Free Republic

A new study released last week included new evidence that links and further authenticates two holy relics that millions of Christians believe offer physical proof of the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But before we explore the research and the relics, let us recall a New Testament passage concerning faith in Christ and the need for physical evidence. I mean the familiar story of “doubting Thomas” (John 20:24–29). The apostle Thomas was absent when the resurrected Christ appeared to some of the apostles. On hearing the astonishing news, Thomas declared, “Unless I see the nail marks in...

Can you believe anyone even organizes a "white privilege" conference these days — seven years into Barack Obama's presidency? Well, you'd better believe it, and you should also know that at least one of the speakers at this conference is militantly Christophobic. The 17th annual White Privilege Conference was held in Philadelphia from April 15 to 17. Blake Neff of The Daily Caller attended the conference and reported that "activist and author Paul Kivel" actually claimed that "almost every dysfunction in society, from racism and sexism to global warming and a weak economy, is united by the ideology of 'Christian...

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit," - Titus 3:4-5 The Gospel is the ultimate rags-to-riches story. We were pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, deserving death because of our sins, and unable to help ourselves. We felt unloved and in turn were unloving. This bleak existence of dust-to-dust was all there was.  And then Jesus came. He revealed to us a loving Daddy in heaven who...

Let’s begin by dispelling some myths about Christians and political affairs. A common misconception lurks among American Christians that politics can be separated from our beliefs and that the Church – the Body of Christ - should not be engaged in the political arena. Nothing could be further from the truth. Elections, conventions and politics are merely practical means for implementing a body of beliefs about the human condition. Every policy advanced, every piece of legislation passed and every opinion rendered by a court presupposes certain beliefs about the nature and relationship between humanity and government: from whom and how...

Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Dr. Thomas F. Farr Last month, the United States formally recognized that a genocide against Middle Eastern Christians and other minorities is taking place at the hands of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. What next? While steps must be taken to stop future atrocities from occurring, provide aid to those whose lives have been upended, and to plan for their future, we must also recognize and nurture the solidarity that we as American Christians share with our brothers and sisters overseas. To advocate for them we must love them. And to love...

Certain texts of the Bible may have been written earlier than previously believed, according to a new research based on the handwriting analysis of ancient inscriptions. It is dated to be at least 600 B.C. and the presumption is that literacy was prevalent and the texts were composed in the kingdom of Judah, a city with biblical reverence, according to researchers from the Tel Aviv University. They suggest that the educational infrastructure to support Bible writing presumably existed at that time.

The Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo “almost certainly covered the cadaver of the same person.” This is the conclusion from an investigation that has compared the two relics using forensics and geometry.The research was done by Dr. Juan Manuel Miñarro, a sculpture professor at the University of Seville, as part of a project sponsored by the Valencia-based Centro Español de Sindonología (CES) (The Spanish Center of Sindonology).Transparency acetate on three-dimensional model used in the investigation of Juan Manuel Miñarro . LINTEUM The study thus supports what tradition has held for more than two millennia: that the...

Coincidentally — or providentially — Newsweek magazine decided to place Jesus on its cover immediately following two large prayer gatherings, one of which took place in DC! Inquiring minds want to know: “What’s all this talk about Jesus Christ coming to our Nation’s Capital?” Having lived in Washington DC for 24 years, and having worked across the street from the White House, I know it’s unusual for this kind of talk and photo to be so prominent. A regular feature on a top-rated cable news show says it best: “What the heck just happened?” Surveys reveal that over 80%...

The Governor of my home state of Georgia, Nathan Deal, has been soundly, and frequently, taken to task for his recent “Craven Capitulation” on religious liberty. I don’t wish to rehash the merits of the very weak bill Deal rejected (it only protected churches, religious schools, and “integrated auxiliaries”), nor do I wish to highlight again the rampant ignorance and hypocrisy of those who lobbied Deal to veto religious liberty in Georgia. What I would like to do here is give some explanation as to why I believe Deal caved on the defining moral issue of his governorship.

CHRISTIAN communities in China have been left horrified after the government started tearing down thousands of crucifixes in a crude bid to eradicate the faith in the country. More than two thousand crosses have now been forcefully removed from churches as part of a government campaign to regulate "excessive religious sites". ... Several members of the public have since been arrested for attempting to halt the government's crude attempt to suppress the Christian faith. Among the arrested was prominent human rights lawyer Zhang Kai, who was detained after he mounted a legal campaign to challenge the removal of the crosses....

Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins has once again slammed the media for claiming that the atrocities carried out against Christians by Islamic extremists have "nothing to do with religion" following the attack that killed 70 Pakistani Christians, mostly women and children, on Easter Sunday in Lahore. On Tuesday, the 75-year-old "God Delusion" author took to Twitter to offer a brief commentary on the recent tragedy: "Pak bomb kills 72," he wrote, and quoted the perpetrators of the attack as stating, "We have carried out this attack to target Christians who were celebrating Easter." "Ah, nothing to do with religion, then," Dawkins...

A real good man who was on my staff in Iraq, an Iraqi national, left the country recently. He received repeated threats from local Al Qaeda and later ISIS for helping the US Army during OIF. There was always something special about this guy and we shared a bond of friendship that still endures. I believe the Lord put him on my heart for prayer and salvation. He made it to Sweden about eight months ago and is awaiting a ruling for asylum as a refugee. My prayers continued. Today I received what I thought was the answer to that...

The Book of Revelation Is a Sure Guide to What Is Really Going On Msgr. Charles Pope • April 4, 2016 • In the Office of Readings this Easter season, we are reading from the Book of Revelation. This choice might seem surprising, but there are good reasons for it.While many suppose that the Book of Revelation is merely about the end of the world, it is about far more; it is also about what is happening right now. It was not written only for the end of the ages but for all ages. It is a book of...

SOMEBODY HAD TO SAY IT If you listen to the politicians and the media pundits, you'll hear clever sounding rationales supporting their particular position on a variety of topics. They'll talk around and tip toe right up next to the issue, but will never bring the defining issue of our time as a nation clearly into focus. Why, because they're afraid. They're afraid because of the firestorm such straight forward talk would generate. Among all the voices, consider this: The issue that is continuing to divide our country is not a racial one, though many have relentlessly played that card....

A handsomely made, finely acted miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth (1977) plays a lot like a distillation of the best components from all of the biblical epics of the 1940s-‘60s that had preceded it while generally avoiding those movies' flaws. Despite its all-star cast, for instance, Jesus of Nazareth steers clear of the sometimes goofy, distracting stunt casting found in George Stevens's The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), mostly famously John Wayne as the Roman centurion with the single line, "Truly, this man was the Son of Gawd." It's less artful in some respects than King of Kings (1961), but improves...

This oft-posed question, of how can conservatives and Christians recruit young Americans to their cause, was also asked of Dr. Everett Piper, the president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Ginni Thomas of The Daily Caller recently interviewed Dr. Piper on a variety of topics. When asked about recruiting Americans to conservatism, Dr. Piper responded, "Let's go back to the classical liberal arts model: Veritas." He cited Oxford University, "To this day, Oxford has one word on its shield: Veritas, Latin for truth." Piper continued, "The British academy, the liberal arts academy, some one thousand years ago, was founded for one thing:...

Chris Pratt erected a giant cross on Easter Sunday and posted a step-by-step instructional guide to his process on Instagram. The 36-year-old actor, who’s currently filming Guardians of the Galaxy 2, spent the holiday getting his hands dirty while setting up the cross, which appears to be at least roughly 20 feet tall.

"It was reported last week that several religious groups had received threats that Father Thomas would be crucified on Good Friday, but this was denied by his church in hometown of Bangalore. However, the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, told a congregation gathered in St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Austrian capital that the priest had been crucified." "It is not known how the Archbishop became aware of Father Thomas' alleged fate, but his confirmation of the crucifixion during Easter Vigil Mass was reported in Austrian media. "

Katie Gorka, President of the Council on Global Security, discussed what Christians can do to help in the war against Christianity with host Stephen K. Bannon on SiriusXM radio’s Breitbart News Saturday: On a special Holy Saturday edition of Breitbart News Saturday, host and Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen K. Bannon will continue the discussion on the global war on Christianity we began on the Good Friday episode and will continue through to Easter Sunday.

American Minute with Bill Federer"Our laws and customs are based upon the laws of Moses and the teachings of Christ." -Supreme Court Justice David Josiah Brewer U.S. Supreme Court stated in the 1892 case of Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, written by Justice David Josiah Brewer (143 U.S. 457-458, 465-471, 36 L ed 226): "This is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation. The commission to Christopher Columbus...(recited) that 'it is hoped that by God's assistance some of...