MANY PROFESSORS TAKE DIM VIEW OF EVANGELICALS. About half of nonevangelical university faculty acknowledge they don't have warm feelings about evangelical Christians, a new survey shows. A survey released by the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish & Community Research found 53 percent said they have “cool/unfavorable feelings” toward evangelical Christians. In comparison, 30 percent said they had favorable feelings toward them, 9 percent were neutral, 4 percent said they didn't know and 4 percent refused to answer. One-third of non-Mormon faculty reported unfavorable views of Mormons. Views about other religious groups were more positive, with Muslims getting a 22 percent unfavorable rating, followed by atheists (18 percent), Catholics (13 percent), persons not practicing any religion (10 percent), nonevangelical Christians (9 percent), Buddhists (4 percent) and Jews (3 percent). Faculty from any particular group were excluded from rating other members of their faith. Results of the online survey were based on a sample of 1,269 faculty members at 712 four-year colleges and universities. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER HEROD'S TOMB. Israeli archaeologists believe they have discovered the tomb of King Herod. Professor Ehud Netzer from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem said his team discovered the tomb during ongoing excavations at Herodium, a once-magnificent palace located nine miles south of Jerusalem, in what is now the West Bank. Pointing to intricately carved remains from the excavation, Netzer said his team discovered a grave, fragments from a sarcophagus and a mausoleum on Mount Herodium's northeastern slope. “The location and the unique nature of the findings, as well as the historical record leave no doubt that this was Herod's burial site,” Netzer said. Herod, who was appointed by the Romans, ruled Judea from 37 to 4 B.C. The New Testament says Jesus was born during Herod's reign and Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt because the king planned to kill the infant Jesus.
METHODIST BISHOPS TABLE GAY POLICY CHANGE. United Methodist bishops have tabled a proposal that would have loosened restrictions in the church's policies on homosexuality. The bishops, meeting near Myrtle Beach, S.C., decided to keep intact the church's current policy, adopted in 1972, that calls homosexual activity “incompatible with Christian teaching.” A bishops' subcommittee had proposed language saying the church does not condone sexual activity “outside the bonds of a faithful, loving and committed relationship between two persons; marriage, where legally possible.” The bishops' administrative committee tabled the measure because it “would not have been for the betterment of the church at this time,” said Committee Chair Robert Hayes of Oklahoma, United Methodist News Service reported. Because the issue was tabled, it never received a full vote by the assembled bishops, and it will not be presented to the church's General Conference meeting, set for summer 2008 in Fort Worth.