Christian parents sometimes not only attempt to justify the sexual assault carried out by their children, but also blame the victim, a college pastor and Presbyterian minister has said.

Moses Y. Lee, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and director of campus ministry OneU DC, who is studying at Westminster Theological Seminary, shared of such experiences in an article for The Gospel Coalition on Monday:

“During my past six years serving as a college pastor, some of my most disturbing conversations have been with unrepentant sexual assault perpetrators and their defensive Christian parents. In their attempts to justify their actions, too often I would hear from the perpetrators (and their parents), ‘Have you seen her Instagram account? Do you know what she’s like at parties? But she made the first move. Well, she asked for it. She has a history.’ And so on,” Lee wrote.

“With more than 20 percent of female undergraduate students experiencing some form of sexual assault or misconduct, these tendencies to blame the victim have led some to demand action or even walk away…

Some 7,200 migrants from Guatemala and Honduras are heading to the U.S. border, according to reports.

Early in the week, about 1,500 additional migrants joined the group, staying the night in Tapachula, Mexico. They were about 1,100 miles from McAllen, Texas.

In response to the traveling group, President Donald Trump said there are “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners” among the migrants.

Reporters, however, have said there is no evidence of his claim. Still, Trump said he has alerted Border Patrol and the military.

“Every time you see a Caravan, or people illegally coming, or attempting to come, into our Country illegally, think of and blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change our pathetic Immigration Laws! Remember the Midterms! So unfair to those who come in legally,” Trump tweeted Monday morning.

Every time you see a Caravan, or people illegally coming, or attempting to come, into our Country illegally, think of and blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change our pathetic Immigration Laws! Remember the Midterms! So unfair to those who come in legally.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2018

“Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States,” Trump tweeted Monday. “Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I…

An evangelical theologian has explained the meaning of “postconservative evangelical,” noting that the task of aligning doctrine with Scripture remains unfinished and “biblical inerrancy” is not elevated to dogma-status.

“Not many theologians I know want this label slapped on them,” Roger E. Olson, professor of Christian Theology of Ethics at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, admitted in a blog on Monday.

“Postconservative evangelical theology is evangelical theology that does not consider the constructive task of theology finished. Conservative evangelical theology is evangelical theology that considers the constructive task of theology finished. These theologians are primarily interested in the critical task of theology — discovering heresy and exposing it. They are also interested, of course, in translating older versions of ‘the received evangelical tradition’ into contemporary idiom,” he goes on to explain.

“Postconservative evangelical theology does not elevate ‘biblical inerrancy’ to the…

(RNS) — Eugene Peterson, the best-selling author of “The Message” and longtime pastor praised as a “shepherd’s shepherd,” passed away Monday morning (Oct. 22) at age 85.

Among Peterson’s last words were, “Let’s go,” according to a statement from his family.

“During the previous days, it was apparent that he was navigating the thin and sacred space between earth and heaven,” according to his family. “We overheard him speaking to people we can only presume were welcoming him into paradise. There may have even been a time or two when he accessed his Pentecostal roots and spoke in tongues as well.”

Peterson pastored Christ Our King Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation he founded in Bel Air, Md., for 30 years while also writing widely to encourage and develop other pastors.

He is best known for “The Message,” his popular paraphrase of the Bible in contemporary language that made the Bible accessible to many Christians. Altogether, he wrote more than 30 books, including his 2011 memoir “The Pastor” and the Christian classic, “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.”

“Eugene Peterson has encouraged, formed, and often literally saved the ministry of more than one pastor over the years through his writing and thinking (I would include myself in that list),” wrote Truett Seminary…

(RNS) — Since its grand opening nearly a year ago, the Museum of the Bible has exhibited five fragments from the storied Dead Sea Scrolls, the ancient parchment fragments discovered 70 years ago in a desert cave.

On Monday (Oct. 22) the museum acknowledged that the five fragments it had on display were forgeries. They were taken down several weeks ago and replaced with three other fragments that do not have the same anomalies.

The museum had long suspected the fragments may be forged and a sign accompanying the exhibit says scholars had raised questions about their authenticity. But last week the museum received scientific verification via digital and X-ray testing of the ink, sediment layers and chemical composition, which proved conclusively that the fragments were forged.

“This is part of our ongoing commitment to making sure we’re adhering to all legal and museum standards, that our displays are accurate, that when we have information, we make it available,” said Jeff Kloha, chief curatorial officer. “Where we had uncertainty about the documentation, we put that up on the museum website and updated labels on the displays.”

This is not the first time the museum has faced questions about the problematic origins of some of its antiquities. Many of the items in the Washington, D.C., museum were purchased beginning in 2009 by the billionaire Oklahoma-based…