Virginia

Liberty University is setting up a committee to investigate whether claims made by its seminary president about his Muslim background are accurate.

Weeks of accusations by bloggers and then probing by mainstream media caused LU officials to issue a statement Monday announcing the background investigation of Ergun Caner. Caner is the first former Muslim to become the president of an evangelical seminary.

“Liberty does not initiate personnel evaluations based upon accusations from Internet blogs,” said Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., in the statement. “However, in light of the fact that several newspapers have raised questions, we felt it necessary to initiate a formal inquiry.” more >>

On the third anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, a pastor dares to ask the question most Christians would rather avoid: Should we fire God?

Jim Pace, co-pastor of New Life Christian Fellowship in Blacksburg, Va., knows it is hard to reconcile a loving, all-powerful God and the amount of suffering in the world. But he maintains that people need to try to understand where God is coming from.

Pace is not speaking from the perspective of an outsider. He witnessed firsthand the devastation that the April 16, 2007, school shooting had on the Blacksburg community. His house is located just miles from the campus and his church is filled with students from the university. more >>

By the invitation of a Virginia lawmaker, a controversial Muslim cleric delivered the opening prayer on Thursday at the start of the House of Delegates' session.

About a dozen delegates did not attend the prayer of Johari Abdul-Malik.

"I'm going to be somewhere else saying the Lord's Prayer," Delegate John Cox (R-Ashland) told CBN News. "It's just not something that I feel like I can condone as an individual." more >>

Vienna, VA. – She is persuasive, influential and does a lot of good, but Christians should be careful when Oprah speaks about spirituality, warned two apologists who recently co-authored a book on the subject.

To a crowd of more than 1,500 people at McLean Bible Church outside of Washington, D.C,. on Friday evening, renowned apologist Josh McDowell and up-and-coming apologist Dave Sterrett explained the danger of adopting Oprah’s spiritual teachings from a Christian perspective.

They pointed out that the talk show queen and the spiritual teachers she promotes teach pantheism – God is all and all is God – and that there are multiple paths to reach God. She also emphasizes that people should carry out their inner longings instead of restraining themselves if the act is said to be a sin by the Bible. more >>

Thousands of students at the world’s largest evangelical university on Wednesday kicked off a week filled with high-profile speakers, including “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, to celebrate pro-life week.

The Pro-Life Conference, sponsored by Liberty University Student Government Association, began Wednesday morning with an address by Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, to more than 10,000 people in Lynchburg, Va.

Staver will also hold a lecture with a question and answer session on abortion and the courts later in the afternoon in the Supreme Courtroom at the School of Law. The school has the nation’s only replica of the U.S. Supreme Court’s nine-member bench. more >>

The Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to hear the appeal of The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia nearly a year after breakaway Anglicans came away with a court win in church property disputes.

In an announcement Wednesday, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia said the state high court will review every issue raised for appeal by the diocese and the national church without oral argument.

"We welcome this next step to bringing exiled Episcopalians closer to returning to their church homes," said Henry Burt, secretary of the diocese, in a statement. more >>