Life & Society | TLG Christian News

Emoji Bible: It’s curious and fun, but it doesn’t make God’s Word come alive, says Biblica’s Carl Moeller

30/06/2016 0 Comment

A sample from the Emoji Bible.

It looks fun to read and could draw young people with its colours and images, but does the emoji Bible app a legitimate form of God's Word?

A month after its release, the “Scripture for Millennials,” as it is called by its marketer, has drawn not only the frowns of Bible scholars but also the puzzlement of ordinary readers.

The app has received only 2.9 out of a 5-star rating in Apple's app store, with many of the people who tried reading the King James Version text, with emoji inserts, harder to read than the traditional all-word Bibles available today, according to Mission Network News.

Dr. Carl A. Moeller, CEO of world renowned and 207-year-old Bible translation organisation Biblica, is among the Bible scholars who are giving the app the thumbs down.

He says the main problem with the emoji translation is that it fails to translate God's word in all its glory. “Emojis, for all their curious and fun connotations, d..

Corbyn row overshadows Labour report into party antisemitism

30/06/2016 0 Comment

The leader of Britain's opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, speaks at the launch of a report into antisemitism within the Labour party.

The launch of a Labour Party report into antisemitism in the party has been overshadowed by fresh controversy after an MP was abused by a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn and the leader himself was taken to task for comparing Israel to ISIS.

The inquiry was launched in April following the suspension of MP Naz Shah and former London mayor Ken Livingstone over claims of antisemitic remarks.

However, Labour MP Ruth Smeeth joined the chorus of MPs urging Jeremy Corbyn to resign immediately after she was attacked at the launch of the report, alleging failed to intervene.

“I was verbally attacked by a Momentum activist and Jeremy Corbyn supporter who used traditional antisemitic slurs to attack me for being part of a 'media conspiracy',” she said in a statement.

“It is beyond belief that someone could come to the launch of a repor..

Parties at War: Boris Johnson pulls out of leadership race

30/06/2016 0 Comment

Boris Johnson will not stand to be Conservative party leader.

After a morning of shock revelations, the former London major and champion of the campaign to leave the European Union, said was not the right person to lead the UK.

The move came after his Vote Leave colleague Michael Gove and home secretary Theresa May both announced they will run for leader.

Gove, the justice secretary, announced his surprise bid with a dig at Johnson who he said could not “provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead”. He had been expected to support Johnson's campaign after the pair were leading lights in bringing the UK out of the EU.

The shock announcement came as both Labour and Conservative parties headed for a summer in turmoil as a leadership race begins within both.

The justice secretary Michael Gove will run against Theresa May, Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox and Andrea Leadsom.

Home secretary Theresa May announced her leadership bid earlier o..

Anti-Christian bias, the BBC and the problem of religious literacy

30/06/2016 0 Comment

Is the BBC institutionally hostile to Christianity, only interested in knocking our faith and promoting other religions? It seems unlikely, on the face of it, but that's the charge leveled against it by a Christian group that's just presented a 12,000-signature petition to director-general Lord Hall.

Voice for Justice calls on him to “protect the UK's Christian heritage and reject current proposals to reduce and downgrade Christian programming in favour of increased coverage for Muslim, Hindu and Sikh faiths”. It accuses the BBC's head of religion and ethics, Aaqil Ahmed – a Muslim – of regularly commissioning documentaries “displaying clearly pro-Islamic bias, while calling into question fundamental tenets and teachings of Christianity”. Britain, it says, is a Christian country and so Christianity should be treated with respect and given more airtime than minority groups; and, “In particular, Islam should not be singled out for special interest and presen..

Women who attend religious services five time less likely to commit suicide, study says

30/06/2016 0 Comment

Researchers also found that Catholic women were less likely to commit suicide than Protestant women.

Women who regularly attend religious services are five times less likely to commit suicide in comparison to those who never attend services, researchers have found.

A study published Wednesday by JAMA Psychiatry found that among more than 89,000 women, “attendance at religious services once per week or more was associated with an approximately 5-fold lower rate of suicide compared with never attending services”.

Researchers concluded that “frequent religious service attendance was associated with a significantly lower rate of suicide.”

The women, most of whom were white Christians, were studied over a period of 15 years between 1996 and 2010.

During that time, 36 committed suicide, which is among the 10 leading causes of death in the US.

“Our results do not imply that health care providers should prescribe attendance at religious services. However, for patie..

‘Satanic Islam’ pastor James McConnell forgives BBC presenter for ‘hijack’ interview

30/06/2016 0 Comment

Pastor James McConnell says he forgives the BBC interviewer who pressed him on his attitude to Islam.

The controversial Belfast pastor cleared of broadcasting hate speech after a sermon in which he branded Islam 'satanic' has said he forgives the BBC interviewer whose interviews with him brought him widespread negative publicity.

Pastor James McConnell was tried after a sermon in which he said: “Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell” was broadcast online. He was charged with contravening the law against causing a grossly offensive message to be sent by means of a public electronic communications network.

BBC presenter Stephen Nolan won an award for an interview with McConnell in 2014. One of the judges, Kevin Marsh, said: “Nolan was well informed and well prepared and tested the pastor's arguments robustly and persistently. The overall effect was an engaging interview in which not just the pastor'..

The ‘new norm’: Most Americans now consider living together before marriage a ‘good idea’

29/06/2016 0 Comment

The wave of liberalism continues its relentless surge in America with majority of American adults now saying that it's a good idea for couples to live together before deciding to get married.

According to a recent study by the Barna Group, two-thirds of adults (65 percent) think cohabitation before marriage is good, compared to one-third (35 percent) who disagree.

However, religious groups are the least likely to consider cohabitation a good idea.

In its report, the Barna Group says cohabitation has become “the new norm” in America. This is the result of “shifting gender roles and expectations, the delay of marriage, and a secularizing culture,” the polling firm says.

But although acceptance of live-in relationship is now widespread in America, there are still “large pockets of resistance … among religious communities and those who adhere to more traditional values and premarital expectations,” it says.

The Barna Group notes that most Christian teac..

Ted Cruz accuses Obama administration of ‘willful blindness’ to threat of radical Islam

29/06/2016 0 Comment

Ted Cruz accused President Obama's administration of a “wilful blindness” to the threat of radical Islam at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

The former Republican presidential hopeful said the Obama administration had under-emphasized the “threat of radical Islam”. He pointed to the initial redaction of references to the leader of Islamic State in partial transcripts released by the FBI and US State Department of the 911 call made by Orlando shooter Omar Mateen.

They later reversed their decision and released the unredacted version after a wave of criticism.

Obama has refused to use the term “radical Islam” in reference to terror attacks. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gave a national security speech a day after the Orlando massacre, insisting it was “time to tell the truth about radical Islam”.

In his own remarks, Obama said America stood united in the face of “an act of terror and an act of hate” and would not give in to fear.

Huge spike in anti-Muslim hate crime across UK

29/06/2016 0 Comment

The figures revealed that women were most likely to be subject to abuse.

Britain is failing its Muslim citizens, a monitoring group said on Wednesday, as it revealed an “explosion of anti-Muslim hate both online and on our streets”.

Tell Mama released its annual report today, which showed a 326 per cent increase in public incidents of anti-Muslim hate in 2015, including physical and verbal attacks.

The group reported 437 of these incidents last year, up from 146, and said perpetrators were “putting their hatred into action”.

In total, 1,128 incidents were reported to Tell Mama in 2015, more than 800 of which were found to be anti-Muslim.

The figures revealed that women were most likely to be subject to abuse – 61 per cent of incidents had a female victim.

More than half (55 per cent) of victims were “visibly Muslim,” the report said, increasing to 75 per cent of cases involving women.

Blaming Muslims: why Christians must take the lead in fighting Is..

Word of Life: Church beating survivor ‘confesses to inappropriate touching of children’

29/06/2016 0 Comment

The young man who survived a mass church beating that resulted in the death his brother has confessed to having “inappropriately” touched his half-sister's children, CNN reports.

Christopher Leonard appears in court to give a sworn testimony during a felony hearing for his half-sister, Sarah Ferguson in New Hartford, New York October 21, 2015.

Christopher Leonard, now 19, testified on Tuesday in the trial of Sarah Ferguson, who is among eight members of the Word of Life church in New Hartford, upstate New York, to be charged in connection with the death of Lucas Leonard.

Christopher Leonard told the court that Ferguson found out about the touching during a so-called “counselling session” at the church in October last year.

It was during this 10-hour session, allegedly initiated because Lucas Leonard wanted to leave the church, that the two teenagers were severely beaten. Christopher Leonard survived the attack but was hospitalised for blunt-force injuries.

A videoed te..