(ABP) — One's socioeconomic status can influence how people read and interpret the Bible — and often how they will act on it, according to some Christian leaders. {youtube}451MJGDsxUE{/youtube} Miguel De La Torre, associate professor of social ethics at the…
Missiologist: Christians in developing world interpret Bible differently
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Christians in the developing nations read Scripture differently than their brothers and sister in the affluent West, according to missiologist Caleb Oladipo. Caleb Oladipo “The way we read the Scriptures in the Western world particularly is…
Black Baptist pastor asks SBC to repent of racism
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention has not kept a promise made in 1995 to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone…
Black Baptist pastor asks SBC to repent of racism
ARLINGTON, Texas (ABP) — A prominent African-American Baptist pastor says the Southern Baptist Convention has not kept a promise made in 1995 to "eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry." Dwight McKissic Dwight McKissic, pastor…
Former Baptist pastor gets 10 years for molestation
Editor's note: This story was updated April 10 to correct an error in the 12th paragraph. FRANKLIN, Ind. (ABP) — A former Southern Baptist pastor in central Indiana has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting a 15-year-old…
U.S. teens’ pocket change gives South African village access to clean water
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — About 300 families in a South African village soon will have access to clean water, thanks to pocket change collected last year by hundreds of Virginia Baptist youths. A mission team from Bonsack Baptist Church in…
Abuse scandal imperils pope’s drive to reclaim Europe’s Christian heritage
PARIS (RNS) — Days after being elected pope in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI referred to one of Europe’s patron saints, Benedict of Norcia, as he explained his choice of papal name to thousands of pilgrims massed in St. Peter’s Square….
RIGHT or WRONG? Women deacons
Our church is thinking about electing women deacons. But some members claim this is another example of contemporary liberalism taking over our theology. Is this so? Changing a church’s polity always is a challenge. My best advice is to encourage…
Some black church leaders feel jilted by President Obama
WASHINGTON (RNS) — When President Obama was elected, some black pastors — fresh from a campaign that featured extensive outreach to their churches — expected meetings with the president, or at least to be enlisted as informal advisers. For better…
Michigan Hutaree militia a cult, experts say
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (RNS) — When militia expert Jack Kay first ran across a MySpace page for the Michigan-based Hutaree militia six months ago, he thought it was just another group wrapping itself in God and country. But following raids…
Barbie gets ordained, and she has the wardrobe to match
WASHINGTON (RNS) — With her careers as veterinarian, astronaut and U.S. president behind her, Barbie has at last found her true calling — as an Episcopal priest. Julie Blake Fisher, an Episcopal priest in Kent, Ohio, created Episcopal Priest Barbie…
Christians outside the West view Bible differently from affluent westerners
RICHMOND, Va. — Christians in the developing nations read Scripture differently than their brothers and sister in the affluent West, according to missiologist Caleb Oladipo. “The way we read the Scriptures in the western world particularly is through empirical knowledge—that…