The Communist Party in China’s coastal Zhejiang province is forcing persecuted Christian churches to hand over all of their tithes and donations to government officials, reports have said.
Source: China’s Persecuted Churches Forced to Hand Over Donations to Communist Regime
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) offered prayers to the Islamic deity, Allah. The prayer was led by a representative of the Muslim community on behalf of the Presbyterian Assem…
CHR Comment: The Arabic word “Allah” is a general word for a divine being. It is not necessarily specific to Islam. However, the prayer’s references to Muhammad as a prophet and Islamophobia make clear that those praying were equating the Christian God with Allah of Islam. This is another example of how liberal or progressive Christians are moving from inter-Christian efforts for unity and into inter-religious efforts.
Source: PCUSA Assembly Lifts Up Muslim Prayers to Allah – Polemics Report
All five candidates for Conservative Party leadership have some form of Christian faith.
CHR Comment: The article describes the Christian beliefs of potential candidates, noting that the openness they express about faith is a new development in recent British politics. At they same time, the Church of England is facing decline.
How does your view of God change after you switch religions? HuffPost posed the question to three converts to Islam.
CHR Comment: What I found fascinating about the comments was that most everything they said was in fact characteristic of Christianity and its teaching about God, apart from some reference to some comments excluding the doctrine of the Trinity. In other words, what these converts say they appreciated about Islam was already present in the religion in which they grew up. For some reason they could not hear or see these teachings in their churches. Christians do well to listen to such stories and learn what people are seeking and valuing in religion. It is by and large not new doctrines or ideas but practice that connects with doctrine.
Source: 3 Muslims On How Converting To Islam Changed Their Ideas About God
Lawyers for three people who survived the attack and the estates of five who were slain say the FBI did not conduct a thorough background check before Dylann Roof bought the gun and killed nine parishioners.
Source: Charleston church shooting survivors sue FBI for allowing attacker’s gun buy – CSMonitor.com
Pope Francis has appointed a new bishop to lead Germany’s Limburg diocese, ending a more than two-year hiatus after he removed the previous bishop amid an uproar over his costly new residence.
CHR Comment: One wonders how so much money could be spent without someone noticing earlier.
Source: Pope appoints successor to German ‘bling bishop’ – The Washington Post
CHR Comment: It is unusual for a pope to retire as Benedict did. It is further unusual to have a retired pope publishing memoirs about his term of service. One wonders whether Benedict’s decisions will lead to different precedents for the papal office.
Source: In memoirs, ex Pope Benedict says Vatican ‘gay lobby’ tried to wield power: report | Reuters
Christians living in Hunter village in the Indian state of Jharkhand are facing dual threats from police who are barring them from worshiping and Hindu radicals who are threatening to kill them.
CHR Comment: Jharkhand land is in eastern India, near Bangladesh where similar threats and murders of Christians have taken place. However, in Jharkhand the threats are coming from Hindus rather than Muslims.
I’ve added a link to another, related story from this region.
Source: Christians in India Face Fines for Worshiping Jesus After Hindu Radicals Threaten to Kill Them
The law will prohibit evangelism anywhere outside a church or religious site – including private homes and online – and those in breach of it will be fined.
CHR Comment: Russian Protestants are opposing the new restrictions of religious liberties that are part of an effort to curb terrorist activities. They believe the laws will prevent them from sharing their faith outside of specifically defined religious contexts. The bill has already passed through the Russian Duma and Federation Council (their congress) and could be signed into law. Church historian Lloyd Harsch notes that after the initial openness following the collapse of Communism, Russian policies have become more and more restrictive on Protestant church activities.
I’ve added a second story to this topic below.
Christian women in Lebanon are arming themselves in the wake of a series of devastating suicide attacks on Monday.
CHR Comment: The article describes the deaths of five persons due to suicide bombings and includes statements from the women and priests associated with the village of Qaa.
church history review 