A US city renames Good Friday and Columbus Day “Spring” and “Fall” holidays to be more “inclusive”.
Source: Good Friday and Columbus Day renamed by ‘inclusive’ US city of Bloomington – BBC News
Pope Francis denounces growing ‘demonization’ of enemies and outsiders
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The pontiff’s exhortation, at a ceremony to elevate 17 new cardinals, seemed to take aim at nationalist anger roiling countries around the world, including the U.S.
CHR Comment: The reporter interprets statements of Francis and applies them to Donald Trump and to conservative Catholics. None of the quotations mention Trump or the conservatives so the writer’s applications to them seem odd and inappropriate. The pope’s comments seem clearly international rather than directed against persons in the United States. The article feels less like reporting and more like editorializing.
Source: Pope Francis denounces growing ‘demonization’ of enemies and outsiders | Religion News Service
New Zealand Quake: Preacher under Fire
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New Zealand preacher comes under fire over claim earthquakes are caused by homosexuality and sin.
Source: New Zealand quake: Preacher under fire over homosexuals claim – BBC News
More Than 80 Anglo-Saxon Coffins Uncovered
Archaeologists uncovered an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in England with dozens of rare wooden coffins arranged in rows.
CHR Comment: This find dates to the early years of Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons and proves to be Christian as the burials do not contain grave goods and they are oriented East/West as is typical of Christian grave yards. A wooden chapel may have stool on the site.
Source: Surprise Find: More Than 80 Anglo-Saxon Coffins Uncovered in England
Canaanite Offering Unearthed at Tel Gezer
CHR Comment: New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary participated in this dig and discovery, which illustrates the Egyptian cultural influence upon Canaan.
Source: Canaanite Offering Unearthed at Tel Gezer – Archaeology Magazine
The Setos
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.
500 graves discovered in Monastic ruins
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)
House of David Sect
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
Identity Crisis In An Indian Catholic Church
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
Ezekiel’s Wheel and African Spiritual
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?
church history review 