Christianity

Stories 181 - 200 | << Prev   Next >>

Pope to Kids: Spurn 'Spiritual Desert'

Young should change lives of 'quiet despair,' Benedict pleads

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI called on young Christians to revive spirituality by rejecting modern society's greed and materialism, AP reports. At a mass of 350,000 young pilgrims in Sydney, and a global TV audience of millions, the pope called for "a new age in which hope liberates us from...

Obama's Unique Road to Faith
 Obama's Unique
 Road to Faith 
Jul 13, 2008 3:19 PM CDT

Obama's Unique Road to Faith

How the presumptive nominee found a religion, and now seeks a church

(Newser) - As a young man, Barack Obama experienced a lonely, drawn-out crisis of faith—and now finds himself churchless as the whole world watches, Newsweek reports. His father was an atheist Muslim, his mother a Christian who turned secular, and Obama eventually embraced Chicago's Trinity United after years of church-based activism....

Devil, US May Care About Satanist's Custody Fight

Mom wants kids to spend Sunday morning in church instead of with devilish dad

(Newser) - An Indiana man says he is a loving father who just wants to share his faith with his kids—but his Christian ex-wife would prefer their daughters spent Sunday morning in church instead of with their Satanist dad. The custody case raises thorny church and state issues, the Chicago Tribune ...

Ancient Text Casts Doubt on Resurrection

In tablet, scholar sees risen messiah as pre-Jesus theme

(Newser) - A new interpretation of a tablet written in 1st century BC questions the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Times of London reports. One biblical scholar says the text conveys the story of an angel telling a dying Jew, killed by Romans 4 years before Christ's birth, that he...

The Gospel According to Jefferson
The Gospel According to Jefferson
Jul 6, 2008 4:55 PM CDT

The Gospel According to Jefferson

Founding Father cut and pasted his own personal Bible

(Newser) - Thomas Jefferson cut and pasted together his own New Testament, removing everything he refused to believe—like miracles and the resurrection of Jesus, the Los Angeles Times reports. Dubbed the Jefferson Bible, it reflects his deist belief that God created the universe and let it run on its own. But...

Pragmatism Dictates China's Religious Policy

Strategic chip firm given leeway for Christian worship

(Newser) - China officially sanctions religious worship only at state facilities, but the Christian Science Monitor finds that plenty of wiggle room exists in the business world. It profiles one company whose Christian CEO is allowed to put up a church at every worksite. Why such accommodation in a formally atheist state?...

Christian Novel Outstrips Oprah Pick

Somewhat controversial book depicts God as a black woman named "Papa"

(Newser) - Once rejected by multiple mainstream publishers, the slim Christian novel The Shack is flying off shelves, topping the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list. “Everybody that I know has bought at least 10 copies,” says one devotee. The Times looks at a blockbuster built around an unconventional...

Anti-Obama Evangelical Writes Pro-Obama Book

Stephen Mansfield thinks Obama may sway young Christians, though he himself will vote against him

(Newser) - Stephen Mansfield expects to cast his ballot against Barack Obama in November. But that hasn’t stopped him from writing an admiring book about the candidate's religious profile—The Faith of Barack Obama—which argues that the candidate may well steal young evangelical voters away from John McCain. McCain is...

Jordan Cave May Be World's First Church

Unearthed cavern could be oldest place of Christian worship

(Newser) - Archaeologists have found what might be the world’s oldest Christian church in Rihab, Jordan, the BBC reports. The cavern, located under the also-ancient church of St. Georgeous, dates to between 33 and 70 AD, and doubled as a home.

Christian Star Bids Goodbye to Slain Daughter

Chapmans remember tot accidentally killed by brother in memorial

(Newser) - Christian pop star Steven Curtis Chapman and his family yesterday bid goodbye to his 5-year-old daughter in a memorial service that honored a little girl who loved to draw flowers and do dishes "buck naked," People reports. Maria Sue Chapman, one of three daughters Chapman and his wife...

150 Animals to Star in Massive 'Ark' Musical

Where? Where but Branson, Missouri?

(Newser) - Hold on to your camels, folks: A full-blown Biblical gala is opening tonight in Branson, Mo., in the form of Noah—the Musical. The show will feature more than 40 actors and 150 animals, half live, half animatronic, the Economist reports.

Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens
 Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens 
May 14, 2008 10:04 AM CDT

Vatican: OK to Believe in Aliens

If God wants to create aliens, 'we can't limit his freedom,' says astronomer

(Newser) - Believing in God doesn’t mean you can’t believe in aliens, the Vatican’s chief astronomer told L’Osservatore Romano. God may well have created other creatures, including intelligent ones. “We cannot place limits on God’s creative freedom,” he noted.

McCain May Pray For Pastors to Zip It

Hagee not talking, but another high-profile preacher may be in news soon

(Newser) - John McCain may be heading for his own preacher problems, but at least one of his problematic pastors is clamming up for now, Newsweek reports. John Hagee, who called Hurricane Katrina “the judgment of God,” and Catholicism a “false cult system,” recently answered a request for...

Easter Defies Madison Avenue
 Easter Defies Madison Avenue 
Mar 23, 2008 8:00 AM CDT

Easter Defies Madison Avenue

Religious holiday's originis too wild to tame into commercialism

(Newser) - Christmas’ religious meaning is lost in a sea of advertising, parties, and major retail dollars, but Easter has resisted becoming a “consumerist nightmare”—and that’s because its Christian origins demand serious thought, writes James Martin in Slate. While “the Christmas story is easily reduced to pablum,...

World's Holy Days Converge
 World's Holy Days Converge 
Mar 21, 2008 8:51 AM CDT

World's Holy Days Converge

Believers of almost all stripes have something to celebrate today

(Newser) - This Good Friday is not simply the most solemn day in the Christian calendar but a convergence of movable feasts that doesn't occur more than once in a century. March 21 is also the first day of the Jewish festival of Purim and the celebration of the birth of the...

Gorbachev Admits He's Christian
Gorbachev Admits He's Christian
Mar 19, 2008 9:00 AM CDT

Gorbachev Admits He's Christian

Ex-Soviet prez publicly atheist, but Reagan sensed 'closet believer'

(Newser) - Nearly 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union's atheist empire, Mikhail Gorbachev has admitted he is a Christian, reports the Daily Telegraph. On a visit to Italy the last president of the Communist state prayed at the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, and later told priests the...

Evangelicals Turn Back to Ritual
Evangelicals Turn Back
to Ritual
Mar 8, 2008 12:51 PM CST

Evangelicals Turn Back to Ritual

Some adopt previously shunned confession, communion, Lent

(Newser) - Evangelical Christians are increasingly turning to long-shunned traditions as a means of practicing their faith, reports the Washington Post. In a trend some call “worship renewal,” some are reviving Catholic customs such as fasting for Lent, going to confession, and weekly communion. “Evangelicalism is coming to point...

Teddy Teacher Spurs UK to Kill Own Blasphemy Law

House of Lords strikes down statute questioned since Sudan teddy-bear case

(Newser) - Britain's House of Lords voted yesterday to abolish blasphemy laws after an international incident sparked debate over secularism and tradition, the Los Angeles Times reports. With the UK and Sudan at odds in November over the prosecution of a British teacher allowing students to name a teddy bear Mohammad, many...

Pope to Cut Luther a Break
Pope to Cut Luther a Break
Mar 6, 2008 5:33 AM CST

Pope to Cut Luther a Break

Vatican changing view after 500 years

(Newser) - Five centuries after he ignited the Reformation by challenging papal authority, Martin Luther is expected to get a break from—of all people—Pope Benedict XVI. The pope is German and ostensibly that's the only thing he has in common with Luther. Nevertheless, the pope plans a warmer and fuzzier...

Rice Plans Another Vampire Book
Rice Plans Another
Vampire Book
Feb 25, 2008 12:50 PM CST

Rice Plans Another Vampire Book

Interview author had vowed to concentrate on Christian writing

(Newser) - When atheist and chronicler of the undead Anne Rice embraced Christianity in 2005, she seemed to seal the coffin on her Vampire Chronicles. But she's backtracking on her vow to write only about the Lord and not Lestat. "I have one more book that I would really like to...

Stories 181 - 200 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser