Our World: Christians

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Wednesday, 20 May 2020

In Coronatime thinking about death

None of us likes thinking about death, but there are times when we have little choice. For weeks now we did not hear anything else that so many died. Everywhere in the world lives are lost.

The unseen enemy has reached every corner of society, being rich does not help you to avoid the death toll. The so-called most rich, developed and greatest nation in the world shows its very weak position and how capital gain has become more important there than human lives of ethical values.

We could notice an increase at certain websites and received more letters and phone calls from worried people, asking why God allows this to happen or what mankind has done wrong. The corona crisis has unexpectedly raised the specter of death itself, our constant companion even if, most of the time, we do our best to ignore it.

This month Time Magazine has taken the opportunity to write about death, heaven and hell.

There are over two billion Christians in the world, the vast majority of whom believe in heaven and hell. According to many Christian when people die they would have one part, which they call the soul going either to everlasting bliss or torment (or purgatory en route). Strangely enough, most Christians believe in a loving heavenly Father, but do not ask a question about such a father when he would have his children being tortured for ages and ages in a fire! Can you imagine yourself doing that to your children, even when they would have hurt yourself a lot?

Americans continue to anticipate a version of the alternatives portrayed in The Good Place: regardless of religious persuasion, 72% believe in a literal heaven, 58% in a literal hell.

Do they never went or go looking in the Bible to see what the Word of God really says?

The vast majority of these people assume also Jesus himself taught such read. But that is not true. Neither Jesus, nor the Hebrew Bible he interpreted, endorsed the view that departed souls go to paradise or everlasting pain. Though there were Roman and Greek philosophers who talked about split personalities or two or more elements in a human being that could separate from the physical human being. Only many centuries later those who agreed with the Roman rulers to go for a three-headed god, also were eager to integrate the thought of separate units in the human body with a soul going to one or another place.

Unlike most Greeks, ancient Jews traditionally did not believe the soul could exist at all apart from the body. On the contrary, for them, the soul was more like the “breath.” In particular for them it was the Breath of God Which brought the breath in man, making him able to breathe and to live. Without breathing or without breath there would be no life in man.

It is good that Time magazine in these times when so many are confronted with death, brings an article to clarify the misreading of so many books and in particular the reading of the Book of books, the Bible.
Bart D. Ehrman in his article of 2020 May the 8th is willing to look at the first human God created, Adam, who began as a lump of clay; then God “breathed” life into him (Genesis 2: 7). Adam remained alive until he stopped breathing. Then it was dust to dust, ashes to ashes.

Ancient Jews thought that was true of us all. When we stop breathing, our breath doesn’t go anywhere. It just stops. So too the “soul” doesn’t continue on outside the body, subject to postmortem pleasure or pain. It doesn’t exist any longer.

In the article, you shall be able to read that it was not only by the Christians that opinions changed. In several Jewish communities infiltrated the false teachings. Problem with lots of human beings is that it is very difficult to cope with the idea that we just can die and that everything would be finished with us. Not many people love the idea that when we die we can not do anything any more. Though the scriptures are very clear about it.

“For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten.” (Ec 9:5 NAS)

“Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.” (Ec 9:10 NAS)

For many it is unacceptable that we would just be like plants and animals and not having something better after this life. But the Bible tells us:

“19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.” (Ec 3:19-20 NAS)

It must be said also God’s own people Israel continually were by their confrontation of difficulties in life oblidged to think about life and death.

The article writer questions

If God loves his people and is sovereign over all the world why do his people experience so much tragedy?

And remarks

Contrary to what other Jewish leaders taught, Jesus preached that no one will inherit the glorious future kingdom by stringently observing all the Jewish laws in their most intimate details; or by meticulously following the rules of worship involving sacrifice, prayer, and observance of holy days; or by pursuing one’s own purity through escaping the vile world and the tainting influence of sinful others. Instead, for Jesus, the earthly utopia will come to those who are fully dedicated to the most pervasive and dominant teachings of God’s law. Put most simply, that involves loving God above all things despite personal hardship, and working diligently for the welfare of others, even when it is exceedingly difficult. People who have not been living lives of complete unselfish love need to repent and return to the two “greatest commandments” of Jewish Scripture: deep love of God (Deuteronomy 6:4-6) and committed love of neighbor (Leviticus 19:18).

Please find the Time magazine to read: What Jesus Really Said About Heaven and Hell

Find more articles about the "soul"

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Articles about hell

Monday, 13 January 2020

Persecution follows suit as the church in Iran multiplies

As the church in Iran multiplies, persecution follows suit. Over the last few months, Open Doors has learned about arrests of numerous Christians in Iran.

The crackdown on house churches continues to intensify, as officials search for and arrest anyone involved in these typically tiny fellowships. Prison sentences of varying lengths are inevitable outcomes for anyone who defies Iran’s “no house church” law.
Open Doors has reported numerous atrocities against Christians in Iranian prisons, infamous for their treatment of political prisoners.

In 2019, at least 37 Christians have been arrested: eight in Bushehr, nine in Rasht, 12 in Amol, two in Ahvaz, and one each in Hamedan, Shiraz and Isfahan.

On July 1, in the southwestern city of Bushehr, eight Christian converts, mostly in their 30s, were arrested, including five members of one family. Seven are still in prison, most likely in solitary confinement. Their homes were raided and Bibles confiscated, as well as Christian literature, wooden crosses and pictures with Christian symbols. Authorities also took laptops, phones, identity cards and bank cards. The officers are reported to have treated the Christians harshly, even though small children were present during the arrests.

Also in Bushehr, in April, 16 other converts from Bushehr reportedly lost their appeals against prison sentences for “propaganda activities against the regime through the formation of house churches.”
Another five converts submitted themselves to the central detention center in Karaj in July 2019 to begin their jail sentences for “propaganda against the state.” Manoto News broadcast footage of the Christians, four of whom have young children, waving goodbye to their loved ones.
After their arrests, the five were released in early 2018 after each posted a bail of 30 million tomans(around $7,000).
In March 2019, Milad, Yaghoob, Shahebedin and Alireza were sentenced to four months in prison. Amin, who has already spent a year in prison for his religious activities, was given 14 months. Their appeals were rejected last month.

Pray with us by name for all of these believers, recognizing that they represent only a handful of thousands of our brothers and sisters in Iran who have been threatened, arrested or imprisoned for turning to Jesus and following Him.

Your part in this expanding story

Writing in a time of great persecution for Christ followers who had lost property, been thrown into prison, were ostracized from their Jewish community, etc., the author of Hebrews offers a clear call to prayer for those who are suffering for the gospel:

“Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (Heb. 13:3).

And in Matthew 25:34-36, Jesus is clear that when we enter into the suffering of others, we are answering His call:

“Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”

Jesus is strategically building His church and exhorts us to stand with and encourage our brothers and sisters as they live out the gospel.

Sunday, 3 June 2018

Being Christian in Western Europe at the beginning of the 21st century #1

Today we do find a lot of people, in our regions, who say they are Christian and with that mostly mean Roman Catholic, but nearly never go to worship services like mass.

The majority of Europe’s Christians are non-practicing, but they differ from religiously unaffiliated people in their views on God, attitudes toward Muslims and immigrants, and opinions about religion’s role in society.

Western Europe, where Protestant Christianity originated and Catholicism has been based for most of its history, has become one of the world’s most secular regions. Although the vast majority of adults say they were baptized, today many do not describe themselves as Christians. Some say they gradually drifted away from religion, stopped believing in religious teachings, or were alienated by scandals or church positions on social issues, according to a major new Pew Research Center survey of religious beliefs and practices in Western Europe.

Yet most adults surveyed still do consider themselves Christians, even if they seldom go to church. Indeed, the survey shows that non-practicing Christians (defined, for the purposes of this report, as people who identify as Christians, but attend church services no more than a few times per year) make up the biggest share of the population across the region. In every country except Italy, they are more numerous than church-attending Christians (those who go to religious services at least once a month). In the United Kingdom, for example, there are roughly three times as many non-practicing Christians (55%) as there are church-attending Christians (18%) defined this way.

Non-practicing Christians also outnumber the religiously unaffiliated population (people who identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” sometimes called the “nones”) in most of the countries surveyed.¹ And, even after a recent surge in immigration from the Middle East and North Africa, there are many more non-practicing Christians in Western Europe than people of all other religions combined (Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.).

The 10% for Belgium is more 8%, where the Roman Catholic Churches are less filled and of the protestant churches the Pentecostals get most people in their church-services. Where we can find most people going to a religious service is by the Islamic community where the garage mosques and official mosques may count on a very good attendance on Friday night.

Thursday, 3 November 2016

Declaration of war against Islam and Christianity

religions in Europe, map en. See File:Europe religion map.png for details. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In this world where different groups misuse their god/God and religion to enlarge their power many christians allow them selves pulled in a spiral of violence, not noticing they are used by their politicians to get their country in a severe political ban.

there are also groups which claim to focus on saving the lives of Christians whom are suffering from what they call " the ‘Blasphemy Laws’", aiding relatives of martyred families, women and children who are victims of rape. Such actions of help for the suppressed and persecuted Christians is something which we would applaud if there would not be an other agenda behind it.

There are Christians who want to do believe those living in West Europe that they are in danger of religious people who are going to steal their property and stir up violence against the Christians population. they also want to give the impression to the European population that those who want to conquer Europe are going to abduct women, rape them and force marriages as well as limiting how they may dress and appear in public.

Last week Marine Le Pen declared war against Christianity, saying that she will utterly ban all Christian crosses, symbols and clothing from public life, even going to so far as to say that she will abolish any Christian imagery from any all public schools. This would be an utter ban on Christianity, since the Faith, by its very nature, is suppose to be incarnational and public.

The French political leader Francois-Xavier Peron, has declared that France is about to enter into a devastating war against Islam, and its going to be extremely violent.
He says

‘France Is About To Enter A Holy War Against Islam, Its Going To Be Extremely Bloody And Violent, Embrace Christianity As The True Faith And Never Accept The Religion Of Satan’

His solution to prepare?

Embrace the Christian Faith and never accept the antichrist masonic religion.

You may find an interview with Mr. Peron by Walid Shoebat, who used to be a radicalised Muslim willing to die for the cause of Jihad until he converted, in 1994, to what he calls Christianity, but would be more to Christendom, about this coming war, and why the Christian Faith must be the religion of the world.

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Major Political Leader In France Declares This Warning To The United States: ‘France Is About To Enter A Holy War Against Islam, Its Going To Be Extremely Bloody And Violent, Embrace Christianity As The True Faith And Never Accept The Religion Of Satan’

Wednesday, 6 July 2016

Focussing on the man Jesus and the relationship with God

Having now three different websites focussing on the man Jesus and his relationship with God we only can hope more people shall come to listen to the very challenging things Jesus said.

Hopefully those Christians who take Jesus as their god will consider those words Jesus spoke like

“on that day” (Matthew 7:22),

i.e., the day of judgement. Jesus speaks of those who will come before him, but to some of them he will say,

“Depart from me; I never knew you” (verse 23).

These will be among the

“many (who) will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name … and do many mighty works in your name?”

In Christendom we can see many who try to build mega churches and attract lots of people by laying of hands and claiming to do miracles in the name of God, though “works” does not necessarily mean, perform miracles, and his reference to those who prophecy, we should not think of him as meaning those who have some gift to foretell the future.

It is God Who calls people, but it is the way how they react to God's call which shall be important. We also should be aware that when people hear about Jesus and his heavenly Father they shall come to make decisions. How and why they take them shall be important for God and on the final day of judgement.

Those who Jesus tells to depart are described as “workers of lawlessness”, the ones who are “outside” excluded from a place in God’s “city” because their names were not found in “the book of life” (20:12). them who did things which are not acceptable for God, perhaps wanting to keep to human traditions, participating to heathen rituals and preferring to be popular, i.e. being of this world, instead of becoming a child of God belonging to the world of Christ.

You may wonder when a person does not want to accept the words Jesus speaks, like saying the Father is greater than him, how they sincerely can be called a follower of Christ when they keep holding fast to human traditions and human doctrines like the trinity, worshipping a three-headed god instead worshipping the Only One True God.

How can they who consider Jesus to be God build up a proper relationship with Jesus, when they keep ignoring that Jesus did not do his own will and demands from us to do the same, coming in unity with his heavenly Father like Jesus is one with God

We must make sure we have developed a really strong and committed relationship to and with Christ – only then will we be able to “conquer” our human nature and become more and more like our Saviour. Let us remember what we read last week in Revelation 21:7

“The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son” – then “on that day” he will declare “I … knew you”.

New website and forum: the Human Jesus

Today we still find lots of Christians who do not want to believe the words of God and His son Jeshua, better known by them as Jesus Christ. Lots of Christians instead of believing the Biblical Truth and the words of the Bible still look at Jesus as their god instead of accepting that he was a human, send by God, who did not do his own will but the will of his heavenly Father, the Only One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

To bring people to understand the relationship of Jesus and his heavenly Father the Christadelphians present since February 2015 Messiah for all and Relating to God since March 2016.
The Restoration fellowship now also present a new site concerning the Human Jesus.

For those who still think God is a multiple being and not understand that God is an eternal Spirit, with no flesh and bones (who cannot die) we recommend to look at the underneath text concerning the oneness and to look at the different mentioned sites, which can bring more insight.

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According to the ordinary rules of language whenever monos (“alone”, “only”) is used with theos (“God”) or kurios (“LORD”, YHWH), it cannot mean more than 1 person.

Old Testament
NAU Deuteronomy 32:12 “The LORD alone guided him, And there was no foreign god with him. LXT Deuteronomy 32:12 κύριος μόνος ἦγεν αὐτούς καὶ οὐκ ἦν μετ᾽ αὐτῶν θεὸς ἀλλότριος
NAU 2 Kings 19:15 Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. LXT 2 Kings 19:15 καὶ εἶπεν κύριε ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῶν χερουβιν σὺ εἶ ὁ θεὸς μόνος ἐν πάσαις ταῖς βασιλείαις τῆς γῆς σὺ ἐποίησας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν
NAU 2 Kings 19:19 “Now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.” LXT 2 Kings 19:19 καὶ νῦν κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν σῶσον ἡμᾶς ἐκ χειρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ γνώσονται πᾶσαι αἱ βασιλεῖαι τῆς γῆς ὅτι σὺ κύριος ὁ θεὸς μόνος
NAU Psalm 72:18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders. LXT Psalm 71:18 εὐλογητὸς κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ὁ ποιῶν θαυμάσια μόνος
NAU Psalm 83:18 That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth. LXT Psalm 82:19 καὶ γνώτωσαν ὅτι ὄνομά σοι κύριος σὺ μόνος ὕψιστος ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν
NAU Psalm 86:10 For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God. LXT Psalm 85:10 ὅτι μέγας εἶ σὺ καὶ ποιῶν θαυμάσια σὺ εἶ ὁ θεὸς μόνος ὁ μέγας
NAU Psalm 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven. LXT Psalm 148:13 αἰνεσάτωσαν τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου ὅτι ὑψώθη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ μόνου ἡ ἐξομολόγησις αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ οὐρανοῦ
NAU Isaiah 2:17 The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, LXT Isaiah 2:17 καὶ ταπεινωθήσεται πᾶς ἄνθρωπος καὶ πεσεῖται ὕψος ἀνθρώπων καὶ ὑψωθήσεται κύριος μόνος ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ
NAU Isaiah 37:16 “O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. LXT Isaiah 37:16 κύριε σαβαωθ ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῶν χερουβιν σὺ θεὸς μόνος εἶ πάσης βασιλείας τῆς οἰκουμένης σὺ ἐποίησας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν
NAU Isaiah 37:20 “Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God.” LXT Isaiah 37:20 σὺ δέ κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν σῶσον ἡμᾶς ἐκ χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἵνα γνῷ πᾶσα βασιλεία τῆς γῆς ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ θεὸς μόνος
NAU Nehemiah 9:6 “You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You. LXT Nehemiah 9:6 καὶ εἶπεν Εσδρας σὺ εἶ αὐτὸς κύριος μόνος σὺ ἐποίησας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν στάσιν αὐτῶν τὴν γῆν καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτῇ τὰς θαλάσσας καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐταῖς καὶ σὺ ζωοποιεῖς τὰ πάντα καὶ σοὶ προσκυνοῦσιν αἱ στρατιαὶ τῶν οὐρανῶν
LXA Prayer of Azariah 1:21 And let them know that thou art God, the only God, and glorious over the whole world. LXT Daniel 3:45 γνώτωσαν ὅτι σὺ εἶ μόνος κύριος ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἔνδοξος ἐφ᾽ ὅλην τὴν οἰκουμένην

New Testament
NAU John 5:44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? BNT John 5:44 πῶς δύνασθε ὑμεῖς πιστεῦσαι δόξαν παρὰ ἀλλήλων λαμβάνοντες, καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ μόνου θεοῦ οὐ ζητεῖτε;
NAU John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. BNT John 17:3 αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωὴ ἵνα γινώσκωσιν σὲ τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν.

And just for fun… Jewish Apocrypha:

LXA 1 Esdras 8:25 Then said Esdras the scribe, Blessed be the only Lord God of my fathers, who hath put these things into the heart of the king, to glorify his house that is in Jerusalem: LXT 1 Esdras 8:25 εὐλογητὸς μόνος ὁ κύριος ὁ δοὺς ταῦτα εἰς τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ βασιλέως δοξάσαι τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ τὸν ἐν Ιερουσαλημ

LXT Odes 2:12 κύριος μόνος ἦγεν αὐτούς καὶ οὐκ ἦν μετ᾽ αὐτῶν θεὸς ἀλλότριος (Ode 2:12 LXT) The only Lord led them and there was no foreign God with them LXT Odes 7:45 καὶ γνώτωσαν ὅτι σὺ εἶ κύριος ὁ θεὸς μόνος καὶ ἔνδοξος ἐφ᾽ ὅλην τὴν οἰκουμένην (Ode 7:45 LXT) Let then make know that You are the only God and be glorified in all the world LXT Odes 14:26 σὺ εἶ μόνος κύριος (Ode 14:26 LXT)

LXA Sirach 18:2 The Lord only is righteous, and there is none other but he, LXT Sirach 18:2 κύριος μόνος δικαιωθήσεται

LXA 2 Maccabees 7:37 But I, as my brethren, offer up my body and life for the laws of our fathers, beseeching God that he would speedily be merciful unto our nation; and that thou by torments and plagues mayest confess, that he alone is God; LXT 2 Maccabees 7:37 ἐγὼ δέ καθάπερ οἱ ἀδελφοί καὶ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν προδίδωμι περὶ τῶν πατρίων νόμων ἐπικαλούμενος τὸν θεὸν ἵλεως ταχὺ τῷ ἔθνει γενέσθαι καὶ σὲ μετὰ ἐτασμῶν καὶ μαστίγων ἐξομολογήσασθαι διότι μόνος αὐτὸς θεός ἐστιν

LXA 4 Maccabees 5:24 And it instructs us in justice, so that in all our dealings we render what is due; and it teaches us piety, so that we worship the one only God becomingly. LXT 4 Maccabees 5:24 καὶ δικαιοσύνην παιδεύει ὥστε διὰ πάντων τῶν ἠθῶν ἰσονομεῖν καὶ εὐσέβειαν ἐκδιδάσκει ὥστε μόνον τὸν ὄντα θεὸν σέβειν μεγαλοπρεπῶς

Xavier Xavier 21stcr.org/multimedia/carlos_jimenez_interview/carlos_jimenez.html - See more at: http://thehumanjesus.org/2016/06/01/monos-theos/#sthash.ijzY4ckJ.dpuf

Wednesday, 20 April 2016

Heaven and hell still high on the believers list showing a religion gender gap

Typological groups according to the Pew Research Center. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A new Pew Research Center analysis of international census and survey data finds that there is a religion gender gap: Women generally are more religious than men by several key measures of religious commitment, although this pattern is not universal and can vary by religious tradition.

In some countries and faiths, men are more religious than women, at least by some measures. For instance, among Muslims and Orthodox Jews, men are more likely than women to attend worship services at least weekly, the new study finds.

Religiousness also can be measured by asking people how important religion is to them personally. In more than half of the 84 countries surveyed (46), roughly equal shares of men and women say that religion is “very important” to them. However, in 36 other countries, more women than men say religion is important in their lives – and usually by wide margins. As a result, across all 84 countries, women surpass men in this aspect of religious commitment by an average of 5 percentage points (65% vs. 60%). Only in Mozambique and Israel do men say that religion is very important to them more often than women do.

The biggest exception to the general pattern of women being more religious than men occurs in weekly attendance at worship services. Across the 81 countries where Pew Research Center data are available for this measure, more men than women attend worship at least once a week (48% vs. 42%).

This attendance gap is largely driven by 27 countries in the survey with large Muslim populations. In many Islamic societies, men are expected to attend communal Friday worship services in the mosque, while women can fulfill this obligation either inside or outside the mosque. There are similar religious norms regarding worship attendance among Orthodox Jews in Israel. As a result, men in these 28 countries report far greater rates of attendance than women, often by margins of at least 20 percentage points.

By contrast, in countries that have large Christian populations (30 of the 81 studied on this measure), women are more likely to report attending services weekly. And in 23 other countries, men and women report attending about equally.

According to an other Pew Research Center published last month, surveys in 63 countries have asked Muslims and Christians about belief in heaven, hell and angels and showed that lots of people are still convinced that they might be tortured for ever after they die or that they go to heaven when they are finished here on earth.

In 47 of the 63 countries (75%), men and women are about equally likely to profess a belief in heaven. Women are more likely to believe in heaven in 15 countries, often by margins of 5 percentage points or more.

Men and women in 52 of 63 countries (83%) are about equally likely to say they believe in hell. Women hold this belief more than men in 10 countries, while men surpass women in this belief in Lebanon. Overall, when the 63 countries are taken together, an average of 81% of women and 80% of men believe in hell.

Across all 63 countries, a greater share of women than men believe in angels by an average gap of 3 percentage points.

Looking at Christians only, there are just a handful of countries where the genders differ significantly in their beliefs in these concepts. A larger share of Christian men believe in heaven in only one country (Lebanon); Christian men are more likely than Christian women to believe in hell in two countries (the United States and Lebanon) and to believe in angels in one country (Zambia). On the other hand, more Christian women than Christian men profess belief in heaven in five countries (Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile, Botswana and the United States), in hell in four countries (Kazakhstan, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Chile) and in angels in nine countries (Kazakhstan, Russia, Uruguay, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Uganda and Guatemala).

Wednesday, 30 March 2016

Of Kings And Prophets a Biblically-themed network television

On Tuesday, March 8 at 10PM a Biblically-themed network television, called Of Kings And Prophets, debuted on ABC.

Thirty years after Ronald Reagan stated:

“Religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church because only those humble enough to admit they’re sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.”

a Christian, a Muslim, and a Jew found it time to join together to do what many in Hollywood deemed impossible: launch a Biblically-themed network television show about the collision of politics and religion that would appeal to both faith-based and secular audiences.

The makers of the show want to be faithful to the Bible and show people the Work of God. They say

In being faithful to the scriptures, we decided not to shy away from the sexuality and violence that is either implied or explicit in the text. To do so, would sanitize the reality of the biblical time and place, while at the same time bypassing important parallels that we still confront and struggle with today. We made this choice to open a conversation about how one reconciles faith with the realities of the world—whether in ancient Israel or in the contemporary U.S.

It seems there has to be some violence shown in the show.

We assumed we might be met with some resistance from Biblical literalists, as there is always the chance when dealing with religious material that faith-based audiences might negatively react to our interpretation of scriptural inconsistencies.

Surprisingly though, the most vitriolic criticism has not come from faith-based viewers, but from secular media outlets and bloggers, many of whom argued that the war, violence and brutality depicted in the show would alienate religious viewers. Clearly, these reviewers are unfamiliar with the Bible.

Today we hear also lots of people criticising the Koran and Muslims because they would keep to all sorts of cruel stories. But those complaining about those violent stories do forget or do not know that those same stories can be found in the Jewish as well as the Christian Bible.

People should be aware that

The world of the Old Testament, as described in the Bible, is often brutal and violent—a world where slavery and rape were the victor’s prerogative, and genocide was an accepted approach to foreign policy. The faithful know this better than anyone.

It are often the kafir or non-believers and those who do not know the religious texts who go in attack against one or the other religion. In Christendom we also have lots of people who have taken Jesus as their god instead of believing what Jesus and God say about each other. Many of those so called Christians do not know the other true Christians, who in Christianity proclaim only One True God, the God of Abraham, like the God of the Jews and the God of Muslims.
Often it our those Christians who keep to a three-headed god do not come to see Who the God is of the Holy Scriptures and do not realise how the whole world shall come to get to know the Only One True God, Allah, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah, Who is One God of gods and Host of hosts, greater than and above all gods.

The makers of the show are devoted to their respective faiths, and passionate about their artistry. They say

That’s why we are convinced that if the entertainment industry fails to show faith-based programming, we will miss out on opportunities to explore and understand the rich values and moral complexities that exist at the heart of our religious texts.

And conclude:

It is our hope that secular critics will understand that it is vital to our fabric as a nation to explore our faith through art—to let our values, morals and faith serve as scaffolding for our creativity. That’s what we have tried to do with Of Kings And Prophets.

But after just two episodes ABC has decided to cancel its biblical drama Of Kings and Prophets.
The move came after the show received low ratings and sponsors were pressured to pull their advertising.
The show attempted to tell the story of King David’s ascent to the throne and King Saul’s demise. While an exciting premise, ABC failed to deliver a product that resonated with most viewers. Of Kings and Prophets downplayed religious themes in favor of sex, violence, and intrigue for entertainment value.
ABC also took plenty of artistic licenses and made some odd character choices. For example, the prophet Samuel was portrayed as a jealous, bloodthirsty, and senile old man who misrepresented the will of Elohim. Samuel ordered Saul to annihilate the Amalekites seemingly out of spite, not because God wanted it.

Welcome

Welcome at this zone created by Marcus Ampe for the Belgian Free Christadelphians, where previous articles from the MSN Groups and Multiply are brought together and made available again to the general public. On 2012 October 26 this site came into development and new articles shall be added next to our main site and to the Christadelphian Ecclesia site: Christadelphian Ecclesia.
You are welcome at that site to find more articles.

All who want to follow Jesus/Jeshua (Yeshua/Yahsua) from Nazareth, the Christ, the Messiah and wants to be united with people who sincerely want to keep to those teachings of this masterteacher are welcome to share their love for Christ and their hope for the coming Kingdom.

The names "Christadelphia" and 'Christadelphian' is compounded of two Greek words: 'christos' and 'adelphoi' and means 'brethren in Christ'.

This site is created by a Free Christadelphian only bounded to Jesus Christ. We are open to anybody who wants to share the brotherly love of Christ. Coming together by a common belief in 'the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ' (Acts 8:12).

In the older Multiply messages links to Multiply shall not always work from 2012 December 1, but you shall be able to find them by copying and pasting the title in the search machine. I have worked on re-editing those links from 2005 onwards, so that they could work in the future, but it became a to much time consuming job, so I stopped doing it after a while. (My apologies for certain links not working any more.)

Thanks for visiting us and hope to see you again.

Welkom

Wij wensen allen welkom die hier op deze pagina's terecht komen en hopen dat zij geïnspireerd mogen geraken om verder de Bijbel ter hand te nemen en zelf op onderzoek te gaan wat er in de Heilige Schrift werkelijk staat.

De namen "Christadelphia" en "Christadelphian" is een samentelling van twee Griekse woorden : "Christos" en "adelphoi" en betekent 'broer in Christus'. De Christadelphians zijn een groep van mensen die samen verbonden zijn door hun gemeenschappelijk geloof betreffende de dingen aangaande het Koninkrijk van God en de naam van Jezus Christus (Jeshua, de Messias) (Handelingen van de Apostelen 8v12).
Christadelphian mensen zouden tot een wereldwijde gemeenschap moeten behoren, wiens doel is zo trouw als mogelijke de leerstelling en voorbeeld van Jezus/Jehsua Christus te volgen, zoals het geregistreerd staat in de Bijbel.
In een wereld die vol is van onzekerheden genieten wij van een eenvoudig, rechtstreeks en logisch geloof, dat nu al vrede en voldoening aanbiedt en de belofte van het nog te komen eeuwigdurende vreugderijk: het Koninkijk van God.

Op deze site, gecreëerd door Marcus Ampe voor de Vrije Belgische Christadelphians, of Broeders in Christus, zijn in oktober 2012 de vroegere berichten uit de MSN Groepen en Multiply samen gebracht en terug zichtbaar gemaakt voor het algemeen publiek.

Meerdere linken in de vroegere artikelen zullen vermoedelijk niet werken, maar u kan de titel dan kopiëren en plakken in het "Zoek" venster om zo bij het juiste artikel te komen. Ik maakte er werk van om de artikelen vanaf 2005 terug te editen en daarin de linken te vernieuwen, zodat zij terug zouden werken. Maar dit vroeg zo veel tijd dat ik het heb opgegeven. Daarom verzoek ik mij te verontschuldigen indien u een link tegen komt die niet meer werkt.

Vanaf 26 oktober 2012 is deze website opengesteld naar het publiek en zullen er in de toekomst nog enkele artikelen bij komen. Maar de meerderheid van de teksten zullen nu geplaatst worden op de site van de Vlaamse Broeders in Christus of Christadelphians en op de kerkgemeenschapssite
Christadelphian Ecclesia.

Graag ontmoeten wij u daar voor meerdere artikelen.

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