Clipmarks | arifsali's 'christianity' clips

The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:11:59 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: revelation-online.blogspot.com

Of all the demons, monsters, fiends, and ogres to preoccupy the western imagination in literature, art, and film, no figure has been more feared--or misunderstood--than Satan. But how accurate are the popular images of Satan? How--and why--did this rather minor biblical character morph into the very embodiment of evil? T.J. Wray and Gregory Mobley guide readers on a journey to retrace Satan's biblical roots. Engaging and informative, The Birth of Satan is a must read for anyone who has ever wondered about the origins of the Devil.

Tags: books, ebooks, christianity, bible

Harmony among the three most important religions of Indonesia: Islam, Christianity and Hinduism

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:47:24 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.paulstravelblog.com

A parade float on Flores suggesting harmony among the three most important religions of Indonesia: Islam, Christianity and Hinduism

Tags: islam, indonesia, christianity, hinduism

The Army Fights "With God on Our Side"

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:30:38 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: newsweek.washingtonpost.com

Retired Army Lt. General William Boykin was involved in many perilous operations during his 30-year military career –missions that included the Desert One attempted rescue of Iranian hostages in 1980, Grenada, and serving as commander of Delta Force during Black Hawk Down in Somalia.

Despite all he has endured, Boykin says one of his most traumatic fights came in 2003, when he found himself the subject of a media firestorm after comments he made to a Christian audience were publicized. According to accounts of his speech, Boykin referenced a Somali Muslim warlord he encountered in battle and said "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real god and his was an idol."

Continue »

Tags: army, christianity, united states

Pope's rewrite of Latin prayer

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:40:40 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.iht.com

Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday issued a replacement for a contentious Good Friday prayer in Latin, removing language that many Jewish groups found offensive but still calling for the Jews' conversion

However, representatives of Jewish groups as well as traditionalist Catholics quickly condemned the new prayer, though for different reasons. Jewish groups said it was still offensive, and traditionalists said they preferred the version that was replaced.

The prayer was a focus of dispute last year when Benedict allowed for greater use of a traditional version of the Latin Mass, called the Tridentine rite. That decree improved ties with Catholic traditionalists, who oppose the sweeping changes to church liturgy made from 1962 through 1965 during the Second Vatican Council.

The prayer is not part of the standard service used by most of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, who celebrate Mass in their local languages.

Tags: religion, christianity

Jesus for the Non-Religious

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:16:35 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: newsweek.washingtonpost.com

My newest book, Jesus for the Non-Religious, just released in paperback, is written for those people who are committed to the Jesus experience, but because they are citizens of the 21st Century cannot twist their minds into First Century pretzels in order to say “I believe” to the traditional explanations offered by the biblical writers. Rather I seek the reality of the Jesus experience that made these explanations seem appropriate.

I do not believe, for example, that Jesus was born of a virgin in any biological sense, but I do believe that people found in Jesus a God presence that caused them to assert that human life could never have produced what they believed they met in him.

I do not believe that Jesus expanded the food supply, so that with a finite number of loaves he could feed more than 5,000 people in the wilderness, but I do believe that people found in him that which satisfied their deepest hunger and so they referred to him as the “Bread of Life” that is never exhausted.

Tags: spong, christianity

Vatican lists "new sins," including pollution

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:56:08 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight.

The guidance came at the weekend when Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance, spoke of modern evils.

Asked what he believed were today's "new sins," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul was the largely uncharted world of bioethics.

"(Within bioethics) there are areas where we absolutely must denounce some violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments and genetic manipulation whose outcome is difficult to predict and control," he said.

The Vatican opposes stem cell research that involves destruction of embryos and has warned against the prospect of human cloning.

Tags: religion, sin, christianity

Pope criticizes atheism

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:06:55 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Ouch! Pop that you atheists of Clipmarks

Clip Source: www.iht.com

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI rebuked modern-day atheism for bringing untold cruelty and suffering to a world seeking justice, exhorting Roman Catholics to embrace instead the Christian message of hope.

"We must do all we can to overcome suffering, but to banish it from the world is not in our power," Benedict wrote in the second encyclical of his papacy. "Only God is able to do this."

The pope also critically questioned modern Christianity, saying its focus on individual salvation had ignored Jesus' message that true Christian hope involves salvation for all.

"Saved by Hope" is an exploration of hope in the Christian sense: that in the suffering and misery of daily life, Christianity provides the faithful with a "journey of hope" to the Kingdom of God.

"Christianity did not bring a message of social revolution like that of the ill-fated Spartacus, whose struggle led to so much bloodshed. Jesus was not Spartacus, he was not engaged in a fight for political liberation," the pope wrote.

Tags: pope, christianity, atheism

Karen Armstrong will make the ‘Case for God’ in Noble Lectures

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:21:59 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Among Armstrong’s recent work is a re-writing of her biography of the Prophet Muhammad, newly titled “Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time.” She said on New York public radio in 2006, that “I have rewritten my biography of the Prophet Muhammad, based on the latest research — he was not a warrior, but he found himself, like many of the Axial Age sages, in a violent society and he eventually brought peace to the region by practicing a daring policy of nonviolence worthy of Gandhi. He stopped the violence and went into Mecca unarmed and forced the Meccans to negotiate with him, accepting terms that his followers thought were disgraceful.” She has just completed work on her latest book, “The Bible: A Biography,” due out in November.

Clip Source: www.news.harvard.edu

Acclaimed author and religious historian Karen Armstrong will present “The Case for God” during the three-day William Belden Noble Lectures at the Memorial Church Nov. 13-15 at 8 p.m

Armstrong, the author of some 20 books, including the best-selling “A History of God” and “The Battle for God,” is renowned for her ideas about the similarities between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and what unites the three monotheist faiths. She points out that each has in common the image of a single supreme being who was revealed to the Prophet Abraham, each is historically linked to Jerusalem, and each, during the past few years, has seen within it the rise of a rigid and conservative group within their faith that has formed in reaction to the changing modern world.

Tags: karen armstrong, religion, islam, christianity, judaism, author, scholar

The Biggest Threat to the West Lies Within Itself, Not with Islam

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:32:52 GMT

clipped by: Kore7
clipper's remarks: Simon Jenkins on threats to peace and democracy.

This defeatism led the American Congress to allow its president to authorise torture and detention without trial in what Senator Robert Byrd called “the slow unravelling of the people’s liberties”. It enabled a British Home Office to curb free speech and habeas corpus. It arms police, fortifies buildings and impedes the free movement of citizens. It makes every Christian suspicious of every Muslim.

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

The biggest threat to the West lies within itself, not with Islam

The chief threat to world security at present lies in the capacity of tiny groups of political Islamists to goad the West into a rolling military retaliation.

Extremists on each side feed off the others’ frenzied scenarios so as to garner money and political support for their respective armies of the night. Each sees the other as a cosmic menace and abandons communal tolerance and peaceful diplomacy to counter it.

To portray Islam as a whole as a concerted threat to western security, and to imply that the West’s democratic institutions and freedoms are not proof against that threat, is absurd and close to treason. Then to demand that western freedoms be dismantled and stored away for the duration of a “war on terror” is to wave the flag of surrender.

I believe in the robustness of the democracies created in the West over the past half-century. I am not sure that our leaders do.

Tags: terrorism, islam, christianity, religion, freedom, war, peace, democracy, west, torture

Pope changes rules for papal elections

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:26:49 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.theglobeandmail.com

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has changed the rules for electing a new pope, returning to the traditional requirement that two-thirds of the cardinals in the conclave agree on a new pontiff, the Vatican said Tuesday.

Pope John Paul II had altered the voting process in 1996, allowing the pope to be chosen by an absolute majority if the cardinals were unable to agree after several days of balloting in which a two-thirds majority was needed.

In a document released Tuesday, the Pope said he was returning to the traditional voting norm, essentially reversing John Paul's revision of the centuries-old process.

The brief document, written in Latin, was issued June 11, 2007 and signed by the Pope.

The Pope, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was elected pope on April 19, 2005 in one of the fastest conclaves in modern history. He reportedly was elected after four ballots, with 84 of the 115 votes.

Tags: pope, vatican, rules, christianity

The World’s Fastest-Growing Religions

Tue, 22 May 2007 04:32:05 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.foreignpolicy.com

From Muslims in Europe to evangelical Christians in Africa, it is religious believers who are shaping the early 21st Century. Charismatic movements are sweeping throughout the Southern Hemisphere, while high birth rates among immigrants are provoking soul-seeking in the historically Christian West. For this week's List, FP looks at the fast-growing faiths that are upending the old world order.

Islam

Growth rate*: 1.84 percent

Adherents: 1.3 billion

Bahaism

Growth rate: 1.70 percent

Adherents: 7.7 million

Sikhism

Growth rate: 1.62 percent

Adherents: 25.8 million

Jainism

Growth rate: 1.57 percent

Adherents: 5.9 million

Hinduism

Growth rate: 1.52 percent

Adherents: 870 million

Christianity

Growth rate: 1.38 percent

Adherents: 2.2 billion

Tags: religion, world, islam, bahaism, sikhism, jainism, hinduism, christianity

Pastors share views of 'Lost Tomb' film

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 23:32:54 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.gulfcoastgateway.com

"The Lost Tomb of Jesus," a documentary produced by James Cameron ("Titanic") and directed by Simcha Jacobovici raised a lot of questions when it debuted last month.

we asked some area clergy to comment on the documentary's assertions:

· From The Rev. Jamie Sanders, Unity Church of Christianity, Pensacola:

I don't get upset over any of the information that is coming out in the media about Jesus and Mary Magdalene. I think what really matters is what His purpose was while He was here and have we got it yet?

We argue over who He was and wasn't, and yet I can't help but wonder if we put that much energy into just living His teachings in our own personal lives, how vastly the world would shift into peacefulness.

I don't feel anger or resentment about any of these theories, because the truth is, for me personally, it doesn't change the message, that love and peace are the answer no matter what.

Tags: jesus, documentary, clergy, christianity, unity church

The Case for Islamo-christian Civilization

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 21:03:00 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: This is one of my favorite book on the topic.

Clip Source: www.amazon.com

The Case for Islamo-christian Civilization (Paperback)

Bulliet, a history professor at Columbia University and a former director of the Middle East Institute, offers a short, insightful book about Islam and Muslims that actually provides hope for the future. The book consists of four essays arguing that Islam and Christianity have tremendous common roots and history—as much as, or more than, Christianity and Judaism.

Bulliet's most brilliant insight, which comes in the last chapter, is the recognition that those Islamic movements on the fringe eventually become the center of Islam. The new leaders of Islam—probably those on the edge now, who have shown more diverse, tolerant attitudes—have not yet been heard from, he says.

Tags: islam, christianity, books

Burke Lecture: John Shelby Spong

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 22:22:21 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: video.google.ca

Burke Lecture: John Shelby Spong

A pre-eminent voice for liberal Christianity, John Shelby Spong was the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his ... all » retirement in 2000. His admirers acclaim his legacy as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary lay person—he's considered a champion of an inclusive faith by many both inside and outside the Christian church. His challenges to the church have also made Bishop Spong a target of hostility, fear, and death threats. In what may come as a surprise to his critics, his latest book, A New Christianity for a New World, is a statement of Christian faith and love for the church. Calling himself "a joyful, passionate, convinced believer in the reality of God," he seeks not to create a new religion, but to reform the church he loves. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion & Society" [Humanities] «

Tags: spong, video, christianity, bible, religion

The Muslim prophet born in Bethlehem - Karen Armstrong

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 21:34:53 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The Muslim prophet born in Bethlehem

The story of Jesus held a special place within early Islam. There is no need for a clash of civilisations

Karen Armstrong
Saturday December 23, 2006
The Guardian

This story may surprise people in the west, who have regarded Islam as the implacable enemy of Christianity ever since the crusades, but it is salutary to recall it during the Christmas season when we are surrounded by similar images of the Virgin and Child. It reminds us that the so-called clash of civilisations was by no means inevitable. For centuries Muslims cherished the figure of Jesus, who is honoured in the Qur'an as one of the greatest of the prophets and, in the formative years of Islam, became a constituent part of the emergent Muslim identity. <P>There are important lessons here for both Christians and Muslims - especially, perhaps, at Christmas. The Qur'an does not believe that Jesus is divine but it devotes more space to the story of his virginal conception and birth than does the New Testament, presenting it as richly symbolic of the birth of the Spirit in all human beings (Qur'an 19:17-29; 21:91). Like the great prophets, Mary receives this Spirit and bears Jesus, who will, in his turn, become an ayah, a revelation of peace, gentleness and compassion to the world. <P>The Qur'an is horrified by Christian claims that Jesus was the "son of God", and depicts Jesus ardently denying his divinity in an attempt to "cleanse" himself of these blasphemous projections. Time and again the Qur'an insists that, like Muhammad himself, Jesus was a perfectly ordinary human being and that the Christians have entirely misunderstood their own scriptures. But it concedes that the most learned and faithful Christians - especially monks and priests - did not believe that Jesus was divine; of all God's worshippers, they were closest to the Muslims (5:85-86).</P>

Tags: karen-armstrong, islam, christianity, article