INSIDER
Trump boosts a hard-right Christian worldview that paints the election as 'spiritual warfare'
Read full article: Trump boosts a hard-right Christian worldview that paints the election as 'spiritual warfare'Donald Trumpโs campaign has nourished a fusion of hard-right politics and theology to energize evangelical Christians in swing states.
Asian American evangelicals' theology is conservative. But that doesn't mean they vote that way
Read full article: Asian American evangelicals' theology is conservative. But that doesn't mean they vote that wayAsian American evangelical Christians are an evolving group of voters who are increasingly seeking to distinguish themselves from their white counterparts.
Influential prophesizing pastors believe reelecting Trump is a win in the war of angels and demons
Read full article: Influential prophesizing pastors believe reelecting Trump is a win in the war of angels and demonsAmong the nationโs charismatic Christians, thereโs one highly politicized faction in particular that believes the reelection of former President Donald Trump would be a win in a literal spiritual war of angels in demons.
Pope to meet Papua New Guinea Catholics who embrace both Christianity and Indigenous beliefs
Read full article: Pope to meet Papua New Guinea Catholics who embrace both Christianity and Indigenous beliefsPope Francisโs visit to Papua New Guinea will take him to a remote part of the South Pacific island nation where Christianity is a recent addition to traditional spiritual beliefs developed over millenia that remain deeply ingrained.
Ten Commandments. Multiple variations. Why the Louisiana law raises preferential treatment concerns
Read full article: Ten Commandments. Multiple variations. Why the Louisiana law raises preferential treatment concernsChristians and Jews believe in the Ten Commandments โ just not necessarily the version that will hang in every public school and state-funded college classroom in Louisiana.
Chief justice's Christian reasoning in IVF opinion sparks alarm over church-state separation
Read full article: Chief justice's Christian reasoning in IVF opinion sparks alarm over church-state separationWhen the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children under state law, its chief justice had a higher authority in mind.
Christian conservatives cheer one of their own as Mike Johnson assumes Congress' most powerful seat
Read full article: Christian conservatives cheer one of their own as Mike Johnson assumes Congress' most powerful seatEvangelical Christian conservatives have long had allies in top Republican leadership in Congress.
Israel may uproot ancient Christian mosaic near Armageddon. Where it could go next sparks outcry
Read full article: Israel may uproot ancient Christian mosaic near Armageddon. Where it could go next sparks outcryAn ancient Holy Land mosaic inscribed with an early reference to Jesus as God is at the center of a controversy that has riled archaeologists.
Easter Sunday services bring hope as conflict continues around the world
Read full article: Easter Sunday services bring hope as conflict continues around the worldWith so much going on in the world right now, many Detroiters attending church services on Easter Sunday say they are reflecting and hopeful.
LGBTQ youth of faith pray, bond at 'Beloved Arise' group
Read full article: LGBTQ youth of faith pray, bond at 'Beloved Arise' groupJessika Sessoms grew up in a conservative Black evangelical family, attended Christian schools, and often heard that being gay was an abomination, until she understood that she was queer when she was studying to become a missionary at Liberty University.
University of Michigan professors, scent expert lead interactive virtual workshops during pandemic
Read full article: University of Michigan professors, scent expert lead interactive virtual workshops during pandemicTwo University of Michigan professors partnered with the 'nose of Ann Arbor' to bring students innovative, scent-based programming.
Vatican bars gay union blessing, says God 'can't bless sin'
Read full article: Vatican bars gay union blessing, says God 'can't bless sin'(Tiziana Fabi/Pool photo via AP)ROME โ The Vatican declared Monday that the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions since God โcannot bless sin.โThe Vaticanโs orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions. Since gay unions aren't intended to be part of that plan, they can't be blessed by the church, the document said. Francis has endorsed providing gay couples with legal protections in same-sex unions, but that was in reference to the civil sphere, not within the church. At the time, Argentine lawmakers were considering approving gay marriage, which the Catholic Church opposes. AdSpeaking of families with gay children, he said: โYou canโt kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this.
International evangelical pastor Luis Palau dies at 86
Read full article: International evangelical pastor Luis Palau dies at 86(AP Photo/Marianne Armshaw, File)PORTLAND, Ore. โ Luis Palau, an evangelical pastor who was born in Argentina and went on to work with Billy Graham before establishing his own powerhouse international ministry, died Thursday. The Luis Palau Association said he died at his home in Portland, Oregon. โThis is hard news, but Luis is experiencing the beauty of the Lord face to face.โBorn to an affluent family in Buenos Aires, Palau rose from obscurity to become one of the most well-known international Christian evangelists. How many people weโve reached with the Gospel.โHis radio programs, including the international Spanish-language โLuis Palau Responde,โ are broadcast on 3,500 stations in 48 countries, and his Portland-based Luis Palau Association organizes dozens of events each year on five continents. โLuis Palau was the Apostle Paul to the Spanish-speaking world.
The Latest: Pope honors massacre victims at Baghdad church
Read full article: The Latest: Pope honors massacre victims at Baghdad churchPope Francis delivers his speech during a meeting with bishops and priests, at the Sayidat al-Nejat (Our Lady of Salvation) Cathedral, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 5, 2021. The pontiffโs landmark visit has been months in the making and is the first papal visit to Iraq, one that eluded his predecessors. The Alitalia flight, with both Vatican and Iraqi flags, carrying the pope and his delegation landed just before 2 p.m. (1100GMT). Dozens of Christians are gathering at the Church of the Virgin Mary in Baghdad hours before Pope Francis was due to land in Iraq for a first papal visit to the war-weary country. The papal visit has raised alarm among public health experts, who fear large crowds will inevitably gather to see the pope.
Iraq's struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visit
Read full article: Iraq's struggling Christians hope for boost from pope visitIraqi Christians place a cross on a church in Qaraqosh, Iraq, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Iraq's Christians are hoping that a historic visit by Pope Francis in March will help boost their community's struggle to survive. Iraqโs Christian communities in the area were dealt a severe blow when they were scattered by the IS onslaught in 2014, further shrinking the country's already dwindling Christian population. Many hope their struggle to endure will get a boost from a historic visit by Pope Francis planned in March. The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, estimated that 1 million Christians have left Iraq since 2003 and about 500,000 remained.
Election turmoil splits West Virginia city's evangelicals
Read full article: Election turmoil splits West Virginia city's evangelicalsTravis Lowe, second from right, pastor of Crossroads Church in Bluefield, W.Va., raises his arm during services Sunday Jan. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)BLUEFIELD, W.Va. โ If youโre Christian in Bluefield โ and most everyone is, in this small city tucked into the Appalachian Mountains โ you have your choice. Or you can venture up East River Mountain to Crossroads Church, where Pastor Travis Lowe eschews Bradfordโs fiery political rhetoric, seeking paths to Christian unity. AdJoe Biden carried parts of Bluefield itself, small splotches of blue in the sea of red that is West Virginia. But Mercer County gave more than three-quarters of its votes to Trump, and Bradford and his pronouncements are very much in line with that.
Christianity on display at Capitol riot sparks new debate
Read full article: Christianity on display at Capitol riot sparks new debateThe Christian imagery and rhetoric on view during this months Capitol insurrection are sparking renewed debate about the societal effects of melding Christian faith with an exclusionary breed of nationalism. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)WASHINGTON โ The Christian imagery and rhetoric on view during this monthโs Capitol insurrection are sparking renewed debate about the societal effects of melding Christian faith with an exclusionary breed of nationalism. The rise of whatโs often called Christian nationalism has long prompted pushback from leaders in multiple denominations, with the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty forming the Christians Against Christian Nationalism coalition in 2019. โBut as a Christian, my highest allegiance is to Christ.โYet some supporters of former President Donald Trump say that denunciations of Christian nationalism are a way of attacking them politically. AdโThe fact that we saw QAnon, white supremacy and white Christianity all carried together in a violent attack on the Capitol means that particularly white Christians have got some real soul-searching to do,โ said Jones, author of two books on white Christianity in America.
Bipartisan Christian group forms super PAC to oppose Trump
Read full article: Bipartisan Christian group forms super PAC to oppose TrumpDubbed Not Our Faith, the new super PAC plans to roll out six-figure TV and digital ads focused on Christian voters โ particularly the evangelical and Catholic voters who helped power Trump to victory in 2016. Urging Christians to break from Trump, the ad states that they โdonโt need Trump to save them. โTrump eked out 2016 with unprecedented support from white evangelicals and, important to note, a really strong showing among Catholics. Whether Biden backersโ bid to peel away evangelical support from Trump is making headway remains to be seen. But the new PAC sees room for a wide-ranging connection with Christian voters beyond Trumpโs white evangelical base.
Pope Francis loves nouns but is 'allergic' to adjectives
Read full article: Pope Francis loves nouns but is 'allergic' to adjectivesCNN, Vatican TVVATICAN CITY - The Pope wants us to stop using so many adjectives. In a speech on Monday to the Dicastery for Communications, the Vatican's communications authority, Pope Francis urged people not to describe Christianity with qualifiers and adjectives. "We have fallen into the culture of adjectives and adverbs, and we have forgotten the strength of nouns," he said. The term "Christian" is strong and authentic enough as it is, without the need for adjectives, he said. He's also active on Twitter, and even tweeted out a reminder on Wednesday to "call people by their name, as the Lord does with us, and to give up using adjectives."