David Briggs
David Briggs is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by David Briggs
NEWS FEATURE: Brave New World of Genetic Mapping
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) On the sixth day, the Bible says, God made man. Three-and-a-half billion years later, scientists say, they have put together a book of life roughly mapping out how God accomplished that miracle. By cracking the human genetic code, however, the line between knowing God and playing God is radically […]
NEWS FEATURE: Computer Games Bring Fun _ and Education _ to Sunday School
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ You are 12 years old. Sunday school may not be the first place you would choose to spend your time. But you’re here. So what would you rather do: sit around a table for 75 minutes listening to a teacher read Bible lessons out of a book, or […]
NEWS FEATURE: The Television Faith of the Simpsons
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Homer Simpson on swearing: “Maybe I curse a little, but that’s the way God made me, and I’m too old to stop now.” Homer on God: “He’s always happy. … No, wait, he’s always mad.” Homer’s ideal religion: “No hell, no kneeling.” The religious humor on “The Simpsons” may […]
NEWS FEATURE: Prison Accorded `Cathedral Status’ for Jubilee Mass
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ They came in with their game faces, two dozen women in blue uniforms with the practiced indifference of prisoners, their steely gazes set forward. They were followed by some 25 male inmates, betraying even less emotion and a greater attitude of toughness, clad in orange or white jumpsuits […]
NEWS FEATURE: Cloistered Nun Finds Divine Inspiration for Her Artwork
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Her world was the galleries of New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and journeys to Mexico to paint themes of revolution and learn the style of Central American muralists. Then, in the act of taking Communion at St. Peter’s in Rome, she discerned a different calling. And […]
NEWS FEATURE: Methodist Bishop’s Life Replicates Biblical Story
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Lilie Lee had been barren for seven years and had nearly given up hope of having a child when a Baptist pastor asked her to approach the altar and bring her dream before God. She prayed with all her heart, and less than a year later, unto her […]
NEWS FEATURE: Blessing the Animals to Celebrate St. Francis
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Sir Rodney of Dangerfield, a 7-year-old bassett hound with a placid mug, kept his sniffer in full gear as the Rev. Douglas H. Koesel sprinkled holy water over him on the front steps of St. Mark Catholic Church. On the other side of the semicircle was Boo Boo […]
NEWS FEATURE: Helping the Preacher Preach His Best
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ The typical priest may give more than 600 sermons a year. Three on Sunday, one daily, and that’s not counting all those baptisms, weddings and funerals. So how can an aging, shrinking priesthood, pressed with responsibilities from overseeing schools to making sure the light bill gets paid, give […]
NEWS STORY: Opposition to Chief Wahoo is Growing
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ A powerful coalition of religious groups is joining the struggle against Chief Wahoo _ the logo for the Cleveland Indians baseball team _ overcoming long-held fears of opposing the popular secular icon. Mayor Michael R. White’s opposition to the caricature was revealed last week. But the moral groundwork […]
NEWS FEATURE: Catholic Church Tests Combining Communion, Confirmation
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Baptism. First Communion. Confirmation. The passage to adulthood followed by generations of Roman Catholics is being challenged by two dozen area churches interested in returning to the early Christian practice of combining the sacraments of first Communion and confirmation in a single rite. Bishop Anthony Pilla has given […]
NEWS FEATURE: Brave New World of Genetic Mapping
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) On the sixth day, the Bible says, God made man. Three-and-a-half billion years later, scientists say, they have put together a book of life roughly mapping out how God accomplished that miracle. By cracking the human genetic code, however, the line between knowing God and playing God is radically […]
NEWS FEATURE: The Television Faith of the Simpsons
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Homer Simpson on swearing: “Maybe I curse a little, but that’s the way God made me, and I’m too old to stop now.” Homer on God: “He’s always happy. … No, wait, he’s always mad.” Homer’s ideal religion: “No hell, no kneeling.” The religious humor on “The Simpsons” may […]
NEWS FEATURE: Christian Site Counsels Sinners Online
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In a wired-up world where soothsayers, “psychics” and sexually oriented chat rooms provide companionship for a fee, one Ohio firm is hoping there is also room for a cyberspace confessional. The Barnabus Christian Counseling Network, a Warren, Ohio-based venture providing pastoral help over the Internet, connects Christians too shy […]
NEWS FEATURE: For Cuban Children, Life Can Be Good, Even Without Happy Meals
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service HAVANA _ Home plate is a pothole in the middle of the street. First base is a chip on the curb. Second base is an asphalt mark in the street, and third base is a concrete patch visible amid dirt covering a driveway. Give 6-year-old Jose Carlos Prieto Sosa a […]
NEWS FEATURE: Book Celebrates Jewish Practices in Modern World
By David Briggs — January 1, 2000
c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) There was the orthodontist who wore ritual Jewish undergarments at the office. And the magazine writer who created his own Shabbat on Sunday night because his job required him to work Friday nights. And then there was the man who said a prayer each evening before going to bed. […]
