When the “Dutch Catechism” appeared in 1966, it quickly became a best seller in part because its style was so different from the “Baltimore Catechism” commonly used by American Roman Catholics. Whereas the Baltimore Catechism was written in a point by point style, the Dutch Catechism was written as a narrative, attempting to show the relationships between Catholic doctrines.
Source: Religion in American History: An Unlikely Bestseller: The Dutch Catechism in 1960s America
It is listed on a worldwide directory of Apostolic Pentecostal churches and ministries.
CHR Comment: This article gives helpful background. Apostolic Christians have a non-Trinitarian theology. They are, according to this article, modalists who teach that the one God manifests Himself in different modes as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, they do not acknowledge the personhood of each member of the Trinity.
Source: What’s an Apostolic Christian and why is Kim Davis’s hair so long? – The Washington Post
Poland took a decisive turn to the right in its parliamentary election Sunday, tossing out the centrist party that had governed for eight years for a socially conservative and Euroskeptic party that wants to keep migrants out and . . .
CHR Comment: The article briefly mentions that the Law and Justice Party was seen as backed by the Roman Catholic Church, though the story does not explain who was seeing things that way. Poland has been a strongly Catholic country since the Counter Reformation and the church has always had a significant influence there. Hopefully there will be another story that clarifies the church’s role in the politics.
Source: Exit Poll: Right-wing party wins Poland’s parliamentary vote
For Iraqi Christians fleeing Islamic State militants in their native land reaching Lourdes, the French town long synonymous with miraculous religious visions, feels little short of a modern-day miracle.
CHR Comment: More than half of Christians in the Near East have fled the region to find refuge from militant Islam. At Lourdes, a Christian couple that fled ten years ago is making arrangements for others to emigrate and find new lives.
The Catholic Church’s increasing diversity has deepened the rift between conservatives and progressives as Pope Francis pushes increasing acceptance for marginalized church members.
CHR Comment: Africans now comprise 16% of the Roman Catholic Church, which gives them greater influence. However, European and North American Catholics (“westerners”) still have 32% of the members and set the agenda for church discussions.
Source: African bishops criticize Vatican’s priorities as ‘Eurocentric’ – CSMonitor.com
Six leaders of a huge Singaporean church have been convicted of fraud in a case worth S$50m ($35m; £23m).The judge ruled City Harvest Church’s pastor, Kong Hee, and others used church finances to fund the music career of his wife, Sun Ho, or falsified accounts to cover it up.The defendants had argued Ms Ho’s pop music career was a way of reaching out to non-Christians.They have been bailed until sentencing, but could face up to life in jail.
CHR Comment: One wonders how this starts. How do well intentioned Christian people go from ministry to fraud while covering it up as outreach?
Ms. Tickle, the founding religion editor at Publishers Weekly, wrote dozens of books on spirituality, and was a leading voice in the Emergence Christianity movement.
CHR Comment: Ms. Tickle, a lay Eucharistic minister in the Episcopal tradition, was describing an atomized form of the Ecumenical Movement where individuals acted on their beliefs in Christian unity instead of depending on interdenominational agreements. So the Emerging Church Movement would be just another aspect of the Ecumenical Movement rather than a new Reformation as referenced in the article. Ms. Tickle died Sept. 22, 2015.
Source: Phyllis Tickle, Who Energized a Market for Books on Religion, Dies at 81 – The New York Times
The West African country can no longer afford to ignore simmering religious tensions and the threat of extremist groups like Boko Haram.
CHR Comment: “Revivalist churches,” which have grown in the last thirty years, are described as contributing to religious tensions since they viewed as preaching intolerance and do not participate in religious dialogues. However, one might note that such groups are not known for violence as is the case with groups that assert themselves through terrorism. It is unclear how registering revival churches will alleviate tensions. Perhaps it is simply a way of taking stock of who they are and what they are doing.
Source: Cameroon must act to halt Boko Haram extremism creeping in | Opinion | Analysis | M&G
The scene prior to the Cowboys’ football game vs. Kansas rings too tragically familiar as a motorist kills homecoming paradegoers in Stillwater, Okla.
CHR Comment: Near the end of the article, one learns that the kneeling team recited the Lord’s Prayer together as a way of responding to the terrible news. This illustrates once again how important the Lord’s Prayer is as common ground for the broadest number of Christians, who have Jesus’ teaching on prayer memorized and use it regularly.
Source: Oklahoma State community endures another senseless tragedy
Argentine artwork featuring 33 Ken and Barbie dolls as religious figures doesn’t play well among all Catholics.
CHR Comment: What seems most offense if the description of religion as “plastic,” that is, implying that religion and religious people are fake. The article states that Roman Catholics in Peru were very offended by the exhibition. One should note that only 400 people were going to attend. This seems like a stunt by the artist to gain attention rather than saying anything substantive about religion or art.
Source: Ken stands in as martyred Jesus, Barbie as Virgin Mary
church history review 