On the border of Estonia and Russia, the Setos struggle to create a modern identity from ancient beliefs
CHR Comment: The photo essay shows that the Setos, a culturally and linguistically distinct group, hold Christian Orthodox beliefs but also retain elements of their earlier beliefs. Their traditional deity is said to reside under an Orthodox monastery.
More than 500 graves of Cistercian monks and lay brothers have been discovered at one of the largest monastic ruins in the country.
CHR Comment: The persons buried were carefully separated from one another, a practice which the archaeologists attribute to belief in the bodily resurrection of the dead.
Source: 500 graves discovered in Monastic ruins at world heritage site (From HeraldScotland)
Their members weren’t allowed to have sex. No meat, no alcohol, no tobacco and no personal property, either. Yet to this day, people talk about how fun they were.
Source: Town remembers, fondly, celibate commune destroyed by sex scandal
In a small church in New York, a sect of Catholics from south India struggle to hold on to a piece of ancient culture that is intertwined with an evolving faith community.
Source: ‘Products Of The Soil’: Identity Crisis In An Indian Catholic Church : Code Switch : NPR
CHR Comment: The Article describes the significance of wheel imagery in west central African culture, which connected with the wheel imagery in the Bible to form an important topic of African Christian spirituality. One might also remember that Christianity was known in Africa from ancient times due to the presence of Coptic and Ethiopian Christianity. An interesting study would be to learn whether views from these Christian traditions were spread to central and west Africa, seeding the later conversion of Africans after they encountered Western Christianity. For example, are there artifacts from African forms of Christianity that show up outside the Egyptian and Ethiopian regions?
Evangelicals made Trump’s candidacy; now they need to help remake his presidency.
CHR Comment: American Christians struggled over who to vote for in the presidential election. There are many articles on this topic, which I will likely describe in my annual summary. See the two links below for different perspectives.
Source: Trumped: American Politics Turned Upside Down | The Exchange | A Blog by Ed Stetzer
When the Vikings landed at the holy island of Lindisfarne in 793AD, it marked the beginning of hundreds of years of terrifying raids, which would earn the Norsemen a fearsome reputation as murderers and pillagers throughout Europe.
CHR Comment: Some historians argue that the Vikings pillaged churches to gain the wealth needed for marriage in their culture. Although Christians experienced the attacks as persecution, the Vikings likely acted with non-religious motives.
Source: Viking raiders were only trying to win their future wives’ hearts
(RNS) By moving Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin to Newark the pontiff ignored protocol – and showed he’s serious about changing how the Catholic Church operates.
CHR Comment: According to the article, Cardinal Tobin is more progressive and represents a preferred leader for Pope Francis in contrast with conservative Catholics.
The evangelist (and CT founder) is 98 today. An historian examines the way he shaped the church and the world.
CHR Comment: Grant Wacker takes the occasion of Graham’s birthday to recount how the evangelist’s views have remained the same and how some views have changed over the years. The changes in Graham’s views seem to mirror changes in American Evangelicalism.
“Spirituals are, of course, the songs that the enslaved crafted to tell the story of their experience. But more than that, to tell the story of their faith and the understanding of who they were in relationship to God, and who God was in relationship to them, and it became a story of freedom,” says Rev. Kelly Brown Douglass, Canon Theologian at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. More →
CHR Comment: The occasion of the article was a concert that presented spirituals. The article includes a video.
Source: African-American Spirituals | November 4, 2016 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS
church history review 