July 28, 2014 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | ANN staff eventh-day Adventist leaders said they applauded the announcement of a nominee for a religious freedom advocacy position at the U.S. Department of State, a post that has been […]
Rabbi David Sapperstein Nominated as State Department Religious Freedom Ambassador (ANN) Read More »
By Ryan Bell – In the United States, the claim that Christians are being persecuted is unsubstantiated. Of course there are cases of intolerance. Christians in predominantly secular contexts, like public universities and large cities like New York and Los Angeles, do experience discrimination, but it hardly rises to the level of what could be credibly called persecution.
Opinion: Persecuted in America? Read More »
By Jason Hines – Today the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Hobby Lobby and other closely held corporations can refuse to cover certain forms of contraception in the insurance plans they provide to employees because of their “religious beliefs.” Now I put religious beliefs in quotes because despite the Court’s decision, I refuse to admit that corporations, created in order to separate themselves from the people who create them, can have religious beliefs.
Opinion on the Hobby Lobby Decision: More Equal Than Others Read More »
Most business owners set up corporations as legal alter-egos to avoid being held personally responsible if their businesses get sued, but in this case, the employers (in Hobby Lobby, Conestoga Wood, and Mardel) are saying that their corporations can still manifest the owners’ religious beliefs even if it comes at the potential expense of their employees. The Supreme Court agrees.
Supreme Court Rules Closely-Held Corporations Have Religious Rights Read More »
On June 16, 2014 the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in the much-anticipated case, Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus. Justice Thomas delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court finding in favor of the Pro-Life group, Susan B. Anthony List (SBA). The court ruled that SBA and co-petitioner COAST (Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes) have standing to challenge an Ohio election statute under which they had been threatened with prosecution for holding members of Congress responsible for their voting record.
U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Right to Pro-Life Political Speech Read More »
Fox News is reporting that 24 hours after she was released from prison, Miriam Ibrahim, the 27-year-old Christian woman who had been arrested and sentenced to death for refusing to convert to Islam, has now been re-arrested. An Islamic court
Sudanese Christian Woman Detained at Airport after Release from Prison Read More »
Dr. Eric Walsh speaks on his recent experience at the Advent Hope Sabbath School in Loma Linda, California on May 31, 2014. Click to listen: https://www.audioverse.org/english/sermons/recordings/6163/is-your-window-open.html
Is Your Window Open? – Dr. Eric Walsh Speaks About His Recent Experience Read More »
By Prince Charles – For more than twenty years, I have tried to build bridges between Islam and Christianity and to dispel ignorance and misunderstanding between them. Islam is the second largest faith community in the world and the second largest in Britain, and so bridges between Islam and Christianity are something that must concern every responsible person.
Prince Charles Writes on Plight of Christians in the Middle East Read More »
By Bryan Fulwider – On May 5 the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to Christianity with its 5-4 prayer ruling in the case of Town of Greece v. Galloway.
However, that’s definitely not how any headlines I read described the decision. Nor is it how the five-justice majority would have viewed it. And it’s certainly not what most Christians would say. But that’s what happened, I believe. Now for some background.
Opinion on Court Decision: Prayer at public meetings may be lawful but not expedient Read More »
Agape love is the central premise of Protestant Christian theology. According to The Oxford Handbook of Theological Ethics, “Luther’s rediscovery of the primacy of agape was the linchpin of the Reformation and the rediscovery of genuine Christian ethics.” (See G. Meilaender and W. Werpehowski, The Oxford Handbook of Theological Ethics, 2007, p. 456.)
Many confuse the concept of agape love with the concept of caritas, or charity, but these are two separate ideas. The concept of agape love is the love of God reaching down to save humanity through grace, while caritas is about humans reaching upward toward God through works.
Rediscovering Agape: Why the Reformation is Not Over Read More »
