Latest Articles
Judge rules intelligent design is not science: The Dover, Pennsylvania, case
In the closely watched Dover, Pennsylvania, case over whether intelligent design theory may be taught in science classrooms, a federal judge has ruled that ID instruction, because of its creationist roots, would violate the First Amendment ban on promoting religious beliefs.
Post-hurricane donors show record generosity: Near $3 billion given
The outpouring of private charity to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and two sister storms now ranks as the most generous in American history, surpassing donations after September 11, accord...
Deaths, slow or massive, were the news in 2005: The year in review
It is said that death waits for no one and makes no appointments....
Tsunami encourages peace in Aceh: One year after the disaster
The violence of nature in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, appears to have stemmed a 30-year civil conflict that had made the area one of the most militarized places on earth.
Churches worry about spiking energy costs: Energy Department predicts higher heating bills
The soaring cost of keeping the sanctuary warm this winter has congregations fretting....
Baptist universities face watershed changes: New presidents at three large schools
Three of the largest Baptist universities in the U.S. have each chosen a different strategy in selecting the president who will shape the school’s future.
Georgia Baptists, Mercer settle on separation terms: Both sides pledge amicable end to relationship
Mercer University and the Georgia Baptist Convention have agreed to terms that will end their 172-year-old relationship....
Jewish groups say Iran deserves sanctions for Holocaust remarks: Ahmadinejad calls Holocaust a myth
American Jewish groups, irate over comments by Iran’s president that the Nazi Holocaust was a myth, are stepping up pressure on the international community to punish Iran for the remarks.
Gifts lift Islam study at Harvard, Georgetown: $20 million gifts from a Saudi prince
Harvard University plans to use a recently announced $20 million donation from a Saudi prince to increase its focus on contemporary Islamic thought and Islam in South and Southeast Asia....
Egypt eases restrictions on repairing churches: Mubarak reforms 19th-century law
Christian churches in Egypt, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, will be able to carry out long-delayed repairs thanks to a decree by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak....
Methodists may accept pope's offer to join statement on salvation: Salvation through grace, reflected in works
Methodist leaders said they plan to accept an invitation from Pope Benedict XVI to join a 1999 statement between Catholics and Lutherans that overcame centuries of division on the nature of salvati...
WCC chief has lost close kin to AIDS: Over 40 million living with HIV worldwide
Samuel Kobia, a Methodist minister from Kenya and general secretary of the World Council of Churches, has been personally affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa....
Briefly noted
Lutheran World Relief has received a $640,104 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help nomadic communities in Niger avert food crises through new approaches that help bring...
Cadets for Christ: Evangelization at the Air Force Academy
A speaker is talking to staff members about leadership and character. “The academy has been isolated and has drifted away from standard air force practice," he says. "If you see anything that doesn’t jibe with standard practice, please question it.” He is no doubt referring to indecent behavior by drunken cadets or incidents of sexual assault. The most recent controversy, however, has nothing to do with violence or drunkenness among cadets. It's about religion.
Where was God? An interview with David Bentley Hart
David Hart’s 2003 book The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth (Eerdmans) was widely touted as a theological tour de force....
Home grown: Church and state in China
In antiquity China acquired a beautiful name, Shen-zhou, which literally means “state of God.” Unfortunately, the title probably was used as a political term meaning that God had give...
Job description: A purpose for the ordained pastor
Does life have any direction or purpose, any telos?...
Bubble-wrapped: Americans and the American media
Newsweek magazine’s cover story “Bush in the Bubble” (December 10) features an image of the president trapped inside a bubble. It’s an insightful story that does not go far enough....
You can look it up: Marty in Wikipedialand
Told that there is an online encyclopedia, I did the natural thing: I looked to see how it treated me. Of course, I hoped to find something like this:...