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What does The Da Vinci Code have to do with a letter written by the archbishop of Alexandria in the year 367? As it turns out, quite a lot.Call it part of the Gnostic connection, a long, fine thread of influence connecting contemporary cultural debates with an important struggle in the early Christian movement to define the meaning of Jesus’s life and teaching. In that struggle-arguably the most important waged by self-styled correct believers against so-called heretics-orthodox Christians battled Gnostic Christians over their respective interpretations of divinity, human nature, sin, salvation, and other crucial theological and philosophical points. The soldiers…
From its opening trumpet fanfare to its closing solo soprano voice, Zoltan Kodaly’s "Te Deum" is a riveting, highly dramatic and sometimes showy composition that pulls no musical punches.It also proved a brilliant showcase for this weekend’s performances by the University of Wisconsin Choral Union and Chamber Orchestra, one that earned cheers and a standing ovation from its Sunday audience.Read more.
(AgapePress) – The man who served as a spiritual guide for one of the most notorious serial killers in modern history chronicles the murderer’s brief journey of faith in a new book called Dark Journey, Deep Grace (Leafwood Publishing, 2006). Working with co-author Lindy Adams, the Christian minister traces a convicted multiple murderer’s path from sin and repentance to redemption. Read more.
Everybody knows Americans are big givers. But their charitable impulses keep generating surprises. Consider just a few conclusions from recent research: • Charitable giving plays an even larger role in the economy than is suggested by some $260 billion in annual contributions. Each dollar of giving appears to create $19 of extra national income, according to a book released this past weekend. • Demand for nonprofit services gets proportionately bigger, not smaller, as a locality’s income rises, a Federal Reserve economist finds.Read More
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (BP)–The third largest criminal activity in the world is growing, church leaders, social groups and politicians were told at a recent conference on human trafficking.More than 200 people from across the country attended the second Preventing Abuse Conference to network and learn how to combat the "evil practice" of human trafficking, as described by President Bush in a letter to conference attendees.
Parents who think their children are growing up too fast may not be simply lamenting the passage of time. Child development experts agree that physical and emotional changes that would have happened to teenagers years ago are now common among children age 8 to 12, or “tweens,” according to the Associated Press.
T hose sleigh bells ringing might as well signal stress and gluttony. With all the parties you need to attend, presents to be wrapped and people to please, the holidays can certainly take their toll. But they can also be surprisingly good for you — really. Here’s how.
This week two very smart Christian believers — one by extending an invitation, the other by accepting it — have helped the fight against AIDS and burnished their respective reputations. But in the process, they also created a defining dilemma for the Religious Right. Read more.
LOS ANGELES — Scot McKnight, a religious studies professor, was teaching a number of years ago when he had an "aha" moment.McKnight had just read aloud the Magnificat, the Virgin Mary’s hymn of praise from the Gospel of Luke. "What kind of woman would have said this?" McKnight asked his students at North Park University in Chicago. Read more.The Mary We Never Knew
REVIEWThe Passion of The Christ was an independent movie, paid for entirely out of Mel Gibson’s pocket. The Prince of Egypt was an animated film that emphasized the common ground between Jews, Christians and Muslims. The Last Temptation of Christ was a low-budget art-house flick based on a heretical novel.You would have to go back at least as far as King David, the mid-1980s box-office flop starring Richard Gere, to find another live-action movie produced by a major Hollywood studio and based directly on the Bible. And you would have to go back even further—to the bathrobe epics of the…