to the text, to the artist, to some faith or hope we share with them—and that, somehow, we swim in the same pool of faith or hope or truth or knowledge.

Such texts also have a way of becoming the property of a dominant culture, signifying cultural and theological values and assumptions. Interpretation of the symbols in these texts, from the Exodus to Bilbo Baggins, are then filtered through ideas of fidelity to the authoritative text. Some of us who read those texts, imagine ourselves within them, and then interpret them in ways that draw outside the lines of these dominant discourses can find ourselves perceived as lacking in spiritual or intellectual depth, or accused of importing our cultures into something alien to us.

More here-

https://www.christiancentury.org/article/film/what-makes-wrinkle-time-christian

Easter 'surprise' greets members at St. Paul's Episcopal Church

From Lansing-

Members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church had an Easter surprise waiting for them when they walked into the century-old building on Sunday morning.

They expected to see the reception hall set up for Sunday service, as it had been over the past year while work continued on the elegant worship space rendered unsafe by a wind storm.

Instead, the Rev. Karen Lewis ushered them into the stained glass-adorned sanctuary that had been off limits since March 8, 2017.

"It was quite the surprise; very few people were aware," said Joseph Lehning, a member of the church's facilities task force. "They came in and saw the hall set up for a reception. Just seeing the reaction of people when they came in (was gratifying). You could see it on their faces – the jubilation, the surprise."

The church received an occupancy permit for the renovated sanctuary on Thursday, nearly 13 months after the wall of the church facing West Ottawa Street began pulling away from the rest of the building amid strong winds.

More here-

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2018/04/01/easter-st-pauls-episcopal-church-lansing/476769002/

Democrats Are Christians, Too

From The New York Times-

Now that Stormy Daniels has confirmed on national television that Donald Trump initiated sex with her just months after his third wife gave birth to their child, at least half the country is asking: Surely this is a porn star too far for white evangelical Christians, right?

Wrong.

As we celebrate Easter Sunday, nearly 18 months after Mr. Trump won the presidency with about 80 percent of the white evangelical vote, surveys show him retaining nearly all of that support. In contrast, white evangelicals re-elected George W. Bush in 2004 with 78 percent of their votes, but by May 2006 their approval had slid to 55 percent. And that was after Mr. Bush had delivered, in late 2005 and early 2006, the Supreme Court appointments of both John Roberts and Samuel Alito.

The resilient support for Mr. Trump is hard to square with a constituency best known for trumpeting “family values” and proclaiming the nation’s moral decline. It also belies the idea that a record-high percentage of white evangelicals voted for Mr. Trump in 2016 simply because they could not bring themselves to cast ballots for Hillary Clinton.

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/31/opinion/sunday/trump-evangelicals-christians-easter.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Study Theology, Even If You Don't Believe in God

From The Atlantic-

When I first told my mother—a liberal, secular New Yorker—that I wanted to cross an ocean to study for a bachelor’s degree in theology, she was equal parts aghast and concerned. Was I going to become a nun, she asked in horror, or else one of “those” wingnuts who picketed outside abortion clinics? Was I going to spend hours in the Bodleian Library agonizing over the number of angels that could fit on the head of a pin? Theology, she insisted, was a subject by the devout, for the devout; it had no place in a typical liberal arts education.

Her view of the study of theology is far from uncommon. While elite universities like Harvard and Yale offer vocational courses at their divinity schools, and nearly all universities offer undergraduate majors in the comparative study of religions, few schools (with the exceptions of historically Catholic institutions like Georgetown and Boston College) offer theology as a major, let alone mandate courses in theology alongside other “core” liberal arts subjects like English or history. Indeed, the study of theology has often run afoul of the legal separation of church and state. Thirty-seven U.S. states have laws limiting the spending of public funds on religious training. In 2006, the Supreme Court case Locke v. Davey upheld the decision of a Washington State scholarship program to withhold promised funding from an otherwise qualified student after learning that he had decided to major in theology at a local Bible College.

More here-

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/study-theology-even-if-you-dont-believe-in-god/280999/?utm_source=atlfb

Why good Christians must disavow Trump

From NY Daily News-

Back in 2017, when asked if he wanted the President to embody the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress replied unequivocally, "Absolutely not."

Fast forward several months, and on this Easter weekend, the question must be asked again — only this time, to everyone who claims to revere the teachings of Christianity and believe in the power of personal moral responsibility, as embodied by the world's most powerful individual.

A picture recently surfaced of porn star Stormy Daniels taking a lie detector test. The results support her claim that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006. Last week, her attorney reported that other women have contacted him, claiming to have similar stories about sexual relationships with Trump.

Former Playboy model Karen McDougal has filed a suit that would allow her to discuss her alleged 2006 affair with Trump. And reality television star Summer Zervos's defamation suit against Trump is being allowed to proceed. She alleges that he kissed and groped her against her will. The issue is not merely one of personal sexual ethics, but of misogyny and assault.

More here-

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/good-christians-disavow-trump-article-1.3906225

How Easter became a #MeToo moment

From CNN-

But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense."
-- Luke 24:11

The men refused to listen to her story. She was publicly smeared as a whore. And when she emerged as a celebrated advocate, powerful men tried to silence her because she threatened their status.
Nevertheless she persisted.

The woman we're talking about, though, is not a leader in the #MeToo movement -- the viral
campaign raising awareness about sexual assault and harassment against women. She is Mary Magdalene, the first person Jesus appeared to after his resurrection, according to the New Testament, and the first person to preach the good news that he had been raised from the dead.

For billions of Christians around the world, Easter Sunday is a celebration of a risen savior. Yet what happened to Mary Magdalene shows that Easter can also be seen as something else -- a #MeToo moment, some pastors and biblical scholars say.

They say Easter is also a story about how charismatic female leaders such as Mary Magdalene -- and even Jesus himself -- were victimized by some of the same behavior that sparked the #MeToo movement: the sexually predatory behavior of men, the intimidation of women and an orchestrated attempt to silence women who drew too much attention when they spoke up.

More here-

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/30/world/easter-metoo-jesus/index.html

The Easter Effect and How It Changed the World

From The Wall Street Journal-

In the year 312, just before his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge won him the undisputed leadership of the Roman Empire, Constantine the Great had a heavenly vision of Christian symbols. That augury led him, a year later, to end all legal sanctions on the public profession of Christianity.

Or so a pious tradition has it.

But there’s a more mundane explanation for Constantine’s decision: He was a politician who had shrewdly decided to join the winning side. By the early 4th century, Christians likely counted for between a quarter and a half of the population of the Roman Empire, and their exponential growth seemed likely to continue.

How did this happen? How did a ragtag band of nobodies from the far edges of the Mediterranean world become such a dominant force in just two and a half centuries? The historical sociology of this extraordinary phenomenon has been explored by Rodney Stark of Baylor University, who argues that Christianity modeled a nobler way of life than what was on offer elsewhere in the rather brutal society of the day. In Christianity, women were respected as they weren’t in classical culture and played a critical role in bringing men to the faith and attracting converts. In an age of plagues, the readiness of Christians to care for all the sick, not just their own, was a factor, as was the impressive witness to faith of countless martyrs. Christianity also grew from within because Christians had larger families, a byproduct of their faith’s prohibition of contraception, abortion and infanticide.

More here-

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-easter-effect-and-how-it-changed-the-world-1522418701?emailToken=e7174aed99ae34ccc989c1fa9baebf1dwubyRg5%2F9izIx%2FQw9l2WsXN1PyAdyRuzCFQD3juXDqDJmgAjH0pI16p%2FaZrfkZbtb5dgjhDpqHGu6YJGJLyBGfZsEFwn%2BmYAf6uQAivAF6E%3D