Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Thrifty Faithful Hurts U.S. Churches: Survey

"Donations to churches have fallen for the second consecutive year and as the economy recovers slowly religious leaders are hoping a thrifty faithful is not the new normal - at least when it comes to giving."

Monday, March 29, 2010

Scandal Tests Catholics’ Trust in Leadership

"As the sexual abuse scandal sweeps through the Roman Catholic Church in Europe and the United States, there are few places where dismay and confusion among worshipers strikes as deep a chord as here in Armagh, seat of the embattled cardinal whose fate has become closely entangled with the widening controversy facing Pope Benedict XVI."

'Christian Warriors' Allegedly Plotted Attack on Cops

"Nine suspects tied to a Christian militia that was preparing for the Antichrist were charged with conspiring to kill police officers, then kill scores more by attacking a funeral using homemade bombs, federal prosecutors said Monday."

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Pope Accused of Failing to Act on Sex Abuse Case

"Pope Benedict XVI has been accused of failing to act on complaints from two archbishops in the US about a priest who allegedly abused 200 deaf boys."

Evolutionary Scientist Wins Templeton Prize

"Fransisco J. Ayalaa, a former Catholic priest who as an evolutionary geneticist has long argued that science and faith are compatible yet separate, won the Templeton Prize, one of the world's most prestigious religion prizes."

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Education, Faith and a Likelihood to Wed

"The higher the level of education, the more likely people were to wed, and the less likely they were to live together. More than 60 percent of people with a college degree or higher were married. Religion also played a role. Among white men, 55 percent of those who said religion was 'very important' were married, compared with 35 percent of those for whom it was 'not important.'"

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Report: Catholic Clergy Abuse Claims Drop in US

"While the Roman Catholic church in Europe reels from a widening sex abuse crisis, the scandal that has plagued the U.S. church for nearly a decade is tapering off, a report released Tuesday says."

Portion Sizes Increase in 'Last Supper' Paintings

"Two researchers analyzed the food and plate sizes in 52 of the most famous paintings of The Last Supper and found that the portion sizes in the paintings have increased dramatically over the past millennium, from years 1000 to 2000."

Monday, March 22, 2010

Post-Reformation Digital Library

"The Post-Reformation Digital Library is a collection of resources relating to the development of theology during the Post-Reformation/early modern era (ca. 16th-18th c.), hosted by the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies of Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary."

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Research indicates Effect of Sunday School Attendance Lingers

"Consistent Sunday school attendance when we're young has direct bearing on church attendance as grown-ups. Researcher George Barna says more than 8 in 10 adults in the U.S. claim they had weekly religious education before age 12. Of those, 69 percent now attend religious programs weekly."

Catholic Church, and Religion in General, Losing Latinos in USA

"Latino population growth over the past two decades has boosted numbers in the Catholic Church, but a new, in-depth analysis shows Latinos' allegiance to Catholicism is waning as some move toward other Christian denominations or claim no religion at all."

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Conversation About Catholics and Evangelicals

An interview with Chris Castaldo "A conversation about Catholics and evangelicals—agreeing to disagree, agreeably"

Monday, March 15, 2010

Most Priests accused of Sex Abuse Were Never Tried, Admits Vatican

"Catholic Church officials never prosecuted more than half the roughly 3,000 priests accused of sexual impropriety in the past decade, a top Vatican official has revealed."

Barna Research on Americans and Easter

". . .most Americans consider Easter to be a religious holiday, but fewer identify the resurrection of Jesus as the underlying meaning. The study also explored the degree to which Americans are likely to invite an unchurched friend or family member to attend worship service on Easter weekend."

Sunday, March 14, 2010

The Medical Hazards of Spiritual Care

"Two studies recently have found a striking association between faith and the medical decisions of terminal cancer patients at the end of life. In both cases, religious faith often led patients to choose more aggressive medical care at the end of life."

Child Abuse Claims Sweep Catholic Church in Europe

"It often starts as a voice in the wilderness, but can swell into an entire nation's demand for truth. From Ireland to Germany, Europe's many victims of child abuse in the Roman Catholic church are finally breaking social taboos and confronting the clergy to face its demons."

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Court OKs ‘under God’ in Pledge of Allegiance

"A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld the use of the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance and 'In God We Trust' on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments on Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state."

Research: Teenage Views and Behavior Regarding the Supernatural

"The report, called Ministry to Mosaics: Teens and the Supernatural;, is based upon three nationwide studies conducted among more than 4,000 teens by The Barna Group."

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Lost Jewish tribe 'found in Zimbabwe'

"The Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa may look like their compatriots, but they follow a very different set of customs and traditions. . ."

God Helps with Personal Decisions, Most Americans Say

"Most Americans believe God is involved in their everyday lives and concerned with their personal well-being, though the well-educated and higher earners are less likely than their counterparts to believe in such divine intervention, a new study suggests."

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Muslims Turning to Home Schooling in Increasing Numbers

"Although three-quarters of the nation's estimated 2 million home-schoolers identify themselves as Christian, the number of Muslims is expanding 'relatively quickly,' compared with other groups, said Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute."

Interview With Wheaton's Next President

"Wheaton College chose from one of its own when it appointed Philip Ryken, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, as its next president." Here is an interview with him.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Muslim Leader Issues Anti-Terror Fatwa

"The leader of a global Muslim movement has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that he calls an absolute condemnation of terrorism. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker, says the 600-page fatwa bans suicide bombing 'without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions.'"