Landmine risk for thousands displaced by floods in Laos
Phnom Penh, LaosThomson Reuters Foundation Thousands of people in Laos, whose homes were swept away when a dam burst, are sheltering in areas contaminated by landmines, humanitarians said, as floods and mud hamper aid delivery. The United Nations said on Monday that 34 people were reported dead, 97 were missing and 6,000 had been evacuated […]
Rare medieval Bible returned to Canterbury Cathedral 500 years after it disappeared
A rare medieval Bible has been returned to Canterbury Cathedral in England, 500 years since it went missing during the Reformation. The Lyghfield Bible. PICTURE: National Memorial Heritage Fund. Now known as the Lyghfield Bible after the 16th century monk from Canterbury who once owned it, the cathedral purchased the Bible for £100,000 from a […]
BOOKS: ACCESSIBLE YET SCHOLARLY – JOHN DICKSON’S “ONE-STOP” GUIDE TO JESUS
NILS VON KALM is impressed with John Dickson’s “doubter’s guide” to the person of Jesus…
Progress toward a nuclear free world “stalled”, says senior UN official
Progress toward a nuclear free world have “stalled” the top UN disarmament official said on Monday, the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Speaking at a ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on behalf of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN’s high representative for disarmament affairs, said that what happened at Hiroshima […]
US: POLL SUGGESTS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PUSH IS HAVING AN EFFECT
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports on how the issue of religious freedom is gaining traction in the US…
Death toll from Lombok quake continues to rise
The death toll from Sunday’s earthquake on the Indonesia island of Lombok has risen to at least 98 with many more still missing. The Indonesian Government’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency has reportedly said it expects the toll, which also includes hundreds of injured, to climb further as debris is cleared. The search for the missing is […]
ESSAY: CHRISTIANS ARE WHY THE DEATH PENALTY LIVES ON
SHANE CLAIBORNE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says Pope Francis’s declaration of the unacceptability of the death penalty couldn’t have come at a better time for the US given how some states are still fighting to keep it…
GENESIS – HUMAN
The early chapters of Genesis are some of the most profound in Western literature – let’s see why. Made in the Image of God. PICTURE: Liam Burnett-Blue/Unsplash. Genesis tells us we are made in the image of God. It is such a familiar phrase, we do not realise how radical it is. It undergirds so […]
LIFE’S TOUGH QUESTIONS: CAN YOU BE A CHRISTIAN AND SUPPORT THE DEATH PENALTY?
In an article first published on The Conversation, MATHEW SCHMALZ, associate professor of religion at College of the Holy Cross in the US, looks at the question of whether Christians should support the death penalty…
Willow Creek investigates Hybels as pastor quits over new allegations
RNS US-based Willow Creek Community Church announced it will commission an independent investigation of sexual harassment allegations against founding pastor Bill Hybels, a day after one of the two pastors who succeeded Hybels resigned over the church’s handling of the matter. Heather Larson, lead pastor at the influential evangelical Chicago-area megachurch, announced the investigation Monday […]