Top 10 Religion Stories of 2007

Time Magazine has published their list of the Top 10 Religion Stories of 2007. The selection reflects the many issues confronting the church in 2007. Here is Time’s list:

#1. The Mother Teresa Revelations

#2. Democrats Embrace Religion and Mitt Romney Channels JFK

#3. The Reverend Jerry Falwell Dies

#4. The Pope's Moto Proprio

#5. The Episcopal Church At Odds Over Gays

#6. The Greening of Evangelicalism

#7. The Roar of Atheist Books

#8. The Sins of Ted Haggard

#9. The Creation Museum Opens

#10. South Korean Christian Missionaries Kidnapped in Afghanistan

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Church, Religion

Africa and the Old Testament

Philip Jenkins, an evangelical scholar and Professor of Religious Studies and History at Pennsylvania State University, speaking in San Diego to members of the Evangelical Theological Society, said that Africans understand the Old Testament better than Westerners do.

According to an article published by the Associated Baptist Press, Jenkins said that many things about life and practice in the Old Testament are difficult to convey to a contemporary Western audience.

The following is an excerpt from the article published by the Associated Baptist Press:

Cultures that espouse tribal identities and are intimately acquainted with animal sacrifice, dietary restrictions, polygamy, sacred rocks and the like are well-equipped to read and identify with the Hebrew Bible's stories, Jenkins said.

"Teaching people [in the developing world] to obey the Bible if it means the Old Testament is not difficult," he said. "In fact, for many of the new Christians in the world today the big problem is . telling people that the old law must be made subordinate, must be treated as inferior, to the new law."

In Africa, Jenkins continued, Western missionaries often must convince people that the Old Testament is not the only or primary revelation of God's work.

If Martin Luther hated it, he joked, it goes down great in Africa.

On the up side, Jenkins said, African and Asian tribes can easily recognize and understand aspects of the traditional religion of the Old Testament as shaping what they should practice in light of the New Testament. And they often understand those aspects better than Christians in the Western world.

In Western societies, many people have never seen an animal sacrifice or lived in an agricultural community. To them, such a way of life is foreign to their culture and difficult to understand. Thus, I believe that, to some extent, Jenkins in right. And this may explain the reason the church is growing in Africa and Latin America and it is stagnant in Europe and in the USA.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Africa, Church, Philip Jenkins

Protestants React To Vatican’s Statement

The Associated Baptist Press has a detailed article about the reaction of some Protestants to the Pope’s statement that other Christians communities are not the church. The following is an excerpt of the news release:

DALLAS (ABP) -- The document issued July 10 by the Vatican was meant to clarify its doctrine of the church. But nearly a week later, its timing and language still leaves some Protestants and Catholics feeling confused or angry.

Much of the document, entitled "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," was aimed to clearly define “church.” The part that incited some anger said Christian denominations outside the Roman Catholic Church are not true churches. Instead only those with a direct link to the apostles and that submit to the authority of the pope are genuine. the Vatican said.

The document said Protestant churches suffer from a “profound wound,” causing them to warrant only “Christian community” status, not that of a church. The document said the Roman Catholic Church meets the criteria for a “church” because it can trace its history directly through bishops to the original apostles. It said Eastern Orthodox churches suffer from a lesser “wound” than Protestants because, while they claim apostolic authority, they don’t recognize the primacy of the pope.

“This is nothing but a naked attempt by Pope Benedict to ‘own’ Jesus by virtue of the Catholic Church considering the apostle Peter as its leader,” said American talk-show host Roland Martin. He told CNN July 13 that the Vatican document divides the community of faith rather than supports it.

There's little new in the Vatican document, however. Most of the contentious statements were also included in “Dominus Iesus,” a document issued in 2000 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became the current pope, Benedict XVI. According to Reuter’s, the purpose of July 10 document was to correct “erroneous or ambiguous” interpretations of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, which opened the door for ecumenical dialogue with non-Catholic Christian bodies.

Some critics say the divisive nature of the latest document is ironic, since Pope Benedict has portrayed himself as a supporter of Christian unity. The day after he was elected pope, he delivered a speech in which he said God will judge him for what he does to foster Christian unity.

One key Protestant leader added his criticism of the document, which he said "makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with Reformed family and other families of the church." Rev. Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, offered that view in a letter to Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, according to Catholic World News.


Read the news release in its entirety by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Catholic Church, Church, Pope, Protestants, Vatican

Pope Declares: Other Christians Are Not the True Church

Pope Benedict XVI has declared in a document issued by the Vatican, that other Christians communities are not the true church. According to the Pope, Christ established only one church, the Catholic Church. The Pope said that Orthodox churches are “defective” and that Protestants and other Christian denominations are “not true churches but merely ecclesial communities” and for this reason, they do not have the “means of salvation.”

Below is the news release published by the Associated Press:

Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches.

Benedict approved a document from his old offices at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that restates church teaching on relations with other Christians. It was the second time in a week the pope has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that modernized the church.

On Saturday, Benedict revisited another key aspect of Vatican II by reviving the old Latin Mass. Traditional Catholics cheered the move, but more liberal ones called it a step back from Vatican II.

Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers the erroneous interpretation of the council by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.

In the latest document - formulated as five questions and answers - the Vatican seeks to set the record straight on Vatican II's ecumenical intent, saying some contemporary theological interpretation had been "erroneous or ambiguous" and had prompted confusion and doubt.

It restates key sections of a 2000 document the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, "Dominus Iesus," which set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."

In the new document and an accompanying commentary, which were released as the pope vacations here in Italy's Dolomite mountains, the Vatican repeated that position.

"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," the document said. The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession - the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles.

The Rev. Sara MacVane of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said there was nothing new in the document.

"I don't know what motivated it at this time," she said. "But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglican and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics."

The document said Orthodox churches were indeed "churches" because they have apostolic succession and that they enjoyed "many elements of sanctification and of truth." But it said they lack something because they do not recognize the primacy of the pope - a defect, or a "wound" that harmed them, it said.

"This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an 'internal constitutive principle' of the very existence of a particular church," the commentary said.

Despite the harsh tone of the document, it stresses that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.

"However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive, it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith," the commentary said.

The document, signed by the congregation prefect, U.S. Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul - a major ecumenical feast day.

There was no indication about why the pope felt it necessary to release the document, particularly since his 2000 document summed up the same principles. Some analysts suggested it could be a question of internal church politics, or that it could simply be an indication of Benedict using his office as pope to again stress key doctrinal issues from his time at the congregation.

The whole issue for the Catholic church is the issue of “apostolic succession.” If a church is unable to “trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles,” then that church cannot be considered a true church. The fact is, that it is only through some manipulation of historical facts that the Catholic church can trace itself back to Peter.

The Pope said that the Catholic church is still “committed to ecumenical dialogue.” But ecumenical dialogue must be under the Pope’s terms: “However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive, it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith.”

To the Pope and to the Catholic church, the Protestant and other Christian “ecclesial communities” reinterate Luther’s words:

“Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”

And then, those words that made Luther famous, if he indeed spoke them:

“Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me, Amen!”

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Apostolic Succession, Benedict XVI , Catholic Church, Church, Pope

Pornography and the Church

Christian Today is reporting that the number of Christians who are addicted to pornography is increasing. The following is an excerpt from the news report:

In a culture where sexuality and porn is now a part of everyday life, porn
addiction in the church is escalating, according to a new survey.

In a poll of 1,000 respondents, 50 percent of Christian men and 20 percent of
Christian women were found to be addicted to pornography. Conducted by
ChristaNet.com, a popular Christian marketplace website, the poll asked visitors
about their personal sexual conduct.

"There have been dynamic paradigm shifts in the behaviour of Christians over the last four years," said Clay Jones, founder and president of Second Glance Ministries, which partnered with ChristiaNet.com to evaluate poll responses.

Many point to the Internet for the pervasive problem of sexual addiction.

Today's sexualised culture also has churchgoing women struggling with sexual addiction. The ChristiaNet.com survey found 60 percent of Christian women admitting to having significant struggles with lust; 40 percent saying they were involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20 percent struggling with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.

Visit Christian Today and read the news report in its entirety.

The problem of addiction to pornography has been attributed to a "paradigm shift" in the behavior of Christians. I believe that this paradigm shift has happened primarily because of a change in what people see, what they hear, and how they think.

In a society that is becoming more and more secular, devoid of God and of spiritual and moral guidance, people have no one to guide them into moral wholeness. Believers can trust God’s Word to help them live successful and happy lives but some of God’s people perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).

When Christians do not read or study the Bible and do not apply biblical principles to their lives, they live without the compass that can guide them into a life of wholeness.

In today’s secularized society, there has been a fierce struggle over who will control the minds of people: God or the forces of secularism. Sooner or later people have to make a choice and that choice will influence what they see, what they hear, and how they think.

The advent of modern technology, including television and the Internet, has made an impact on every person on this planet. Technology has found many ingenious ways of infiltrating people’s minds with pictures and sounds that proclaim an anti-God message, a message that produces different forms on unnatural behavior.

In this computer age, everyone is aware of the saying: "Garbage in, garbage out." Since people are what they think, most people’s thought process is the result of what has come into their minds through what they hear on radio, watch on television, and see in the Internet.

Pornography is not normal. People are obsessed with sex because merchants of filth are providing them with the fuel that keeps their obsession burning.

In the book of Judges we find a society in chaos, full of violence and sexual perversion. According to the writer of Judges, "In those days Israel had no king; so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes" (Judges 21:25). And as a result, a group of men tried to rape a man (Judges 19:22), a group of men raped a woman all night (Judges 19:25), a group of men kidnaped women for sex (Judges 21:12), and another group of men kidnaped more women for sex.

There has been a paradigm shift. It is a shift away from God into a society where people struggle to satisfy their evil desires. The words of Paul provide help for those obsessed with pornography: "Let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and do not think of ways to indulge your evil desires" (Romans 13:14). He also said: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires" (Colossians 3:5).

As long as there is no king in the land, people will do whatever seems right in their own eyes. People need a king and his name is Jesus.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Church, Pornography

Ethiopian Evangelist Beaten to Death

Baptist Press is announcing that an Ethiopian evangelist was beaten to death by Wahabbi extremists. The following is the press release issued by Baptist Press:

An evangelist was beaten to death by militant Muslims as he and two female assistants were witnessing on a street in southeast Ethiopia, March 26. The evangelist, named Tedase, is the second believer in Ethiopia who has been attacked and killed by Wahabbi Muslims in the past six months.

The evangelism team was walking by a Wahabbi mosque in the town of Jimma as a group of men were coming out, according to International Christian Concern, a human rights group based in Washington, D.C. The Muslims chased the three, and the female co-workers escaped, but the men caught Tedase, pulled him into the mosque, and beat him to death.

Wahabbi Islam is an extremist sect that originated in Saudi Arabia and exerts great influence in Muslim dominated areas like Jimma, where local authorities are almost exclusively Muslim, the ICC said. Just six months ago, extremist Muslims burned down several churches and Christian homes, displacing as many as 2,000 Christians.

The ICC encourages concerned individuals to contact the Ethiopian embassy in Washington, D.C., to ask for an investigation of the murder. The embassy's phone number is (202)364-1200, e-mail info@ethiopianembassy.org.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Christianity, Church, Persectution