Free Republic

Where in the New Testament are "priests" mentioned? Full QuestionThe New Testament mentions three categories of Church leaders: bishops, presbyters, and deacons. So how can the Catholic Church justify its office of "priest"? The New Testament writers seem to understand "bishop" and "presbyter" to be synonymous terms for the same office (Acts 20:17-38). AnswerThe English word "priest" is derived from the Greek word presbuteros, which is commonly rendered into Bible English as "elder" or "presbyter." The ministry of Catholic priests is that of the presbyters mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 15:6, 23). The Bible says little about the duties...

all it The Obama Rule. When will our president do something he wants to do that the Constitution or morality prohibits? When he can get away with it. President Barack Obama did not move forward with his unilateral action on immigration before the midterm elections, because he was worried he would pay too high a price. Additional congressional Democrats might have lost, and more Democrats would have blamed him for the losses. He moved forward with his unconstitutional action after the elections because he calculated — correctly — that Republican congressional leaders would let him get away with it. One...

As the Sydney siege unfolded in the Lindt cafe, a Channel Seven cameraman was watching it all through his camera lens and providing vital information and vision for police snipers. Veteran cameraman Greg Parker remained in the network's newsroom as his colleagues were all evacuated around him. He was accompanied by a member of the force's crack shooting squad, who asked him to keep filming as authorities assessed the movements of the crazed gunman and his treatment of the 18 hostages. The extraordinary circumstances called for extraordinary measures. Usually, in any critical situation, the media would be ushered well away...

When KCRA 3 asked Ashby about using tax dollars to contribute to Planned Parenthood programs, she defended the contribution, took off the microphone and walked away.

A South Carolina federal judge has awarded more than $197,000 in attorney’s fees and costs to the head of Columbia Christians for Life after a free speech court battle that involved years of legal wrangling at all judicial levels. “It’s certain to send a message to law enforcement, that they shouldn’t trample the rights of pro-life protesters,” Stephen Fitschen, president of National Legal Foundation (NLF), which represented the pro-life group, told LifeSiteNews. “It’s going to impact pro-lifers across the country.” Fitschen said the final victory of legal costs should provide pro-life supporters leverage when standing up for free speech while...

There is a French City with 40% Muslim Population and it is the Most Dangerous City in Europe, Marseille. Islam in France 2014

A Texas plumber has been receiving threats after a photo emerged of Islamic extremists in Syria firing a high-powered gun from the bed of his old pickup, which still bears his company’s logo on the door. An extremist group, Ansar al-Deen Front, posted the photo of its fighters aboard the Ford F-250 sometime on Monday. That prompted a flood of calls to Mark Oberholtzer, who owns Mark-1 Plumbing in Texas City, and has nothing to do with Syria’s bloody civil war. “How it ended up in Syria, I’ll never know,” Oberholtzer told The Galveston Daily News. …

Adding creative insult to corporate injury in the wake of the massive hacking of Sony's computer files, the film that may have triggered the incident, The Interview, is an intensely sophomoric and rampantly uneven comic takedown of an easy but worrisomely unpredictable target, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. In the relatively sparse annals of irreverent major studio comedies that pissed off foreign nations, for big laughs this one doesn't rate anywhere near Borat or Team America: World Police; the latter prominently included the present North Korean boss man's father, Kim Jong-il, among its many targets. Given the unique cloud under...

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:4-6)The Incarnation was the Father’s plan. There is one eternal God, eternally manifest in three persons; Father,Son and Holy Ghost. God has always been the Father, and by him Fatherhood derives its essence. Forever there has been in the Godhead, the...

Sony Cancels Theatrical Release for ‘The Interview’ on Christmas With theater chains defecting en masse, Sony Pictures Entertainment has pulled the planned Christmas Day release of “The Interview.” In announcing the decision to cancel the holiday debut, Sony hit back at the hackers who threatened movie theaters and moviegoers and who have terrorized the studio and its employees for weeks. “Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale – all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like,” the statement...

Anyone interested in either going as a voluntary soldier, or who is interested in garnering support for the ASsyrian and Iraqi Christian men who have volunteered for the new militia/military group forming to defend the Christians and other persecuted minority groups such as Yezidis) in Iraq against ISIS. This can mean financial support by individuals, church or social organisations who want to raise financial support on a one-time basis or on-going, or for people who want and/or can help gain support with through government in the U.S. or other countries. If anyone is interested in this issue and helping in...

A network of businesses, public officials and educators are partnering with the Trayvon Martin Foundation to present “Letters to Trayvon” a holistic campaign to address the plight of Black males and police brutality, next February. The campaign, initiated by the Germantown-based small business Mission Inc., has been in its planning stages for about a year and will include a social media component, youth outreach and a culminating fundraising reception, panel discussion, black art showcase and exhibit on Feb. 28. “Letters to Trayvon is a campaign to end the disrespect and racial profiling of black men and boys [and] it’s a...

"As a society," he said, "we have to soon decide between the rule of law and due process or a group of inspired lynch mobs." Though not by name, he defended the two patrol officers who shot and killed Brandon Tate-Brown, a 26-year-old African American parolee who police say struggled with the officers and reached for a gun during a Mayfair traffic stop early Monday. "When our officers are confronted by a convicted, violent felon who should not be out of prison - who is in possession of a stolen, loaded firearm - what else do you want us to...

A favorite argument of the anti-marijuana crowd is that legalization would send the wrong signal to the youth and make them think drugs are good for them. Except that, with increasing legalization across the country, that hasn’t happened yet. In fact, teen drug use decreased in 2014, according to a study by the University of Michigan and the National Institutes on Drug Abuse. The same year Colorado and Washington’s legalization was in full swing, while two states and the District of Columbia all passed some form of legalization. -snip- Also notable: according to the study, marijuana has gotten slightly more...

Former President Kennedy would approve of President Obama's decision to roll back trade and travel restrictions on Cuba, the White House argued Wednesday. "I do think that even President Kennedy would acknowledge that after more than 50 years of a policy of isolation [which] didn't bring about the desired result … change was needed," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. President Obama announced earlier in the day that the administration would ease travel restrictions to the country, as well as restrictions on exports to Cuba. The government is also allowing U.S. financial and telecommunications firms to establish more of...

On Monday, Australian police stormed the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Sydney, where an Islamist terrorist named Man Haron Monis had taken dozens of hostages and held them for 17 hours. Three people were killed, including Monis, and several others were wounded. Monis, an Iranian immigrant, had a long criminal record, including 40 charges for indecent and sexual assault, as well as an outstanding charge for accessory to murder in the killing of his ex-wife. Before his death, Monis requested an ISIS flag, and forced hostages to hold up the so-called Shahada flag, which proclaims in Arabic, "There Is No God...

A group of male fourth-year Dalhousie University dentistry students who posted misogynistic comments about their female colleagues on a Facebook page, including crude jokes about sedating them for rough sex, are at risk of expulsion. University president Richard Florizone has launched an investigation into the incident, and immediately postponed exams for the 47 fourth-year students – 26 men and 21 women – until January, not wanting any targets of the offensive posts to be sitting next to a perpetrator until he knows more. .... The social media group was called the Class of DDS 2015 Gentlemen. According to the CBC,...

The pro-amnesty and open borders Wall Street Journal wants former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to not back down on Common Core and amnesty, the two issues that may represent the greatest divide between the bipartisan political class and Main Street. The Journal, which Bush has hailed as his "paper of record," argued that Bush was right when he recently said during a Journal event that a Republican must be willing to "lose the primary to win the general" election."Mr. Bush’s two main political liabilities in the primaries are said to be his support for immigration and for Common Core education standards," the Journal opined. "Neither is...

Sony has pulled the plug on the XMAS release of "The Interview," after a number of theater chains bailed. Sony execs felt their out was if distributors yanked the film because of safety concerns. That would give Sony an out without directly bending to the hackers. Sony just released a statement, saying, "In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film The Interview, we have decided not to move forward with the planned December 25 theatrical release." The statement goes on, saying, "We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the...

She’s a mom on a mission. A single mother-of-two from the Los Angeles neighborhood of South Central recently went on strike against her employer McDonald’s. Maribel makes $9.35 per hour working as a server but that’s not enough to support her family (she shares a home with 10 other people including her children, grandmother, and niece). “I need fifteen to buy my babies diapers, their wipies, their clothes,” she explains. “Its hard with nine dollars per hour — you can’t do that. It’s really hard to pay rent.” On December 4, Maribel, along with a large group seeking $15 per...