One of the most poignant moments in the new Netflix film The Two Popes is a moment of supreme exasperation. The individuals at the center of the film — soon-to-be-retired Pope Benedict XVI and soon-to-be-Pope Jorge Bergolio (now Francis) — have spent the past few minutes disagreeing on every issue facing the Catholic church: homosexuality, divorce, celibacy, the environment and the sexual misconduct of priests. At last, Cardinal Bergolio says, mournfully, “It seems to me that we are no longer a part of this world. We do not belong to it. We are not connected.” Pope Benedict XVI considers this, and then, quoting Anglican priest William Inge, replies, “A church that marries the spirit of this age —” Bergolio interrupts him with the rest of the quotation: “—will be widowed in the next.”

To me, this scene perfectly encapsulates the debate raging around the issue of celibacy in the Catholic Church. To those outside of it, the practice seems archaic and baffling. Why shouldn’t priests be allowed to marry? What good is it doing? Is it actually doing harm? Even to some within Catholicism, it seems like a superfluous practice, especially when stacked against problems with far more impact. And yet, there are those within the Church who believe that this issue cannot and should not be compromised on. To change the practice of celibacy would alter centuries of tradition and the work of generations of God-fearing servants.

Should we change simply because the world says we should?

Pope Benedict XVI believes the Church should not, and he is making his view abundantly clear through a series of arguments in the French newspaper Le Figaro and in a newly published book. In 2013, after becoming the only pope since 1415 to retire, Pope Benedict promised that he would stay “hidden from the world.” However, he has broken his silence to argue for the “great significance” of celibacy and calling it a “truly essential” standard for priesthood. In the book, co-authored with Cardinal Robert Sarah, Pope Benedict states definitively that “​the call to follow Jesus is not possible without this sign of freedom and of renunciation of all commitments.”

The sudden outspokenness of the former pope is seen by many as a response to Pope Francis considering a change in the Church’s position on celibacy. Last year, stemming from a shortage of priests in the Amazon region, church leaders from South America requested that married men be allowed to be ordained. Pope Francis is apparently working on a document that tackles this issue, which has made Catholic hardliners nervous. In the past, Pope Francis has expressed a willingness to reconsider the practice of celibacy. In 2014, in a conversation with journalists, Pope Francis admitted that, while he did consider celibacy “a rule of life that I greatly appreciate,” he did not view the practice as “​a dogma of faith,” so “the door is always open.”

The Catholic Church, like any political institution, has always been at war with itself, the traditionalists and the reformers duking it out behind closed doors. What is unique about this situation, though, is that each camp has a champion out in the open, and both have sat on the Chair of St. Peter. For some, the real issue at hand is that there are two living popes, commenting on and providing conflicting guidance for Catholics around the world.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Hayden Royster

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Virginia has become the latest state in the U.S. to ban sexual orientation conversion therapy for minors.

Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam signed House Bill 386 into law on Tuesday, which bars healthcare providers and counselors from counseling youth to treat unwanted same-sex attraction.

“Conversion therapy sends the harmful message that there is something wrong with who you are,” said Northam in a statement. “This discriminatory practice has been widely discredited in studies and can have lasting effects on our youth, putting them at a greater risk of depression and suicide.”

Introduced by Democratic Delegate Patrick Hope in February, HB 386 passed the House of Delegates in a vote of 66 to 27 and then the Senate in a vote of 22 to 18.

The Family Foundation of Virginia denounced HB 386 and its companion legislation, Senate Bill 245, as one of the “worst bills” being considered by the General Assembly.

“HB 386 and SB 245 prohibit counselors to counsel a minor in a way that would encourage them toward their biological sex,” stated the foundation.

“Referrals for ‘conversion therapy’ are also prohibited under state law and could affect state grants toward entities who refer. There is no religious exemption.”

Also called sexual orientation change efforts therapy or “reparative therapy,” the process involves counseling efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual.

The practice is controversial among some, with prominent American psychological organizations rejecting it as harmful and several left-leaning states, beginning with California, banning it for minors.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski

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A Christian coalition in Charlotte, North Carolina is claiming that megachurch pastor Steven Furtick does not believe in the traditional Christian view that the Trinity is three distinct, divine entities in one.

According to a post from Reformation Charlotte, a group of evangelists, journalists and apologists in North Carolina, a recent sermon from Furtick – a pastor at Elevation Church – shows that he has rejected the orthodox view of the Trinity and instead is embracing modalism, where God is one person who has revealed himself in three forms at separate times.

Modalism says that God is a single person who has manifested as Father, then later the Son, and finally the Holy Spirit. Modalism is unlike the belief in the Trinity, where God exists as all three persons at once.

In the sermon, Furtick quotes John 16:7, which says, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.”

“How could you say something like that Jesus?” Furtick says. “How could you say it is good that you are going away? We followed you. We trusted you and now you are leaving us.

“No, I am not leaving you,” Furtick adds. “I am changing forms. Up until now I have walked with you, but when I send my spirit I will be in you, so I am not leaving you, I’m just changing locations.”

The coalition wrote in its post that Furtick “twisted” the passage.

Source: Christian Headlines

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Iran’s Supreme Leader fast-tracked an unfair case against an Iranian pastor after he acted “against national security,” sentencing him to five years in prison.

The pastor, Matthias Haghnejad, was teaching in his church when police arrested him last year, according to Faithwire. They also brought in eight other people from the congregation. Judge Mohammed Moghiseh denied the pastor his own legal representation and quickly transported him to Evin Prison in Tehran.

Behind the scenes, Moghiseh maintains a reputation of handing out unfair sentences against Christians. In Haghnejad’s case, the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, granted Moghiseh the authority to override court procedure and jail the men without legal cause or defense. The other eight men were told they must accept court-appointed legal representatives but refused. Their trial was suspended, and the judge increased their bail terms.

Now all nine Christians have been sentenced to five years in prison, despite the lack of a proper hearing. During one trial in July, the judge falsified the Bible and called the men “apostates.”

Source: Christian Headlines

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Christian band Tenth Avenue North are calling it quits as they have embarked on their farewell tour. A lengthy post entitled “Farewell” was made on Instagram by the band’s frontman, Mike Donehey.

He begins with, “Words always seem to fail when it comes to farewell. Even the best goodbyes are bittersweet. Maybe we’re made for eternity after all.”

Then he addresses as to how far the band has come from its inception two decades ago and their surreal impact along the way.

“20 years ago, Tenth Avenue North was nothing but three friends goofing around in a PBA dorm room. We never dreamt it would take us around the globe, not in a million years. But here we are, two decades, shaking our heads, grateful, in all. We’re grateful for all the stories, all the tears, for all the memories we’ve made. Did I mention the music?”

Donehey indicates that the breakup is not “a sign of unhealth, quite the opposite.” Instead, it’s a new phase for the band individually.

“We’re dreaming new dreams. It’s time to encourage one another to go, go and do all that is in our hearts to do.”

What was initially the “Finally Living Tour” is now the “Farewell Tour” which is currently ongoing. Tenth Avenue North will also release new music along with playing some summer shows and festivals before closing out for good.

The Christian Post reports of other Christian artists expressing their gratitude and well wishes.

Source: Christian Headlines

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John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

As I argued yesterday on BreakPoint, the spread of the coronavirus is a brutal reminder of just how fragile humans are, a direct and uncomfortable challenge to our collective illusion of control. As it spreads, not only are individual lives threatened, but also the intricate and fragile web of global connections that fuel national and international economies. To ask God’s help in all of this shouldn’t be controversial at all.

That’s exactly what Vice-President Mike Pence decided to do. An official White House photo from February 26 captured the Vice-President and the Coronavirus Task Force opening their meeting with heads bowed in prayer. The photo, as they say nowadays, blew up the Internet, unleashing a tidal wave of “prayer shaming,” a term coined a couple of years ago to describe ridiculing people who dare offer their “thoughts and prayers” for the victims of tragedies like mass shootings.

One secular research website headlined the photo with this take: “Symbolic of the moral and intellectual decay at the White House, a photo shows Vice President Mike Pence and his team trying to pray away the coronavirus.” Pence and his team were “wallowing in ignorant superstition and willful ignorance,” the site continued, suggesting that Pence prays because he’s a “religious extremist.”

Another slant, this one from an out-and-proud atheist: “It’s not a joke when people say these Republicans are trying to stop a virus with prayer. What else did anyone expect? Science? Reason? Something sensible?”

One of the most viral tweets of the photo had this caption: “Mike Pence and his coronavirus emergency team praying for a solution. We are so [blanked].”

Never mind that every session of Congress begins with a prayer, as do thousands of public meetings across the country every day. Prayer is, for many today, politically unacceptable, seen as an affront to science, an obstacle to governance, and worst of all, a shameful admission that we are not in control of our own destinies.

Of course, that’s precisely the point of prayer. We are not in control. We think we are. We’ve made remarkable medical, scientific, and technological breakthroughs that have allowed us be less the victims of nature than societies in the past, but we do not control the world. The idea that we do, ironically, reveals the central belief of a technocratic worldview, one every bit as much an article of faith as any held by those who pray.

Source: Christian Headlines

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