CHR Comment: A Wittenberg colleague turned rival. Reformation 500 provides a helpful summary of this important early reformer whose influenced waned over time.
German Museum Rejoices over Durer Found at Flea Market
Stuttgart’s art museum says a print by Albrecht Durer donated by a man who found it at a French flea market is in very good condition.
CHR Comment: Durer’s “Mary Crowned by an Angel” likely illustrates late medieval piety before the Reformation influenced the artist’s theology.
Source: German museum rejoices over Durer found at flea market – BBC News
Pastor Dies While Fasting
A 44-year-old pastor in South Africa tried to emulate Jesus Christ who fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights to prepare for His ministry as written in the gospels of Luke, Mark and Matthew.
CHR Comment: Pastor Alfred Ndlovu apparently abstained from both food and water. The Gospels describe Jesus fasting for forty days and forty nights but they do not say that Jesus went without water as Pastor Ndlovu did. Exodus 34:28 tells us that while Moses was writing down the commandments on Sinai, he went without food and water for forty days and forty nights. But this must be regarded as a miraculous event, that Moses was sustained by the Lord since a human being cannot go so many days without water.
16 Churches Burned in Region of Mapuche Protests
Police in Chile say unknown attackers burned a Catholic church and downed two high-tension electricity towers in the southern part of the country.
CHR Comment: The Mapuche are indigenous people who are seeking restoration of land. Whether violent protestors are responsible for burning the Protestant and Catholic churches is not concluded in the article.
Source: Chilean Church, Power Lines Hit in Apparent Indigenous Protest – NBC News
Pastor Enoch Adeboye’s Controversial Comments
One of Nigeria’s most high profile pastors gets social media cooking with comments about what makes an ideal spouse.
CHR Comment: Pastor Enoch Adeboye of Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of Nigeria’s faster growing congregations, sparked controversy while teaching about male and female relationships and roles. The comments appeared in a video released online, which generated many views and responses.
French Activists Try to Save Empty Church
Marine Le Pen was among those who responded with anger on Twitter.
CHR Comment: The article describes the woes of Catholicism and Christianity generally in France as the nations many churches go empty and up for sale. Protesters hoped to prevent the sale of this church and to draw attention to the problems.
The Story of Iran’s Church in Two Sentences
More Iranians have become Christians in the last 20 years than in the previous 13 centuries put together.
CHR Comment: Here is another encouraging story about the growing number of Christians in Iran, fueled by bold witness and growing disillusionment with Islam. The article describes hundreds of thousand of Christians, a figure in keeping with an earlier story shared from the New York Times.
Pope Sets Up Commission to Study Women Deacons
Pope Francis set up a commission Tuesday to study the role of female deacons in the Catholic Church.
CHR Comment: The topic came up in May. This announcement makes the study official.
Art Restoration Gone Wrong
The children thought the etching of a skier had become faded, so they scratched over it to make it easier to see.
CHR Comment: The article refers and links to the 2012 story of an attempt to restore a fresco, which resulted in the destruction of the fresco. Although churches benefit from owning valuable art, they also face the daunting challenge of maintaining it and protecting it.
Cold War Churchman, Cardinal Franciszek Macharski Dies
Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, a popular Polish prelate who served for many years as archbishop of Krakow, inheriting a position opened by the election of Pope John Paul II, died on Tuesday. He was 89.
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