(ANALYSIS) Many Bible readings during Christmas services will recount that the infant Jesus escaped murder at the hands of paranoid King Herod because Egypt provided safe refuge to the fleeing Holy Family (per Matthew 2:13-15).
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Five years after a devastating fire, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will reopen this weekend, showing off its rebuilt ceilings and new stonework. The cathedral’s interior reconstruction, erasing somber memories of its 2019 fire, is a major step forward despite scaffolding and cranes still working on the damaged exterior.
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Why are so many young men converting to Orthodoxy? Men seek the beauty and strength found in Orthodox Christianity and many are driven to convert — no matter what. The women in their lives? They may feel like they’re in the “passenger seat” of that car.
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(REVIEW) Netflix has put out a movie about the life of Mary just in time for Christmas. For those who want a modern retelling of Mary and the Christmas story that lives up to its potential, “Mary” is sure to disappoint. For those who simply want to enjoy a reverent take on the Christmas story that has a place at the table in a world of endless secular content, this might be just what the angels ordered.
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(ANALYSIS) Year after year, Juan Diego's tilma is viewed by an estimated 20 million pilgrims, with more than 10 million visiting the basilica close to Dec. 12 — the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico and the Americas. Around the world, throngs march in parades and sacred processions behind copies of this iconic Marian image.
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(ANALYSIS) The Episcopal Church has posted some new data related to the life of the church in 2023. From a purely quantitative perspective, no denomination is better than the Episcopalians. Being able to triangulate a variety of trends is the ideal way to get a complete picture of what’s happening in those churches across the United States.
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The National Leadership Team of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has written an encyclical to address frequently asked questions about the state of the EPC, its organization, doctrinal issues, and “direct criticisms” after both MinistryWatch and Christianity Today published articles about concerns and issues within the EPC.
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As Americans make their Christmas plans, slightly less than half say they usually attend a church service during the holiday season. A new study finds U.S. adults are split on whether they’ll be at church sometime this Christmas — 47% say they typically attend church at Christmastime, while 48% say they do not, and 5% aren’t sure.
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High Church parishes saw ethnic minorities as “not good enough” or unworthy. Charismatic evangelical churches were hostile towards Black leaders. And traditional rural conservative churches viewed anyone not white with suspicion, classing them as “foreign.” Only the progressive urban church was a truly welcoming and diverse space.
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The autopsy reports reveal that each of the deceased sustained multiple gunshot wounds from behind. This pattern of injury indicates that the young men were either fleeing or not directly engaging at the time they were fatally shot.
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A native of the Dallas area, Associate Pastor Scott Turner previously played football and ran track at the University of Illinois. He was drafted as a cornerback by the Washington Redskins in 1995 to begin an eight-year NFL career that included stops with the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. He continues to serve as a senior advisor to the NFL’s executive vice president of Football Operations.
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Russian authorities have arrested a pastor for preaching that Christians should not fight in the invasion against Ukraine “on the basis of Holy Scripture,” according to a recent report from a Norwegian human rights organization.
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A former student who suffered severe injuries at Asbury University in Kentucky last year has filed a lawsuit for negligence, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Isabella Willingham was found unconscious in her room in November 2023 with cuts, bruises and other injuries.
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(TRAVEL) Barring some extraordinary archeological findings (I'm not ruling that out), we will never know for sure. But the Bible and Judea provide some clues. Today's visitors to Israel have the chance to learn more about the Bible-wine connection through the new “Wines of the Bible Route.” The route journeys through Judea and traces the viticultural history of the area. Judea lies between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and includes two wine regions.
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(ANALYSIS) Whatever their partisan preferences, Americans can agree that the coming four years under President Donald Trump will bring major disruptions and contentions in politics. How might that affect religion?
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The mission didn’t go as planned. Twenty years ago, a team of Freed-Hardeman University graduates moved to the capital of this South American nation of 6.8 million people. Trained by Great Cities Missions, they followed a time-tested blueprint used by the 48-year-old ministry, which seeks to establish lighthouses — strong, thriving churches — in major cities across Latin America.
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Despite fears of persecution, the asylum claims of Iranian Christians have consistently been refused by Georgian authorities, a new report says. The claim, in a 24-page joint report by Article18, CSW, Open Doors and Middle East Concern, is based on interviews with the asylum-seekers and their lawyers. The report found that one-fifth of asylum-seekers in Georgia are Iranian, but few have gained entry.
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(OPINION) And so, friends, we find ourselves again amid the season when we’re called to give thanks, to celebrate joy unspeakable and full of glory, to count our blessings. Of course we might give thanks and be filled with joy the whole year. But we forget. We get distracted. We grow tired, cross and hard-bitten. Irritations grind us down.
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(ANALYSIS) The genre faces a demographic cliff. The market for faith-based films has always been driven by Christian moms. And as I wrote last year, with fewer women getting married and having kids (and single women increasingly leaving Christianity), that market is inevitably going to shrink. A big shift may actually save the long-term future of faith-based films: The rise of a more masculine American church.
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(ANALYSIS) Cornelius Van Til was a distinguished theologian who left liberal Princeton Seminary in 1929 to join the faculty of newly-formed Westminster Theological Seminary, where he taught for the next half-century. We are approaching the golden anniversary of what to me is his most readable book, “Christian Apologetics.” My Christmas present to readers is a quick look at it and six other Van Til books all published by P&R.
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