A report sharply critical of Israel could have led to a fight within the church. But the General Assembly averts a battle by toning down some of the language. A week ago, the Presbyterian Church USA seemed headed for a bruising, polarizing battle over a report on the Middle East that sharply criticized Israel
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Presbyterian Church finds middle ground in Middle East debate
The Dalai Lama, who just celebrated his 75th birthday, often refers to the ‘oneness’ of all religions, the idea that all religions preach the same message of love, tolerance and compassion. Historians Karen Asmstrong and Huston Smith agree that major faiths are more alike than not. But in his new book “God is not One,” religion scholar and On Faith panelist Steve Prothero says views by the Dalai Lama, Armstrong and Smith that all religions…Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.
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All religions the same?
Art Remillard When I think of “muscular Christianity,” I don’t immediately imagine the “ body as temple” theologians , as Cliffor d Putney has called them. Yes, the Luther Gulicks gave the movement intellectual heft
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Don’t Mess With the Neo-Macho Christians!
But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree
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Meet me at the Cross… or maybe just an Oak Tree will do?
The Queen has recently given the Sikh Nishkam Centre in Birmingham an award for its exemplary voluntary services to society. The group running the centre is headed by “Bhai Sahib” Mohinder Singh, whom I previously discussed in the “Music of Unity/Politics of Division” article. Bhai Sahib is also the chairman of the British Sikh Consulative Forum (BSCF), and has been heavily involved in numerous charitable and humanitarian activities along with interfaith bridge-building efforts for many years.
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Sikh centre given an award by the Queen
Controversial Islamic televangelist Zakir Naik’s talk at North America’s largest Islamic gathering Saturday night was cancelled.
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Talk by controversial Islamic preacher cancelled
Paul Harvey Ever wondered about the philosophy and business model of the spirituality catch-all website Belief.net. And who exactly owned it anyway? Yeah, neither did I
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Selling God on the Net: Beliefnet’s Affinity Group
It's all coming together for Steven Hyatt. Intentionally or not, the 27-year-old is combining his interest in religion and philosophy, which he studied as a student at the College of Charleston and Winthrop University, his experience as a technician and printer at Imaging Arts on King Street, his artistic eye and his fascination with the Holy City, his adopted home.
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Holy City sanctuaries
“Kouman ou ye?” (“How are you?”) I asked in Creole of the small child planted in front of me. “Pa pi mal” (“Not too bad”) was his response, an adult turn of phrase oddly emanating from the 3-year-old who had taken a wide stance across from me, his arms crossed, his lower lip slightly jutting and twisted, his eyes taking me in with some skepticism.
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Haitians struggle to care for children
A Malaysian reality TV show aims to pick a young Muslim leader in a blend of doctrine and drama that is a natural fit for a nation that has held to Islamic traditions while welcoming Western culture. The 10 young men have washed corpses according to Islamic rites, cried while counseling unwed pregnant women and joined a police crackdown on teenage motorcycle racers — all before judges on national TV.
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So you think you can be an imam?
God uniquely programmed the foods He made for us with a variety of nutrients that your body needs to flourish. Every day, scientists are discovering carcinogens and toxins that the Standard American Diet (SAD) releases into our bodies. The more we learn about nutrition, we learn we should eat the way God planned. Recent research points in the direction of eating mostly “whole foods” *foods that are as close to their natural form as possible)
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Are You Choosing Junk or Nutrition in Your Homeschool?
Justices say UC Hastings College of the Law did not violate the 1st Amendment rights of a Christian group. The school had denied the group official status because it refused to accept ‘all comers.’ A University of California law school’s refusal to give official student group status to a Christian society that excluded gays was a reasonable application of the school’s nondiscrimination policy, the Supreme Court said Monday in a 5-4 ruling.
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Supreme Court rules against UC student group that excluded gays
Chapter 6 Deceptions For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. — Matthew 24:24 From my own experience, and in the observation of many others, we all tend to make the same fundamental errors when it comes to the discernment of deceptions.
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Chapter 6 Methods of Deception
For the next two weeks PRELUDIUM is taking off in a new direction. Barring great mutterings that make it all the way to the mesas in New Mexico and Arizona and the people of the land, there will not be much written here. Instead I may post, if I can find Internet connections, some pictures and comments on a wonderful Pilgrimage the St
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The Journey and the Destination are the Same (more or less).
According to recent surveys, Americans increasingly are describing themselves as unaffiliated with any particular religious tradition. More than 16 percent of those questioned in the biggest of these surveys, the 2007 “U.S. Religious Landscape” report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, say they are unaffiliated:
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Spirituality vs. religion
Chapter 3 The Spirit of the Law Back in the dark ages before I understood and believed the true gospel, I did not understand the spirit of the law. To a legalist, the spirit of the law was where one had internalized the letter of the law; having that law “written on the heart” which in hindsight now is an impossibility
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Chapter 3 The Spirit of the Law
The Archbishop of Canterbury proposed that The Episcopal Church participants in formal ecumenical dialogues between the Anglican Communion and other churches be removed and its participant in the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity Faith and Order (IASCUFO) be recast as a “consultant” and removed as a participant. The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion did as proposed, and sent letters of dismissal and reduction in participation.
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Canon Kearon on Faith and Order: It is about troublesome TEC.
It’s no secret I have quite an aversion to Christian marketing “professionals” that can’t dream up ideas on their own. Instead, they steal pop culture references and logos, throw an ichthus on it and call it “divine revelation.” Huzzah.
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Touchdown Jesus gets struck down by Zeus. Thank God.
What is it with the Brits hushing up any public declaration of faith? The World Cup is underway, of course, and English football (that’s soccer to us American types) star Wayne Rooney was asked at a news conference about why he wears a cross and rosary beads off the field, er, pitch.
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No Religion Please, We’re British
Kantinho do Rev, the blog of the general secretary of the Episcopal / Anglican Church of Brazil is often a source of thoughtful analysis. Priest and lawyer Francisco Silva has written this observation which I am glad to post in its entirety
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Kantinho do rev on the removal of ecumenical representatives
Calling multi-faith expansion the next step, the school will offer training for Muslims and Jews in a program that strains its historic ties to the Methodist Church. In a bow to the growing diversity of America’s religious landscape, the Claremont School of Theology, a Christian institution with long ties to the Methodist Church, will add clerical training for Muslims and Jews to its curriculum this fall, to become, in a sense, the first truly multi-faith American seminary.
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Claremont seminary reaches beyond Christianity
I laughed when I read that a Kansas City colleague, Josef Walker, was quoted joking that interfaith workers are “running around with flashlights in the dark.” Walker’s words appear in “Interactive Faith: The Essential Interreligious Community-Building Handbook,” edited by Bud Heckman.
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Book shines a light on religious diversity
Kelly Baker These days, my brain alternates between at least two or three scholarly things/themes: the 1920s Klan and the apocalypse (and often vampires and religious intolerance, but that is for another day). The first, of course, is quite obvious. I am counting down the days until my manuscript is tied in a bow and shipped to my publisher.
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Is Anything Not a Sign of the Apocalypse?
A couple of weeks ago, The Observer (U.K.) ran a brief editorial arguing that the Anglican Church “must not be complicit in gay persecution in Africa.” The editorial began with the doctrinal statement “Homosexuality is not a sin or a crime.” Normally we don’t concern ourselves too much with the house editorials but this one is different.
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Inventing homophobic bogeymen
PO 2105 :: Sinking Spring, PA 19608 Contact Information Jeff Lebo Chairman of Search Committee hccsearch@live.com Position Description Associate Minister (Youth/Family) Exciting opportunity in a church desiring to grow located 1 hour outside of Philadelphia. Ideal candidate will work with Sr
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Hillside Christian Church Sinking Spring, PA Youth/ Hours
In last week’s post , I shared a list of lies and false beliefs from Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ book, Lies Women Believe . The second part of her book title is, “And the Truth That Sets Them Free.” Today I want to share the list of truths she counters those lies with. There is no marriage God cannot heal.
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Is Divorce Really the Answer? — Part 2
Well, its official. The Archbishop proposed, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion disposed.
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What makes The Episcopal Church so "Special" in the Archbishop’s eyes?