Wheaton Faculty Council Unanimously Asks College To Keep Lary... | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com

Wheaton Faculty Council Unanimously Asks College To Keep Lary... | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com:



Update (Jan. 22): At a public listening session yesterday, Wheaton provost Stanton Jones presented his own answer to the question that started the current controversy: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

"Ontologically all monotheists affirm that there can only be one divine being, and it seems logical to me that there must be some referential overlap or similarity in the divine being that each is referring to in each of the monotheistic religions," said Jones, according to a transcript posted by The Wheaton Record.

Orthodox Christian Initiative for Africa: Capitalism, Protestant Ethics & Orthodox Tradition

Orthodox Christian Initiative for Africa: Capitalism, Protestant Ethics & Orthodox Tradition:



Orthodoxy is not linked to metaphysics. We saw in the previous analysis that the spirit of Capitalism, as analysed by Max Weber, is very closely linked to the theory of predestination, which is one of the characteristic marks of metaphysics. Of course, the term metaphysics includes many other aspects that will not be analysed here.
We could preferably say that Orthodoxy is anti-metaphysical. The centre of Orthodox anthropology is not the “orthos logos” (the appropriate word, reasoning). Without abolishing logic, Orthodoxy transcends it through a revelation by God, which is beyond all reasoning and not against reasoning.
The theory of predestination is rejected by the theology of the Fathers of the Church. God does not violate man’s freedom and those who wish can become sons of God. In Orthodoxy there is no “aristocracy of the pious”. When man follows a specific method of therapy, he can even reach the state of theoptia (the ‘sight’ of God). Thus, he comes to know God, he acquires selfless love and loves the entire world. Just as medical science cannot be metaphysical, so Orthodox theology cannot be metaphysical.

THICK END OF THE WEDGE: Mkhize to thank for Zuma turnaround | Columnists | BDlive

THICK END OF THE WEDGE: Mkhize to thank for Zuma turnaround | Columnists | BDlive:



Zuma, though, couldn’t see the problem, so some or all (certainly enough members) of the meeting told him bluntly if he continued to imperil the future of the country they would withdraw their support of him as leader of the party. That got through. It was a political threat, not an economics lecture, and Zuma understood it instantly.

UPD “It’s Kids drowning in the Aegean, stupid!” – 42 Migrants dead in two boat incidents, among them 17 children

UPD “It’s Kids drowning in the Aegean, stupid!” – 42 Migrants dead in two boat incidents, among them 17 children:



While refugees keep drowning in the cold waters of the Aegean Sea trying to flee the war, thousands of kilometers away, in snowy Davos, political and economic leaders meet in cosy chalets and try to find solutions to the world and European problems.

Panicked by the refugees and migrants flow that doesn’t come into a halt despite the winter conditions, the EU leaders raise fences and close their borders, while others like Denmark or Germany “strip the refugees’ of their money and valuable assets to have them self-finance” the honor of finding shelter in their countries.

800 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle & Other Devices | Open Culture

800 Free eBooks for iPad, Kindle & Other Devices | Open Culture: Download 800 free eBooks to your Kindle, iPad/iPhone, computer, smart phone or ereader. Collection includes great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, including works by Asimov, Jane Austen, Philip K. Dick, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Neil Gaiman, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf & James Joyce. Also please see our collection 700 Free Audio Books: Download Great Books for Free, where you can download more great books to your computer or mp3 player.

A truly liberal society would tolerate the Anglican church's views on sexuality - Spectator Blogs

A truly liberal society would tolerate the Anglican church's views on sexuality - Spectator Blogs: The preposterous claim that the contemporary church’s view of marriage is like supporting slavery is still worth deconstructing. There are only two ways you could plausibly make this argument. First, if today’s church supported using the coercive power of the state to uphold its teaching on marriage. Secondly, if the church – simply by teaching traditional views on sexuality – is indirectly responsible for persecuting homosexuals.

Refrain from Anger: On Anglican Bigotry | The Sub-Dean's Stall

Refrain from Anger: On Anglican Bigotry | The Sub-Dean's Stall: The Episcopal Church – this supposedly high-minded and elevated form of rational Christianity – has succumbed to the nastiest abusiveness of fellow Christians. Whether it is the veiled racism of referring to “the Africans” or the copious use of various forms of the word “bigot” or casting the acts of the Primates as devious and underhanded – we are reacting in ways entirely out of proportion to the sanction that we have received.

We are reacting in ways that actually imperil communion – in ways that are more dangerous than a sanction or reprimand from the institutional arm of the Church. The Church is the Body. It is a mystical union as well as an institutional entity. Our reactions – our words and deeds – have the potential to undermine the mystical union we share for we are literally saying to one part of the Body, “We have no need of you.”

Syrian endgame could begin with Aleppo - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Syrian endgame could begin with Aleppo - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East: This column has warned for more than two years of the campaign to mainstream radical jihadi groups under the rubric of the “moderate” Syria opposition. This trend has done a disservice to the true secular, democratic opposition that rose against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011. In November 2015, we advocated keeping Ahrar al-Sham out of the Syrian political process, despite the group’s purported influence “on the ground,” which is at least in part due to its collaboration with the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group. Unfortunately, Syrian democrats can’t rely on the largesse of regional patrons who don’t mind a sectarian edge to the anti-Assad military campaign. Even prominent former American diplomats are ready to welcome Ahrar al-Sham and their fellow jihadi travelers into the peace fold, as long as there is some tactical divergence with Jabhat al-Nusra and these groups are willing to “engage” with the West.

How to Fail at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps | Family History Daily

Yes, we've all made most of these mistakes, many times. but I was saved from the first two to a large extent.



I was saved from the first by the friend, visiting from overseas, who sold me on the joys of ancestor hunting. When I said I was interested, he said "Have you got any aunts or uncles living nearby?" And we went to see an aunt I hadn't seen for 10 years, who had my grandparents' marriage certificate, and as we left he said to me, "They always know more than they think they do."



And I was saved from the second because no one had personal computers in those days and Ancestry.com did not exist.



How to Fail at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps | Family History Daily:

How to ‘Fail’ at Family History Research in 10 Simple Steps

• Step 1. Jump right into your family’s history without taking the time to talk to any of your relatives. Whatever you do, do not ask parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins what they know about your family’s past.
  
  

• Step 2. Get a subscription to Ancestry.com and never, ever leave their site. Do not, under any circumstances, check out the many free genealogy websites that contain oodles of unique, helpful information.

But the rest of the mistakes I have made many times, and still do. Read them and be warned.

Blaming the Africans: Cultural Imperialism and the Meeting of the Primates | Thicket of the Jordan

Blaming the Africans: Cultural Imperialism and the Meeting of the Primates | Thicket of the Jordan: when the Anglican Communion does gather to discuss issues of theology and Africans repeat the official teaching of the Communion and the teaching of the vast majority of Christians everywhere, they are rebuked for taking the focus away from the common mission (of African economic development) that unites the Communion. We seem to be confused as to how those Africans would dare do this after we have spent the last thirty years congratulating ourselves for granting the aid that we have made the basis of our common life. We cannot understand why they would be so divisive and on the wrong side of our definition of justice.

Harry Potter vs. Huckleberry Finn: Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories Than Americans - The Atlantic

Harry Potter vs. Huckleberry Finn: Why the British Tell Better Children’s Stories Than Americans - The Atlantic: If Harry Potter and Huckleberry Finn were each to represent British versus American children’s literature, a curious dynamic would emerge: In a literary duel for the hearts and minds of children, one is a wizard-in-training at a boarding school in the Scottish Highlands, while the other is a barefoot boy drifting down the Mississippi, beset by con artists, slave hunters, and thieves. One defeats evil with a wand, the other takes to a raft to right a social wrong. Both orphans took over the world of English-language children’s literature, but their stories unfold in noticeably different ways.

U.S. Dropped 23,144 Bombs on Muslim-Majority Countries in 2015 | Alternet

U.S. Dropped 23,144 Bombs on Muslim-Majority Countries in 2015 | Alternet: Nobel Peace Prize-winner President Obama dropped a serious amount of ordnance last year.