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PROTESTANTS CLAIM VISIONS, PROPHETIC WORDS RESEMBLING THOSE OF CATHOLICS There are many Christian "denominations" -- by one count 34,000 that have identified themselves as Christian groups -- and often, of course, they're at odds with each other. This is especially true of "fundamentalist" Christians and Catholics. But they share some intriguing aspects. The charismatic branches of both major groups heal in a way that is similar (whereby the person prayed over often falls gently to the floor, known as "resting" or being "slain" in the Spirit); both pray in "tongues"; and many Christians receive alleged prophecy in the way of...

It is a sign of the times: Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists worshipping together in Valley, Neb. As CBS News Correspondent Bob McNamara reports, not enough of them are around any longer to support a church of their own faith. "There's more strength in numbers," says Cindy Matteo, a Methodist. "We can do more as a group. We can reach out to more people." But finding more members could be a long reach. A study by the University of Chicago says the number of Americans who still identify themselves as Protestants is dropping to a historic low. "They're very close to...

Benchmark statistical moments are almost always anticlimactic. When the U.S. population shifted from rural to urban areas in 1920, there was no annunciatory thunderclap. And in about 2060, the year by which census figures suggest that non-Hispanic whites will become less than 50% of the population, the switch will have long been old news. Still, such dates have historical cachet, and 2004 soon may too. The University of Chicago's respected National Opinion Research Center (NORC) has reported that the proportion of adult Americans calling themselves Protestants, a steady 63% for decades, fell suddenly to 52% from 1993 to 2002. Not...

America's Protestant majority is about to disappear, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Chicago. Since the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock nearly 400 years ago, America has been a largely Protestant nation. But as early as the end of this year, Protestants likely will make up less than 51 percent of the population for the first time in history, sociologists at the university's National Opinion Research Center surmise in a new report released Tuesday. According to survey results from more than 43,000 Americans gathered over the last 30 years, the percentage of Protestants in the...

The United States will lose its historic status as a majority-Protestant nation as early as this year, according to a national survey released yesterday. Between 1993 and 2002, the proportion of Americans who said they were Protestants fell from 63 percent to 52 percent after decades of stability, according to the study released by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

For the first time in U.S. history, the number of Protestants soon will slip below 50 percent of the nation's population, according to a new survey. "As early as this year and certainly, if the projections hold, within the next two years, the majority of American adults will not be Protestants for the first time since the founding of colonial Jamestown," said Tom W. Smith, director of the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey. "We were always at least a majority Protestant country, and that is about to change." The survey, which was released Tuesday, has studied various aspects...

The United States will no longer be a majority Protestant nation in years to come, due to a precipitous decline in affiliation with many Protestant churches, a new survey has found. Between 1993 and 2002, the share of Americans who said they were Protestant dropped from 63 percent to 52 percent, after years of remaining generally stable, according to a study released today by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. At the same time, the number of people who said they had no religion rose from 9 percent to nearly 14 percent, and many are former...

Report from Indianapolis Kevin Jones, November 2, 2002 "Isn't it amazing how the liberals took over the denominations?" "Yes but now God¹s people are going to take them back." Overheard in the hall at the Confessing the Faith conference in Indianapolis October 24-26, a gathering of conservative mainline Protestants. When I told someone about my trip to Indianapolis to report on the conservative Episcopalians, United Methodists, Presbyterians and United Church of Christ members gathered for the Confessing the Faith Conference, he asked, "Do they really think they are working for peace and justice?" The answer is, "no, not at all."...

A group of U.S. pastors has arrived in Cuba, some wearing T-shirts reading: "Regime change in U.S., not in Cuba." It's the 15th trip to the island police state for Pastors for Peace, who travel there in violation of U.S. law by going through Mexico. The group brought tons of aid to help Cuba deal with the severe effects of a drought, which has made life even more miserable than it would normally be under Communism. Among the supplies the group brought are school buses, medicines, medical equipment, computers and books. PFP is an arm of the Interreligious Foundation for...

Ping me if you have a similar theologic viewpoint.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—More than three-fourths of Protestant clergy believe the separation of church and state in the United States has gone too far, according to research released by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Ellison Research, a full-service marketing research firm in Phoenix which conducted the research for the July/August issue of LifeWay’s Facts & Trends magazine, reported that 78 percent of Protestant clergy say "the separation of church and state in the U.S. has gone too far, or in ways it was never intended to go" best reflects their personal position. Ellison described the research as reflecting...

<p>Sen. John Kerry's advisers are telling the presidential candidate to steer clear of talking about religion after running afoul of several Catholic bishops and after the campaign's new director of religious outreach was criticized this week for espousing left-wing causes.</p>

The Reformation Paradigm All over the world today it is happening afresh. Evangelical Christians are rediscovering the literary works of the Protestant Reformation and are self-consciously studying Protestant theology as a model for a new Reformation. There is no doubt that this is a work of the Holy Spirit. God is revealing the Reformation paradigm to the hearts and minds of Christians throughout the world. God is emphasizing once again the historic doctrines of the Reformation: the sovereignty of God, the Law of God, the total depravity of man, justification by faith alone, the authority of Scripture alone, and the...

The Faithful and the Faithless May 6, 2004 If elected in November, John Kerry would be our third Catholic president. John Kennedy was of course the first. Who was the second? Give up? Ronald Reagan. As I understand it, he was baptized a Catholic in infancy, though he was raised as a Protestant. In the eyes of the Catholic Church, if you’re baptized in the Church you remain a Catholic all your life. That’s one of the many things even most Catholics don’t realize anymore. There’s a general impression that the Second Vatican Council suspended the old rules and left...

For the American politician working the stump there is seldom anything risky about quoting the Bible. Doing so has been one of the most effective ways of winning over the mass of American voters. Unless, that is, one happens to be a Roman Catholic who quotes a certain verse from the Epistle of James, which Sen. John Kerry did last Sunday in St. Louis. "The Scriptures say, 'What does it profit my brother if someone says he has faith but does not have works?'" preached Kerry at the North Side Baptist Church, paraphrasing James chapter two, verse fourteen. "When we...

<p>WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Five deeply spiritual, religiously knowledgeable men and women bring different perspectives but all agree that the most popular religious movie in years, Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," is too violent, unfaithful to history and incendiary.</p>

From The Banner of Truth Biblical Christianity through Literature P.O. Box 621 Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013, U.S.A. (717) 249-5747 http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/articles/article_print.php?567 Five Reasons Not to Go See The Passion of Christ By Andrew J. Webb February 19, 2004 On February 25, 2004 Icon films, will be releasing Mel Gibson's much anticipated film The Passion of Christ. The date of the release was deliberately chosen to coincide with the Roman Catholic holy day of Ash Wednesday, and is indicative of the fact that for Gibson, his film was more of a work of devotion than a money making enterprise. In an interview on...

<p>For the moment, gay and lesbian couples in San Francisco may find it easier to get a civil marriage license than the full blessings of a church wedding.</p> <p>Debates over same-sex marriage have fractured the nation's religious landscape in recent decades, and San Francisco, despite its gay-friendly reputation, is no exception.</p>

<p>The Politics of Prayer As Democrats abandon traditional values and religion, their core voters are slipping away    By Tony Quinn, Tony Quinn is co-editor of the California Target Book, a nonpartisan analysis of California legislative and congressional campaigns.</p> <p>SACRAMENTO — A GOP gerrymander of Democratic districts in Texas will probably add six to eight Republicans to the House. Every other big state is so heavily gerrymandered that no other major changes are likely. This means the GOP majority in the House is expected to grow by at least half a dozen seats.</p>

<p>This country is divided along lines over how we live, love, tax, vote -- and pray. And now that we are about to enter a political year in which we will help decide how we will live, love and tax, there's increasing attention on how we pray.</p>