2.10.17
This year marks the five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. It is a year of . . . .
CHR Comment: Leithart rehearses some of the infighting that hindered Protestant efforts to reform the church and led to greater divisions. He expresses interest in Protestant and Catholic unification.
Source: Taking Responsibility for the Reformation | Peter J. Leithart | First Things
2.8.2017
Evangelical leaders have taken out a full-page newspaper advertisement to denounce President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on refugees.
CHR Comment: This issue illustrates a dividing point among American Evangelicals on issues of immigration and national security. Instead of using the Good Samaritan text to make their point, there are Old Testament texts about strangers and refugees that would better apply to the situation of modern refugees.
Source: Evangelicals buy ad to blast Donald Trump’s refugee ban – CNNPolitics
2.10.17
CHR Comment: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, an online resource, includes extensive articles on major church fathers whose work crossed over into theology. Well written, organized, and including bibliography.
2.3.2017
Diarmaid MacCulloch (Reformation: Europe’s House Divided) points to the “bizarre fortunes” of the Bremen Cathedral to illustrate the “stand-off and ill-will between the two Protestantisms,” […]
CHR Comment: Fascinating story of stubbornness or faithful persistence, depending on one’s perspective.
1.13.2017
Nuestra Señora de los Remedios
CHR Comment: The graves were found at the location of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, the sixteenth century church.
Source: Discovery of ancient human remains prompt excavation prior to water line construction | WJAX-TV
1.13.2017
Donald Trump has chosen the largest group of clergy and religious leaders to pray and speak at his inauguration next week.
CHR Comment: Evangelicals, a Catholic, and a Rabbi represent voters for Trump as well as his emphasis on traditional Judeo-Christian values.
Source: The 6 Religious Leaders Who Will Pray At Trump\’s Inauguration | Christian News on Christian Today
1.13.2017
In their free time, some scientists and doctors like to try to figure out causes of medically-related historical events. For example, the authors of this study investigate what may have caused the crazy dancing “epidemic” of 1518 in Strasbourg: “Some time in mid-July 1518 a lone woman stepped into one of its narrow streets and …
CHR Comment: St. Vitus was patron saint of dancers. People would dance before his image and in this case didn’t stop for days. The article proposes that this was due to stress rather than a particular illness or drug.
Source: Flashback Friday: The mysterious dancing epidemic of 1518. – Seriously, Science?
1.13.2017
Evangelicalism in France is on the rise, a study by the National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF) has found.
CHR Comment: A new church started every ten days. Other church bodies in the nation are declining. These Evangelical congregations may be picking up members from other churches.
1.12.2017
An Egyptian Christian couple were found dead on Coptic Christmas Day with their throats cut, according to World Watch Monitor.
CHR Comment: Other Coptic Christians were killed in Egypt on January 6. Police attributed the killings to a robbery but a brother of the victim found nothing missing from the home.
Source: Coptic Christian Couple Stabbed To Death In Their Beds | Christian News on Christian Today
1. 11.2017
Islamic extremism now has a rival, according to 2017 World Watch List.
CHR Comment: Islamic extremism and ethnic nationalism pose the greatest threats to Christians according to this report.
church history review 