Learning About the First
- January/February 2009
- January 1, 2009
John Newton, the eighteenth-century slave-ship captain who was converted to Christianity and became a small-town vicar and renowned hymn writer, is remembered today for his beloved &”Amazing Grace.&” This song, once confined to Evangelical churches, has become an anthem of modern-day Christianity, and is heard in Catholic and Protestant churches, in parades and military events,
READ MOREIn the few years since the writing of the First Amendment in 1791, a separation between church and state has become a constitutional given. The First Amendment states, &”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . and to petition the government for a redress
READ MOREThirty-nine months. Enough time for a teenager to go from frightened freshman to senior world-conqueror. Enough time to cover the invasion of Europe on D-day to V-E Day, three times over. Enough time for a newborn to start walking, talking, and asking questions. This was also the time frame from Todd Sturgill’s firing from his
READ MOREIt wasn’t quite the Second Coming, but almost. For the six days in April that Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States, all the coverage, the hoopla, the accolades, the promotion, and the PR surrounding the visit could have led someone to believe that it had been Christ, and not His self-proclaimed vicar, who had
READ MORECatholicism of the twentieth century experienced a renaissance of global proportions. In the 1990s, Catholicism played a dominant role in the downfall of Communism in the former Soviet Union. His charm with the masses and his diplomatic skill earned Pope John Paul II &”Man of the Year&” recognition by Time magazine. The Catholic vibrancy of
READ MOREThis article is part one in a four part series. Read Part 2 Henry VIII set off an extraordinary chain of vents in the 1530s when he broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, becoming the first European monarch to deny the power of the Papacy, and establishing himself as “Supreme Head” of the church
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