Church Politics

Accurately translating the Bible from its original sources to modern-day languages has been the cause of much debate, especially in America, where political speech influences almost every aspect of society. But is it ever necessary to make Scripture "adapt" to the times to get the "good news" across?

Some experts argue that accuracy and truthfulness should be the strict points of concern when translating and interpreting the Bible; others, who see cultural influences as inevitable, have taken up projects to ensure the word of God is presented in the language most relevant to whichever culture it speaks to.

The Conservative Bible Project on Conservapedia.com, a website upholding conservative ideals, tailored after the Wikipedia model of users contributing their own information in building articles, is an effort to remove what it calls "liberal-bias" from modern Bible translations in America and emphasize conservative values – two of which it identifies as accepting the "logic" of a real, eternal hell and expressing free market parables. more >>

A key leader for The Response, a massive and growing gathering of Christians in nine key political venues this year, admits that the movement intends to spur Christians to political action this election year but denies the movement has a specific and secret political agenda as a growing number of secular liberal critics charge.

While hailed as an admirable cause by some, the tour – next stop South Carolina next week – has already ignited charges that it is a meeting ground for what secular liberal critics fear is the secret agenda of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which they claim is a strategy of religious-political coercion by evangelical leaders to reshape public policy toward biblical ends.

The Response Director Luis Cataldo acknowledged to The Christian Post that its schedule is intentionally aligned to that of the primaries. And The Response, he said, is definitely about influence. more >>

Internet televangelist Bill Keller is not a fan of fellow evangelists Joel Osteen and Franklin Graham, President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Bill Keller, the founder of LivePrayer.com, which has over 2.4 million subscribers, says Osteen and Graham have a duty to expose Mormonism as a cult.

“They are looked up to as prominent Christian leaders,” Keller said in an interview with The Christian Post. “When you have someone like Franklin Graham going on CNN and saying he has no problem voting for a Mormon like Mitt Romney and Osteen saying Mormons are Christian, it is clear that politics are being put before the eternal soul of man.” more >>

Pope Benedict XVI announced on Friday that he will hold a formal ceremony in February elevating 22 new cardinals he has named.

Soon-to-be cardinals include prelates from some notable Vatican offices, Hong Kong, Berlin, Toronto, Prague, Florence, and New York.

The Pope announced the names of the prelates during the last mass of the Vatican’s Christmas celebrations. more >>

Rick Perry is leaving the results of the upcoming Iowa caucuses up to God.

Perry, who has been campaigning in Iowa, recently told reporters that if God willed him to end his presidential bid after the results of the Iowa caucuses, he would.

“That’s God’s will,” Perry said. “There might be an outcome that he decides that I wouldn’t go on.” more >>

The Most Holy Redeemer Church in San Francisco has garnered controversy after rescinding invitations to gay-friendly ministers, who were scheduled to speak at their pre-Christmas events.

According to reports, the order came from Archbishop George Niederauer. A representative for Most Holy Redeemer said that the archbishop thought the speakers were inappropriate for the season of Advent, which should be a time to reflect on the coming of Christ.

One of the speakers who was scheduled to speak at the Christmas program is the Rev. Roland Stringfellow, a minister for the gay-oriented Metropolitan Community Church. He called the Catholic Church hypocritical for implementing a “Come Home” ad campaign, while not everyone is welcome, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. more >>