Christianity is a faith with a long and detailed history, with numerous events of lasting significance occurring throughout the ages.

Each week brings the anniversaries of great milestones, horrid tragedies, amazing triumphs, and everything in between.

Here are three things that happened this week, Aug. 30-Sept. 5, in Church history. They include the death of the only Englishman to be pope, the birth of a notable American Protestant theologian, and an early church debate on baptism.

More than half of American adults, including 30% of evangelicals, say Jesus isn’t God but most agree He was a great teacher, according to results from the 2020 State of Theology survey.

Even though the Bible and traditional teachings of the Christian Church hold that Jesus truly existed as both man and God, among the key findings of the biennial State of Theology survey from Ligonier Ministries conducted with LifeWay Research, is that 52% of American adults believe that Jesus was a great teacher and nothing more.

And nearly a third of evangelicals also support that view, a preliminary release on the findings of the study said Thursday. The complete report on the survey, conducted March 10 to 18 among 3,002 U.S. adults including 630 professing evangelicals, is expected to be released on Sept. 8.

“Statistics like these from the State of Theology survey can give us quite a shock, but they also shed light on the concerns that many American Christians and churches have expressed for decades. As the culture around us increasingly abandons its moral compass, professing evangelicals are sadly drifting away from God’s absolute standard in Scripture,” Stephen Nichols,…

Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz endorsed President Trump’s re-election during this week’s Republican National Convention, yet it was his words about Democratic nominee Joe Biden that drew the most attention.

Holtz, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, criticized Biden’s pro-choice record and said he was a Catholic “in name only.” 

Holtz also contrasted Biden’s record with that of Trump.

“One of the important reasons he has my trust is because nobody has been a stronger advocate for the unborn than President Trump,” Holtz said. “The Biden-Harris ticket is the most radically pro-abortion campaign in history. They and other politicians are Catholics in name only and abandon innocent lives. President Trump protects those lives. I trust President Trump.”

Holtz referenced a statue at Notre Dame that includes three words: trust, commitment and love. 

“All my life I’ve made my choices based on these three words. I use these three rules to make choices about everything – my beloved wife of 59 years, athletes I coached, and of course, politicians, even President Trump,” Holtz said.

Holtz said he asks himself three questions based on the three words: Can I trust them? Are they committed to doing their very best? Do they love people?

Trump passes the test, Holtz said.

“I used to ask our athletes at Notre Dame: If you did not show…

Becki Falwell, the wife of now former Liberty University President, Jerry Falwell Jr., continues to face controversy as a former Liberty University student claims that she performed oral sex on him in the summer of 2008 when he was 22 years old. 

Earlier this week, a former business partner revealed that he had a seven-year-long affair with Becki while her husband allegedly acted as a voyeur.

The former Liberty University student, now 34, is speaking out about his sexual encounter with Falwell as he believes that she has abused her power.

“She was the aggressor,” the unnamed student told Politico.

During the summer of 2008, he and his band would hold rehearsals at an abandoned church near the Falwell’s residence in Fairfax, VA. Becki Falwell’s eldest son, Trey, was the band’s guitarist.

He recounted that Becki would often make a habit of showing up at the band’s rehearsals. While she usually came to offer drinks and snacks, she would “always stick around”.

“She was like, ‘Hey, I know I’m a mom, but I wanna be friends with everyone,’” another bandmate of the student added. “It was, like, a ‘Dude, why is somebody’s Mom chilling with us?’ type thing.”

While the former student didn’t make much of it at first, he stated that she would always give him looks and “little innuendos.”

Then one occasion, Falwell asked the young man, “have you told your…

Author and Pastor Tim Keller said he’s making progress in his fight against cancer, telling his social media followers that this health situation has caused him to seek God and depend on Him.

In a Twitter thread posted Friday, Keller thanked his friends for their prayers and support, noting that as of yesterday he has finished his sixth round of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

“[W]hile there are indeed some side effects, my doctor says I’m tolerating the treatment very well. I have not been seriously debilitated and I can still do some work and ministry,” Keller shared.

“Yesterday we also met with my oncologist to go over the scans taken on Monday to assess the effectiveness of the chemotherapy. The report is very encouraging. There has been shrinkage of the tumors and so we are continuing the chemo in order to diminish the cancer further.”

He added: “Our situation has driven us to seek God’s face as never before. He is giving us more of his sensed presence, more freedom from our besetting sins, more dependence on his Word — things that we had sought for years, but…

BALTIMORE (RNS) — Vice President Mike Pence closed out his speech before the Republican National Convention on Wednesday evening (Aug. 26) with a mashup of Bible references, into which he inserted American symbols and ideals.

Speaking before a crowd at Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, Pence, a self-described “born-again, evangelical Catholic” known for infusing his political rhetoric with religious language, sprinkled his address with references to God and prayer.

But Pence, who accepted his party’s nomination for vice president during the speech, sparked outcry in some Christian circles as he closed out his remarks when he combined at least two Bible verses — and replaced references to Jesus with patriotic imagery.

Let Religion News Service explain.

So What Did Pence Say?

Here’s the full quote from Pence’s speech that has people talking:

“Let’s run the race marked out for us. Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents. Let’s fix our eyes on this land of heroes and let their courage inspire. And let’s fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith and freedom and never forget that where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom — and that means freedom always wins.”

That Seems Vaguely Familiar

That may be because Pence references two different Bible verses in his remarks.

One is 2 Corinthians 3:17, which according to…