Free Republic

Antony Flew, the 81-year-old British philosophy professor who taught at Oxford and other leading universities, became an atheist at age 15. Throughout his long career he argued—including in debates with an atheist-turned-Christian named C. S. Lewis—that there was a “presumption of atheism,” that is, the existence of a creator could not be proved. But he’s now been forced to face the evidence. It comes from the Intelligent Design movement, led by Dr. Phillip Johnson and particularly the work of Michael Behe, the Lehigh biochemist who has proven the “irreducible complexity” of the human cell structure. Though eighty-one years old, Flew...

WOMEN IN MINISTRY: A BIBLICAL VISION by Sharon Clark Pearson Wesleyan theological tradition historically has held a “high view” of Scripture; that is a part of the ethos of our community. In a church tradi­tion (with its community) that claims the integrity and authority of Scrip­ture, questions of practice are taken seriously. The question of whether God ordains and blesses women in the practice of ministry (both in func­tion and in office) is crucial to women because their personal and rela­tional lives and their participation in the church have been defined and regulated by the interpretation of Scripture (as the...

Justifying Effort to Jail Christians, Officials Make Baseless Claims Tupelo, MS - “We have videotape of the entire incident, the city has a videotape of the entire incident, the facts are before the nation, and the unimpeachable facts conclusively establish that this City is out of control.” – Brian Fahling, AFA Center for Law and Policy Senior Trial Attorney. Philadelphia city officials now claim that a videotape of the events leading up to the arrests of 11 Christians does not reflect one of the Philly 11, Michael Marcavage, allegedly interrupting an onstage performance at the “Outfest” where the events took...

Bush is first president to choose yule card with a Scripture THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS About 2 million friends and supporters of President Bush found something in their mailboxes this month that no other president has offered: A holiday card with a Bible verse. This card has a line from Psalms, 95:2: "Let us come before him with Thanksgiving and extol him with music and song." Presidents have been sending season's greetings since Calvin Coolidge wrote "Merry Christmas" on White House stationery in 1927. And many presidents issued proclamations about faith-related events varying from the National Day of Prayer to...

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS About 2 million friends and supporters of President Bush found something in their mailboxes this month that no other president has offered: A holiday card with a Bible verse. This card has a line from Psalms, 95:2: "Let us come before him with Thanksgiving and extol him with music and song." Presidents have been sending season's greetings since Calvin Coolidge wrote "Merry Christmas" on White House stationery in 1927. And many presidents issued proclamations about faith-related events varying from the National Day of Prayer to Ramadan. But this administration is the first to include Scripture in...

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) - A mother who admitted killing her baby daughter by severing the girl's arms was guided by a Bible passage in which Jesus refers to cutting off body parts to cast away sin, the woman's attorney said Tuesday. Dena Schlosser, a 35-year-old housewife with a history of mental illness, has referred to the New Testament passage since the killing of 10-month-old Margaret, attorney David Haynes told The Associated Press. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus says: ``If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that...

I am somewhat in shock (in a good way). I just saw the Merry Christmas "ad" on Fox News. I was suprised to see a stained glass window, with the words of John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." come up on the screen on TV. The next screen was "Merry Christmas from Fox News". I may be slightly off on the wording, my jaw dropped when I saw the Bible verse. Now, I know Fox is "fair and...

Bible Verses In FNC's Holiday Ads Let's see if the Fox News holiday advertisements stir up a bit of controversy this month. Here are some comments from Free Republic today: > "I was suprised to see a stained glass window, with the words of John 3:16...The next screen was 'Merry Christmas from Fox News.' I may be slightly off on the wording, [but] my jaw dropped when I saw the Bible verse." > "Commendable boldness even for Fox, I applaud them for it." > "My favorite is their ad with 'Joy to the World' as background music and some lovely...

The newsweeklies discovered long ago that Jesus Christ sells magazines. So it is not surprising to find him on the covers of Time and Newsweek a few weeks before Christmas.... What are we to make of the Gospel accounts of the Nativity? For a Christian, of course, they are true, an article of faith. But faith does not preclude looking at them as historical and literary documents.... Since the late 18th century, there has been a scholarly assault on the four Gospels, and some of the "experts' quoted by Time and Newsweek are simply bringing up the rear of this...

The leader of the Anglican Church says Christians should stop openly criticizing homosexuals, out of concern for their lives. In a letter targeting the world's Anglican churches, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said harsh language about homosexuals can lead to murder, according to a BBC report. Although many traditional Anglican leaders oppose homosexuality, since it is unambiguously condemned in both the Old and New Testaments, Williams reportedly said in his letter: "Any words that could make it easier for someone to attack or abuse a homosexual person are words of which we must repent. "Do not think repentance is always...

NOTE: If I know anything about the rabid naysayers on FR, at least some of the RELIGIOUS [vs spiritual] types will wail and rant that ANYTHING having to do with numbers and The Bible has to be crossing the line into dealing with Biblically forbidden NUMEROLOGY. This is nonsense. The dictionary definition of “numerology” makes clear that numerology is the study of numbers, as the figures designating the year of one’s birth, “to determine their supposed influence on one’s life, future, etc.” [Quix color, bold emphasis on the definition from: HERE: http://www.infoplease.com/ipd/A0562554.html Clearly, the Biblically prohibited issue is INTEREST IN,...

Prophetic Signs that we are in the End Times Contender Ministries -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bible gives many examples of signs that should warn us of the coming end of the age. Six such signs are given by Jesus, two characteristics are given by Paul, and eleven other occurrences are given by the prophets to occur prior to or soon after the end of the age. While we are also told we will not know the time of the End, God obviously wanted us to know when that time was getting closer. As the Christian church is increasingly drawn into the interfaith...

Here they come, folks. I predict it wont be long before pictures start appearing in the press of democrats walking from places of worship with Bible in hand and clearly seen. Much like Cllinton after the Monica scandal. I posted here on October 7th, 2004, in a thread titled "What its all about" the following (see if it sounds familiar): that we should keep focused (those who are Christians) on doing the Lords work of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting those in prision, and spreading the gospel. A few weeks later Sen Kerry is quoted saying nearly the...

Kerry's Latest Attacks on Bush Borrow a Page From Scripture By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and DAVID E. SANGER Published: October 25, 2004 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Oct. 24 - Appealing to late-deciding voters in explicitly religious terms, Senator John Kerry used the Bible on Sunday to accuse President Bush of trying to scare America, and said his own Catholicism moved him to help those in need but not to "write every doctrine into law." "The Scripture teaches us - John says, 'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,' " Mr. Kerry said, alluding to Mr. Bush's strategy...

Interview: An Orthodox professor ponders the scriptures By Peter T. Chattaway FR. THOMAS Hopko may have retired as Dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary in New York two years ago, but he still keeps quite busy. Last month, the author of numerous books and articles on Eastern Orthodox Christianity spent nearly three weeks on the road, during which time he visited churches in Victoria and Vancouver and spoke at functions hosted by Regent College, Trinity Western University and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. The indefatigable Fr. Hopko sat down to talk about Orthodox-evangelical relations with CanadianChristianity.com at St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church...

I. Objections to the truth "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." Few if any texts in all the Holy Scriptures are as objectionable in the eyes of many as this one. 1. Some object that "hated" does not mean hated. They aver instead that "hated" means loved less. They usually use for the "proof text" the requirement set forth by Jesus Christ in Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." They compare...

I Noticed Kerry looked up a couple of Bible verses to recite during the debates and I’m not real sure how he was trying to use them in what he was trying to say. The President, however, has not quoted verse in the debates, but a belief that comes from a lot of verses, specifically a belief that freedom is a gift from God. I thought I would post a few of those in hopes that maybe Kerry might read one or two of them. Hopefully he will pay special attention to the Final verse. Sorry for the vanity guys

I'm pretty sure that the "Golden Rule" originated in the New Testament but I can't find it. Can anyone point me to the verse(s)? Also, am I right in believing that it formed no part of any other religion or ethical system prior to Christianity? Thanks so much!!

Scripture error discovered on John Kerry official website, and accompanying cartoon.

Experiencing the truth of scriptureBy Robert L. Coleman The dynamics of the Christian faith center in experiencing the truth of God's Word. Whether in individuals or mass revival movements, when the Scripture is believed, blessings come; when it is questioned or compromised, decline and ruin follow. This principle can be seen in operation throughout the history of the church. To bring it into focus, I want to look at the origin of the Methodist revival. It can be said to have begun in John Wesley's search for personal faith, which climaxed at a small Morovian chapel on May 24, 1738....