Monthly Archives: April 2004
NEWS FEATURE: Chiasms _ The Unseen Biblical Codes
By RNS Blog Editor — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Were you fascinated by the poetic riddles, arithmetic puzzles and other enigmas in “The Da Vinci Code,” the mystery novel by Dan Brown that has spent more than a year atop the best-seller lists? Many Bible-literate readers, despite enjoying the word puzzles, were disappointed by the speculative lore about […]
NEWS FEATURE: The Form of the Biblical Chiasm
By RNS Blog Editor — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When looking in the Bible for coded literary patterns called chiasms, you can learn from tight, clear examples. Take, for instance, Gospel of Mark chapter 11, verses 12, 13, 14 and the start of verse 15. The first rule is: Don’t let those numbered verses limit where you start, […]
NEWS FEATURE: Pakistan Blasphemy Law Used to Threaten, Harass Christians
By RNS Blog Editor — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service LAHORE, Pakistan _ A market vendor sold Christian brothers Saleem and Rasheed Masih ice cream, then told them they had to pay for the bowls because he couldn’t again serve a Muslim from the now-defiled utensils. The brothers refused. Days later, the vendor accused the brothers of verbally insulting the […]
NEWS STORY: Episcopal Theologian Sees Crisis as Outgrowth of Civil Rights Movement
By RNS Blog Editor — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service ROME _ An eminent Episcopal theologian sees the present crisis in the Anglican Communion over the American church’s consecration of an openly gay bishop as a logical outgrowth of the civil rights movement in an independent church founded on the democratic principles of the American Revolution. But R. William Franklin […]
COMMENTARY: O’Malley Should Skip Sermon, Kick the Dog Instead
By Frances Kennedy — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Eugene Cullen Kennedy, a longtime observer of the Roman Catholic Church, is professor emeritus of psychology at Loyola University in Chicago and author of “Cardinal Bernardin’s Stations of the Cross,” published by St. Martin’s Press.) (UNDATED) If you dialed “O for O’Malley,” as Bing Crosby’s Father Chuck O’Malley invited the […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Survey: Presbyterians Prefer Cremation, Memorial Services (RNS) A survey of Presbyterian pastors and parishioners shows that most prefer a memorial service to a funeral, and want their bodies cremated rather than buried. The periodic survey by the Presbyterian Panel measured pastors’ and members’ thoughts about death and dying in late […]
COMMENTARY: Politicians Talking Like Clergy
By James Rudin — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.) (UNDATED) The 2004 presidential race is becoming an old-time religious revival with both candidates rushing to declare their spiritual convictions. Both President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., seem more like […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service Boston Archdiocese Sells Bishop’s Mansion to BC in $100 Million Deal (RNS) The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to sell its ornate archbishop’s residence and 43 surrounding acres to Boston College for nearly $100 million, and could sell more land in two years for $8 million more. The deal announced […]
NEWS FEATURE: More Young People Turning to Short-Term Mission Work
By RNS Blog Editor — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Steve Holt spent his first semester away from home doing typical college freshman things: making friends, going to class, working out. He had new streets to learn and lessons to study, just like his peers. But when Holt left the classroom, he went to orphanages and churches, not the […]
NEWS STORY: Homosexuality Likely to Dominate Methodists’ General Conference Meeting
By Kein Eckstrom — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When the United Methodist Church convenes in Pittsburgh next week (April 27) for its quadrennial General Conference meeting, nearly all quarters agree that the same subject that has divided the church for 30 years will again dominate the agenda _ homosexuality. Setting the stage for the 11-day meeting was […]
NEWS SIDEBAR: United Methodist Policies on Homosexuality
By Kein Eckstrom — April 30, 2004
c. 2004 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Following are excerpts from the United Methodist Church’s official policies and statements on homosexuality: Same-Sex Unions: “Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.” _ United Methodist Book of Discipline Clergy Standards: “Since the practice of homosexuality […]
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