The History of Women Deacons

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When Pope Francis announced his willingness to appoint a commission to study whether women can serve . . . .

CHR Comment: Charlotte Allen summarizes the historic service of women deacon(s/nesses) in view of Pope Francis’s announcement about a possible commission to study whether there might be modern deaconesses. Allen points out that deaconess service was not like that of the male deacons. They mostly did charitable work and served other women, especially at Baptism and in nunneries.

A root of such service may be connected with the enrollment of widows as described in 1 Timothy 5 where older women whose families could not support them were supported by the church while also serving. They are described as abiding in prayer and performing good works (vv. 5, 10).

Source: The True History of Women Deacons | Charlotte Allen | First Things

Nearly 20,000 Persecuted in China

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China Aid has reported in its 2015 Annual Report of Religious and Human Rights Persecution in China that as many as 20,000 people suffered religious persecution by the Communist Party throughout the year.

CHR Comment: The main cause of persecution is a beautification project that has resulted in the removal of numerous crosses from churches and the demolition of church buildings.

Source: China’s Persecution of Believers Swells to 20,000 in ‘Barbaric’ Round Ups, Report Finds

Medieval Church Paintings in Northern Sudan

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A large group of paintings dating back to the ninth century have been discovered by archaeologists inside the ancient Church of Raphael in Northern Sudan.

CHR Comment: Archaeologists from the University of Warsaw have uncovered a set of paintings in the Church of Raphael. The paintings depict historical persons from the ninth century to the fourteenth century, as well as archangels and angels. The images also depict relations between Makuria and Dongola, kingdoms in the region.

Source: North Sudan: Archaeologists discover ‘unique’ ancient church paintings | Christian News on Christian Today

Oklahoma Bill to Make Performing Abortion a Felony

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Oklahoma’s Senate passed a law Thursday that would criminalize abortion, an extraordinary measure that places the state at odds with the nation’s highest courcould rocket the contentious issue back to the national stage despite constitutional hurdles

CHR Comment: State Sen. Ervin Yen refers to his Catholic faith when describing his prolife view but also notes that he does not believe this bill will withstand a constitutional challenge.

Source: Okla. lawmakers OK bill to make performing abortion a felony

“No Other Gods” in Luther’s Catechisms

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The wording of the First Commandment in Luther’s Catechisms may, at first, feel a bid strange: “You shall have no other gods” (Exodus 20:3). How does one have a god? Such wording seems to imply that there are indeed other gods beside the one true God.

First, we must recognize that the wording in the catechism is an abbreviated form of the commandment, which actually runs another three verses. (In the Reformed and Eastern Orthodox traditions, the verses are divided into two commandments.) Using an abbreviated form was a medieval practice that made memorization easier. For the catechism, Luther built on this practice but included more of the text (Exodus 20:5–6) as a summary or “close” of the commandments. Here is the full statement of the commandment from Exodus:

You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

We see then that the Lord forbids His people to have or make gods/idols before which they would bow down or serve (cf. Exodus 32). To understand the word “have,” consider the following expressions: I have a family; I have a father; we have a president. The word “have” does not mean simple possession of something. It describes a relationship—a bond—between persons or things. The Creator will not allow His creation to set up objects or barriers between Him and His people. As He said it positively and emphatically in the opening to the Ten Commandments:

I am the Lord your God . . .

Now that He has freed Israel from the bondage of Egypt, He will not let them return to bondage by serving other gods or masters. This truth is foundational, not only to biblical/Christian faith, but also to western ideals of the freedom and value of the individual. Each human being is loved by God and, as a created being, has a direct relationship with the Creator.

Do Other Gods Exist?

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The First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods,” seems to imply that other gods are real and that one can have a relationship with them. One may rightly ask, is this true?

The Bible consistently speaks against the idea that the figures of idols are true gods. Perhaps the best example of this is the prophet Isaiah’s satire of a person carving an idol from a block of wood (Isaiah 44:9–20) and then using the wood trimming to warm his room and bake his bread—an excellent example of humor in the Bible!

But seriously, those who worship idols usually regard them as representations or manifestations of spiritual realities. In fact, archaeologists now believe that a bull calf idol of the ancient Near East actually represented the mount or throne for the god (typically Baal) who stood upon it. So, the idolaters were really directing their devotion beyond the wood, stone, gold, or silver that stood in front of them. The idol was a way to reach beyond and to “have” a connection to the god it represented. Modern religions that use idols have a similar understanding.

The apostle Paul strongly warns against idolatry and sacrifices to idols when he writes: “I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20; cf also Revelation 9:20). The biblical view then is that there are indeed spiritual realities—demons/false gods—standing behind idolatrous and false worship. So false worship can in no way honor the one true God.

In the First Commandment God is delivering something like an ultimatum to us: you will have Me as God or you will have some other god, you can’t have both. To this He attaches a warning and a promise: (1) as the only true God, He will punish those who hate Him (Exodus 20:5) but (2) He will likewise show steadfast love to those who love Him and heed His word (20:6).

Rescued Schoolgirl Enslaved by Boko Haram

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The first of the over 200 Christian schoolgirls from Chibok, Nigeria, kidnapped by terror group Boko Haram nearly two years ago, has been found with a baby and reunited with her family, igniting hope for the parents of the other girls as well.

CHR Comment: The Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014. The young mother pictured above is the first to appear out of the Sambisa Forest where the girls were taken, though she reported that the others were still there except those who had died. The man who appeared with the Chibok schoolgirl claimed to be her husband. It is believed that kidnapped and enslaved Christian girls were taken as brides for the militants.

Many news organizations carried this story but did not report that the girls were Christians.

Source: First Christian Chibok Schoolgirl Rescued After 2 Years of Being Enslaved by Boko Haram

Going to Church May Help You Live Longer

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Going to church might be the key to living longer, according to a new Harvard study.

CHR Comment: The study is based on self-reporting from c. 74,000 women. It does not describe a direct cause/effect relationship between church attendance and longer life, just that the two factors correlate substantially. What the study likely shows is that people who have the good habit of regularly attending church likely also have good habits related to their health such as avoiding risky behaviors  (e.g., excessive smoking and drinking). The author of the study excludes immeasurable factors such as God blessing those who attend church with longer life.

On a different note, biblical wisdom does teach that those who obey their parents may be blessed with longer life in the Promised Land (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:3)

Source: Going to church helps you live longer, Harvard study says | Christian News on Christian Today

Americans and Europeans on Adultery

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Whereas 84 percent of all Americans believe such behavior would be unacceptable, only 47 percent of all French and 60 percent of all Germans think so.

CHR Comment: The study reveals surprising differences in the views of Americans and Europeans on the topic of adultery. However, as the final story in the article reveals, a complicating factor is that Europeans increasingly do not marry but live together. Without the bond of marriage, opinions about what constitutes adultery may have changed. In America, churches still strongly oppose adultery while liberal churches are changing other moral standards regarding sex.

Source: Americans condemn adultery, but many Europeans don’t — and probably never will – The Washington Post