Monthly Archives: December 1999
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 31, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service Update: New Indonesian Christian-Muslim strife leaves hundreds dead (RNS) More than 300 people have died in clashes this week between Indonesian Christians and Muslims In North Maluku province, some 250 people have been killed in violence that began Sunday (Dec. 26), a military spokesman said. The fighting on the island […]
MILLENNIUM FEATURE: A millennial balance sheet on Christianity
By Martin E. Marty — December 28, 1999
c. 1999 by MSNBC.com on the Internet, where it originally appeared, and is reprinted with permission.) UNDATED _ From the handful of followers who first heard the teachings of Jesus to the 2.2 billion members of various denominations alive today, Christians were to be a force to heal and transform the world. And after 2,000 […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 28, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service China maintains pressure on Falun Gong following sentencing of four (RNS) Beijing police detained several dozen members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement Monday (Dec. 27), one day after four key organizers were given prison sentences of up to 18 years in prison. In Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, five Falun […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 23, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service Poll: Israeli Jews know little about Christianity _ or Christmas (RNS) Israeli Jews generally have positive attitudes toward Christians but have little knowledge of Christianity, including what day most Christians celebrate Christmas, according to a new poll. Released as a flood of Christian pilgrims arrives in Israel to mark the […]
COMMENTARY: Could Christians be mistaken?
By Dale Hanson Bourke — December 23, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service (Dale Hanson Bourke is publisher of Religion News Service.) UNDATED _ What if we got it wrong? What if da Vinci and Mozart and Michelangelo were all mistaken? What if Christ never came to earth to inspire cathedrals or cantatas or crusades? Think what the last 2,000 years might have […]
HOLIDAY FEATURE”Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold
By RNS Blog Editor — December 21, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Miracle? Myth? Or is there a scientific explanation for the Star of Bethlehem? For centuries, astronomers have been trying to interpret the biblical account attributed to the Apostle Matthew, searching for clues that might reveal the Christmas star as a natural phenomenon. Was the “star” a comet, a […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 21, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service Vermont Supreme Court rules in favor of gay couple benefits (RNS) The Vermont Supreme Court ruled Monday (Dec. 20) that gay couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections that the state provides heterosexual married couples. The court said it is up to the state’s legislature to determine whether […]
NEWS FEATURE: Jain restaurant wins kosher label
By Douglas Todd — December 20, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service VANCOUVER, British Columbia _ At first glance, Mahendra Shah, a follower of the Jain religion and owner of the Surat Sweet Restaurant here, and Orthodox Rabbi Levy Teitlebaum, an inspector for British Columbia Kosher, may seem like something of a spiritual odd couple. But they have something in common _ […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 18, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service Controversial painting of Virgin Mary sabotaged at Brooklyn museum (RNS) A controversial painting of the Virgin Mary was smeared with white paint Thursday (Dec. 16) by a visitor to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Dennis Heiner, 72, was arrested immediately after allegedly committing the act of sabotage on the painting, […]
NEWS FEATURE: `Flamingoed’ for mission
By Kein Eckstrom — December 17, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service STUART, Fla. _ Three men sliced through the darkness in a white Ford pickup truck with their secret cargo. They carried flashlights and a slip of pink paper with their destination scrawled on the back. All over the age of 30, they approached their mission with the enthusiasm of boys […]
RNS Daily Digest
By RNS Blog Editor — December 14, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service Magazine names greatest preachers of the 20th century (RNS) Preaching, a bimonthly magazine, has named the greatest preachers of the 20th century, with the Rev. Billy Graham and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. among its top 10. The No. 1 ranking was given to the late James S. Stewart, […]
NEWS STORY: AMA endorses assisted suicide ban, but asks changes
By RNS Blog Editor — December 10, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service SAN DIEGO _ The American Medical Association is asking for significant changes in a congressional bill targeting physician-assisted suicides in Oregon while affirming its general support of the legislation. In a voice vote Wednesday (Dec. 8) subject to several interpretations, the AMA’s House of Delegates expressed apprehension about federal investigators […]
NEWS STORY: Visitor reports vision of Virgin Mary after sky flash
By RNS Blog Editor — December 9, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service BIRMINGHAM, Ala. _ About 3,000 people gathered to see visionary Marija Lunetti on Wednesday in a rural field where she said the Virgin Mary appeared to her three days after nearby residents reported an unexplained flash of light had streaked across the sky. Caritas of Birmingham, which promotes the visions […]
NEWS STORY: Salvation Army finds a shortage of volunteer bellringers
By Kein Eckstrom — December 9, 1999
c. 1999 Religion News Service STUART, Fla. They are as much a part of the holiday season as Christmas lights and a shopping mall Santa Claus. When the Salvation Army bellringers arrive with their red collection kettles, you know Christmas can’t be far behind. But this year officials from the nation’s top-grossing charity are struggling […]
TOP STORY: ISRAEL’S WAR OF HOLY PLACES: Muslim prayer site to open beneath Temple Mount
By Elaine Fletcher — December 8, 1999
c. 1996 Religion News Service JERUSALEM _ As the opening of an Israeli archaeological tunnel along the western wall of the Al Aksa Mosque compound triggered Palestinian riots and Muslim outrage in September, a small cadre of Arab volunteers were quietly laying the floors for a vast new Muslim prayer area in another ancient underground […]
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