JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — The Missouri Baptist Convention has filed an appeal in its ongoing legal battle with five affiliated entities. The MBC continues to seek to overturn revised charters for The Baptist Home, Missouri Baptist University, Missouri Baptist…
Regrets the Averett decision
Your article in the Dec. 9 issue, “Aiming at Southwest Virginia,” reports that the Virginia Baptist Mission Board approved Averett University's proposal to create a program to provide training and theological education to ministers and laity in Southwest Virginia. Such…
Honeycutt, former Southern Seminary president, dies after accident at home
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP) — Roy Honeycutt, retired president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, died Dec. 21, one day after suffering head injuries in a fall at his home in Louisville, Ky. He was 78. Honeycutt, a noted Old Testament scholar,…
Poll shows 44 percent of Americans would curtail Muslims’ civil rights
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Nearly half of all Americans would curtail the civil rights of Muslim-Americans in some way, according to a new survey. In the name of combating potential terrorism, 44 percent of respondents to a Cornell University survey said…
SBC leaders decline to join new ecumenical group
ATLANTA (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention will not join a new ecumenical group designed to bring Catholic, Orthodox, mainline Protestant and evangelical Christians together, according to news reports. A spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board…
Powerful symbol: Christmas trees evolved from centuries-old traditions
By Timothy Harper The Christmas tree remains a powerful symbol for many of us. “Christmas trees probably add more to mark the period of ‘peace on earth, goodwill toward men' than any other product of the soil,” says Ann Kirk-Davis,…
For Protestants, Jesus’ mother is making more than a cameo appearance
By Kim Lawton It's Christmas-and for Protestants, that means it's time for the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, to make her annual cameo appearance in creche sets, carols and children's bathrobed Christmas pageants. But for some Protestant theologians and…
In holy season of light, darkness grips Bethlehem
Leading the way into the Bethlehem Peace Center, Hatem Abu Tarboush, a wiry, 30-year-old tourism agent, remarks: “They're talking about peace. But I don't think there's any peace to talk about.” The center, housed in the old British headquarters on…
Celebrating Christmas
Catholic festival or religious holiday? Christians have celebrated the birth of Christ for hundreds of years, but over the centuries evangelicals and other conservative believers have wondered about the best way to observe it. By Yvonne Betowt Did you know…
My true love gave to me: Want to celebrate Christmas? Resurrect the 12 days
Another View for Dec. 23, 2004 By Patrick Borders For many people, the Christmas season is filled with anything but peace. Too much rushing around. Too much traffic. Too many activities, crowded stores and long lines. Too much stress. Not…
Christian revival shakes the Big Apple
Another view for Dec. 23, 2004 By Tony Carnes They are patriotic, hard-working, mostly Democratic and mainly from immigrant families. They are also born-again Christians. Their faith is increasingly typical of New York City. On Sunday mornings about 1.5 million…
GUEST EDITORIAL: Keeping Christ in Christmas
When did corporate America become responsible for my Christmas cheer? In my 47 years on this earth, it has never occurred to me that I should look to advertising or store clerks for affirmation of my faith. That's what church…