On a hill above the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, archaeologists have discovered one amazing floor mosaic after another.
CHR Comment: These synagogue mosaics are described as “Roman Era,” which makes them contemporary with the rise of Christianity in the Near East. They illustrate the character of Judaism and worship at this time.
Source: Bible Scenes Uncovered in Ruins of Ancient Synagogue
Iraq’s Christian population, which before 2003 numbered as many as 1.4 million, is now under 250,000, according to a report by MRG and other rights organisations.
CHR Comment: The article also reports on the plight of the Yazidis and other non-Christian minorities. Lord, have mercy.
Source: Iraq’s minorities ‘on verge of disappearance’ say rights groups | Christian News on Christian Today
A mass wave of Christian girls and women are being kidnapped and raped by Muslim men in Upper Egypt, a persecution watchdog group has warned.
CHR Comment: The article details the experience of one girl while referring to reports of numerous other incidents. It also refers to the destruction of historic churches in Egypt. In 2015 Al-Our was the proposed site for a new church dedicated to recent Coptic martyrs. However, the proposed project brought violent protests from Muslims. See second link below.
I’ve added a third story below about Al-Our.
Source: Christian Girl Reveals Horrors of Muslim Mob in Egypt Kidnapping, Raping Women
https://churchhistoryreview.org/2015/04/06/al-our-copts-harassed-about-new-church/
Anti racist actions happened across London during rush hour – organised by London Citizens – which is made up of churches and other civil society groups.
CHR Comment: The end of the article mentions particular denominations involved in Citizens UK.
Source: Churches at the forefront as Londoners say no to racism | Christian News on Christian Today
A Christian woman in Pakistan was beaten and gang-raped in front of her five children by a Muslim man seeking to avenge his family’s “honor,” because the woman’s sister fell in love and fled with the man’s brother.
Source: Christian Woman Gang Raped in Front of 5 Children in ‘Honor’ Attack in Pakistan
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
church history review 