NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — While staunch defenders of human rights and religious liberty for all, Southern Baptists rarely mentioned religious persecution in convention resolutions until the 1990s. That coincides with increased calls by social conservatives, including the newly conservative leadership…
Fear of flu prompts panic in cautious congregations
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Hand sanitizer appears at the sanctuary entrance. Worshippers greet each other with a cautionary bow rather than a warm handshake or hug. Absences increase in Bible classes. The H1N1 flu pandemic is shaking up religious communities and…
FAITH DIGEST: American Christians dabble in New Age
Nearly one-fourth of the self-identified Christians in the United States delve into a range of Eastern or New Age beliefs, a new study shows. Asked about their supernatural experiences, significant minorities of American Christian respondents said they believe in astrology…
Obama’s Muslim outreach named top religion story of 2009
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The nation’s religion journalists named President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world as the top religion story of the year. Members of the Religion Newswriters Association ranked the June speech in Cairo, in which the president quoted…
Use the Quran to share Christ with Muslim, veteran missionary suggests
ANGLETON, Texas — Winning Muslim converts to Christianity is difficult, but veteran missionary Kevin Greeson knows a way—start with the Quran. Greeson, who has served 16 years with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board working to start Christian movements among…
RIGHT or WRONG? Emerging Church
Our church just hired a pastor who is young enough to be the child of many members. His language about “the emerging church,” “postmodernism” and “interfaith dialogue” distresses older members. Communication and context seem to be the issues in conflict…
The Christians as the Romans Saw Them
By David Gushee My Christmas week reflections are inspired by a brilliant 25-year-old book by historian Robert L. Wilken. I picked up The Christians as the Romans Saw Them in hopes of finding resources for my research on the sanctity…
Bearing a Christian witness as the war expands
By David Gushee I have decided that it is not my place as one offering Christian moral witness to endorse any nation’s wars, including my own. This is a change for me. In previous times I have weighed in either…
Giving thanks in a troubled land
By David Gushee Thanksgiving week is upon us. The annual celebration centered on gratitude for God’s blessings — for our nation, for family and all other good gifts — comes to a troubled, hungry, divided nation this year. Thanksgiving was…