Saturday, March 04, 2006

ROUNDUP: Kingdom News (3 March 06)

... The CRIB sees affecting the Kingdom on earth.

ARCHEOLOGY
Giant Ancient Egyptian Sun Temple Discovered in Cairo
Archaeologists announced Sunday that they have discovered an ancient sun temple containing large statues of the pharaoh Ramses II under an outdoor marketplace in Cairo, Egypt.

The temple was found in a suburb of Cairo called Ain Shams. The site was once part of the ancient city of Heliopolis, which served as the center of sun worship in ancient Egypt. The chief sun god, Re, was the patron sun god of Heliopolis. [...]

"The area where we are excavating now is where Ramses II of the 19th dynasty [1320 to 1200 B.C.] built an enormous temple for Re, the largest temple of Ramses II ever found," said Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo.
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I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am! I Am!
It's not in the most glamorous location, but British archaeologists are still excited about the remains of a 500-year-old royal chapel that have been discovered under a parking lot in the Greenwich district of south London.

Generations of British monarchs worshipped at the lost chapel, including Henry VIII, the Tudor king who had six wives. [...]

The ancient tiled floor emerged by chance when a bulldozer's bucket scraped against some brickwork three weeks ago.

Since then careful digging by archaeologists has revealed the eastern walls of the chapel and a ten-foot-by-five-foot (three-meter-by-six-meter) area of floor covered in a checkerboard of what were once black and white glazed tiles.

The area was once on the grounds of the Palace of Placentia, which was demolished in the late 1600s. [...]

Henry VII built Placentia—whose name means "pleasant place to live"—on the banks of the Thames at Greenwich in 1500.

The palace was a favorite haunt of his son, Henry VIII, some of his ill-fated wives, and his daughter, Elizabeth I. [...]

"Henry VIII attended St. George's Day services [in honor of England's patron saint] at the chapel, and it is thought that two of his marriages took place in a closet overlooking the chapel," said Duncan Wilson, chief executive of the Old Royal Naval College, as the complex is now called.

Beyond the chapel, archaeologists have also uncovered the vestry—a room where religious objects were kept ... .
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CHRISTIANITY
It's official, if South Dakota can mess with Washington's inaction so can Missouri!
Missouri legislators in Jefferson City considered a [resolution] that would name Christianity the state's official "majority" religion. [...]

Karen Aroesty of the Anti-defamation league, along with other watch-groups, began a letter writing and email campaign to stop the resolution. [...]

The resolution would recognize "a Christian god," and it would not protect minority religions, but "protect the majority's right to express their religious beliefs. [...]

The resolution also recognizes that, "a greater power exists," and only Christianity receives what the resolution calls, "justified recognition."
Well, if you're going to do this, you're going to have to show me! [smiley face]

HT: Wren's Nest


DENOMINATIONAL
Orthodox Leaders Postpone Call for an Audit
Leaders of the Orthodox Church in America, facing allegations that they mismanaged millions of dollars, rejected calls for an immediate investigation but promised to follow better accounting procedures in the future.

The 400,000-member denomination has been reeling since October from accusations by its former treasurer, Deacon Eric A. Wheeler. He says that during the late 1990s, its top officials diverted donations from agribusiness magnate Dwayne Andreas, U.S. military chaplains and ordinary parishioners, using some of the money to cover credit card debts and pay sexual blackmail. [...]

But the bishops postponed a decision on whether to look into Wheeler's allegations of sloppy bookkeeping as well as misappropriation of funds in the late 1990s. They indicated they might reconsider the matter when they meet again in the spring.

"On the threshold of the Great Fast [of Lent], we exhort the faithful to remember the Holy Gospel, to conform to the example of Christ, and to live as Christians in mutual repentance and forgiveness," the synod's statement concluded.
I love it! The Orthodox leaders behave just like leaders in all the denominations: get caught, blame others, spin doctor, deny, postpone, and last (but not least) place a spiritual requirement on your sheep. Great!
The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
Matthew 23:2-5
The decision to postpone did not set well with lay leaders.

Full story >>>


EVOLUTION/INTELLIGENT DESIGN
ID Becoming Subservient to Science???
Advocates of teaching "intelligent design" aren't giving up, no matter the recent setbacks in California and Pennsylvania. In Utah, Texas, New York and elsewhere, they persist in trying to make science education subservient to a religious worldview. And yet the longer the controversy continues, the more it illustrates their own subservience to science.
Full story >>>


Russian Schoolgirl’s Parents Fight to Ban Darwin
Parents of a 15-year-old Russian schoolgirl have filed a suit against the Education Ministry, demanding to ban Darwin’s theory of evolution from the school program.

Darwin’s theory infringes the children’s right to believe in the creation of man, depriving them of the right to have different world outlooks, say the parents of Maria Shreiber from St. Petersburg.

Spiritual Heritage, an organization that supports the suit, argues that Darwin’s theory is still a hypothesis that remains to be proved, claiming that there is no reason it should be taught at school as the only correct version of human genesis.

PERSECUTION

List of Top-50 Worst State Christian Persecutors Released
A Christian persecution watchdog released its annual list on Wednesday, ranking the top 50 countries according to the intensity of persecution. [...]

The 2006 Open Doors World Watch List kept North Korea as the number one Christian persecutor for the fourth straight year, a ranking that is not a surprise among human rights groups. It also listed Saudi Arabia and Iran in the top three.
Full story >>>


PSEUDEPIGRAPHIA
Expert doubts 'Gospel of Judas' revelation
An expert on ancient Egyptian texts is predicting that the Gospel of Judas— a manuscript from early Christian times that's nearing release amid widespread interest from scholars — will be a dud in terms of learning anything new about Judas. [...]

James M. Robinson, America's leading expert on such ancient religious texts from Egypt, predicts in a new book that the text won't offer any insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. His reason: While it's old, it's not old enough. [...]

Robinson writes that the journey of the text to Switzerland was "replete with smugglers, black-market antiquities dealers, religious scholars, backstabbing partners and greedy entrepreneurs." In the process, Robinson fears, the fragile text may have been mishandled and parts of it lost forever.

Robinson is an emeritus professor at Claremont (Calif.) Graduate University, chief editor of religious documents found in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, and an international leader among scholars of Coptic manuscripts.

He says the text is valuable to scholars of the second century but dismissed the notion that it'll reveal unknown biblical secrets. [...]

A National Geographic response said "it's ironic" for Robinson to raise such questions since for years "he tried unsuccessfully to acquire this codex himself, and is publishing his own book in April, despite having no direct access to the materials."
Robinson's liberal credentials are well known in evangelical circles; so (though I welcome his negative comments on this farce) if one distrusts his opinions on matters touching evangelical or conservative theology, then one must distrust his opinions even when they support our views.

Full story >>>


ROBERTSON

Pat Robertson Loses Seat on Christian TV Board
Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson, criticized by some evangelicals for comments about Venezuela's president and Israel's prime minister, lost a bid for re-election to the National Religious Broadcasters' board of directors.

Robertson, founder of the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, was one of 38 candidates for 33 board seats during the NRB's recent convention. The group represents mostly evangelical radio and TV broadcasters.
There you are folks ... some good stuff for the real Christian "seeker."

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