All posts filed under: z202

The Discovery of an ancient description, ‘Christ, born of Mary,’ hints to an earlier battle with heresy

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Israeli archaeologists working in the Jezreel Valley recently announced that they found an ancient description of Jesus dated to the fifth century. It was found in the remains of a Byzantine Church located near the village of et-Taiyiba. Curiously, the phrase, “Christ, born of Mary,” may hint of a great theological battle that raged in the early church a couple of centuries earlier. The Greek inscription, that was carved on stone and appeared on top of the entrance, reads in full: “Christ, born of Mary. This work of the most God-fearing and pious bishop [Theodo]sius and the miserable Th[omas] was built from the foundation… Whoever enters should pray for them.” According to Dr. Leah Di-Segni who works at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem the phrase “Christ, born of Mary” was used by the people to ward off curses associated with an evil eye. As part of this, people often included this phrase in letters they were sending to friends. One of the persons mentioned in the greeting was Theodosius, the archbishop for the area around …

Enforcing religious freedom in Moscow, Russia, err Idaho

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A court has just ruled in favour of Gabriel Rench who was arrested on Sept 23, 2020, when nearly 200 believers gathered to worship and praise God during an outdoor service in the parking lot of the city hall in Moscow, Idaho. The event, called Psalm Sing, was sponsored by Christ Church and according to Gabriel Rench, who serves as a church deacon, they had been holding services for several months with no problem. The church believed its right to worship is guaranteed under the US Constitution. But the Sept. 23 service would prove to be different. Police were in attendance and arrested three people including Gabriel Rench as the group was singing “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.” Though they were not wearing masks, neither were most of the people attending the service. The police had arrested the three for violating the mayor’s emergency health order. But according to Michael Jacques, a lawyer with the Thomas Moore Society who represented Rench, under this legislation, the city exempted “[a]ny and all expressive and associative …

Ironically, doing good to others, is good for you

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Most have heard of Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan who provided aid to a man who had been mugged by robbers and left for dead by the side of a road (Luke 10:25-37). And while he provided both medicinal and financial aid to the fallen man, studies have shown that people who are kind or help others may also be helping themselves. This was the conclusion of a Canadian study that revealed helping others may lead to better health for the person doing the helping. The study involved several students who were asked to tutor elementary students for two months. In the study the students were broken up into two groups, one group actually tutored the students and the second group were put on a waiting list and never tutored any of the elementary students. Then four months after the tutoring assignment has run its course, the researchers ran blood tests to find out if there was any noticeable differences between the two groups. They discovered that students who had actually done tutoring had …

Children suicides & self-harm skyrocket during lockdown, Italy

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A report out of Italy reveals that there has been an alarming spike in suicide attempts not only among teens, but children as well, because of the lockdowns. Along with this, hospitals are also reporting a dramatic increase in incidents of self-harm, where children are purposefully cutting and burning themselves. Doctors are also reporting an alarming increase in mental health disorders and are laying the blame for these increases squarely on the lockdowns.