In the usual telling of the tale, Joseph Ratzinger went from being a progressive reformer at the Second Vatican Council to being God’s reactionary Rottweiler as the Catholic Church’s chief doctrinal authority under John Paul II. That standard account misses the truth about the Bavarian theologian who has become Pope Benedict XVI.
The debate over the proper relationship between religion and politics often focuses on whether religious influence in the public square is a good thing or bad thing for the nation. Evangelical Charles Marsh has written a new book, Wayward Christian Soldiers: Freeing the Gospel From Political Captivity that argues that undue political involvement has been bad for the faith.
The disciples were simple people. They were ordinary folks who worked for a living, paid bills, and had to fulfill all the mundane responsibilities of life. Some were married and had to take care of those relationships properly. A few certainly must have had children. They had all the ingredients for the recipe of ordinary, everyday people.
At a Roman Catholic church in Manhattan, the pope later warned other Christian leaders against “so-called prophetic actions” that conflict with traditional views of the Bible, a reference to the debate over Scripture that is fracturing churches in America and around the world.
The 81-year-old pope, who was a young German prisoner in the war that forged the United Nations, insisted that human rights — more than force or pragmatic politics — must be the basis for ending war and poverty. “The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for increasing security,” Benedict told the United Nations General Assembly.
Some readers have asked about a company called anglican films that advertises videos for churches. Be aware that it is a scam. The alert sent
Passover is being celebrated by Jewish people around the world beginning tonight at sundown. Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt and
After the American Revolution, the challenge for Americans who still yearned to be Anglican was to preserve the essential marks of the ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic’ faith while separating out other bits: like the divine right of kings theology which fueled so much of Establishment theology in the Church of England.
In this year,[1011] between the Nativity of St. Mary and Michaelmas, they beset Canterbury, and entered therein through treachery; for Elfmar delivered the city to them, whose life Archbishop Elfeah [Alphege] formerly saved.
News about the effects of sky-rocketing food prices is starting to break through to the foreground of public policy discussions. While to this point most of the conversation has focused on the cause or causes of the increase, there are people starting to suggest ways that society needs to respond.