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"There are no words to express the result" was the beaming reaction of Belgium's Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, after a 15th-century masterpiece -- painted over shortly after completion -- was restored to its former glory. And they were right -- commentators have been left speechless by one particular aspect of the newly revealed painting. The latest panel of the "Ghent Altarpiece," a large work by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, was unveiled in December as part of an ongoing project to restore the painting to its original design. The painting -- also known as "The Adoration of the Mystic...

Does life after death really exist? The answer to this question has fundamental implications for every man, woman and child on the entire planet, and yet most people don’t spend very much time thinking about it. If this life is not the end, so much of the petty stuff that we spend so much time obsessing over in this life really doesn’t matter, and instead we should be focusing on the things that actually do matter for the life to come. However, if this life truly is the end, we might as well eat, drink, party and enjoy this life...

Published on Jan 14, 2020 Herbert Fingarette once argued that there was no reason to fear death. At 97, his own mortality began to haunt him, and he had to rethink everything.

Skeptics and atheists insist that belief in God is irrational.  All too many believers in God, due to the same theological illiteracy affecting the non-believers and unbelievers, lend credence to this charge by way of their inability and/or unwillingness to defend their belief in God. Thankfully, there has been no short supply of men of genius over the centuries who have shown that there is nothing at all irrational about theism.  In fact, some, like the 12th century theologian and philosopher Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), were at pains to establish that it is atheism that’s irrational.By way of the “ontological...

The new measures will be implemented starting from February 1, 2020. Activities, rallies, programs of religious communities must have the approval of the Religious Affairs Office. Religious organizations must "spread the principles and policies of the Chinese Communist Party" by educating "religious staff and religious citizens to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party".Beijing (AsiaNews) - As of February 1, 2020, new administrative measures will be put in place for Chinese religious groups. According to a communication published by Xinhua, published yesterday, they complete the "Regulations on religious affairs" revised two years ago and implemented on February 1, 2018....

United Methodism moved closer to formal schism with a new proposal released today negotiated with liberal and conservative groups, including bishops. The plan would divide the nearly 13 million member global denomination into separate conservative and liberal communions. The mediator for these negotiations was Kenneth Feinberg, the Washington, D.C. attorney best known as Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Under this plan, conferences (Methodism’s version of dioceses or presbyteries) could vote by 2021 to join the conservative denomination by a 57% vote. Local churches by 2024 could vote by majority. The conservative denomination would get $25 million...

Atheist Philosopher Rebukes Pope Francis Marcello Pera accuses pontiff of betraying doctrine, tradition ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - Italy's leading philosopher and close friend of Pope Benedict XVI is lambasting Pope Francis for "openly going against tradition, doctrine and introducing inexplicable innovations, behaviors and gestures." Professor Marcello Pera, an atheist and a vocal opponent of postmodernism and cultural relativism, called the Francis pontificate "a scandal in the biblical sense," as "it confuses and makes the faithful fall, it does not bear fruit, and on the contrary, it diminishes them."  As for the foundations of Catholicism, this pontificate is an outrage to reason.Tweet Vocations and Mass attendance have dropped, fundraising is...

Beginning with their enslavement in Egypt, when Pharaoh ordered Hebrew midwives to murder all newborn Jewish males, throughout Israel's captivity under the Babylonians and the Assyrians, to the Holocaust, Israel has been targeted for destruction. But long ago God promised the prophet Jeremiah that Israel would cease to be a nation only when the sun, the moon and the stars had stopped shining. “‘Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’ declared the Lord, ‘will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.’”The feast of Chanukah—the word means ‘dedication’ in Hebrew—commemorates an event in Israel’s history...

[Deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, a community of Druids is reviving Celtic rites. They might seem hokey or outlandish, but maybe, just maybe, they’re the ones who have it all figured out.] The priest raises his arms, palms upturned. “Lord Taranis, hear our prayer!” he bellows, voice bouncing off the stone pillars and into the darkening fields beyond. The fire’s crackle fills the stone circle. We stare through the flames, past the boundary of our sacred space, to the patina of white looming over the white sky – Mount Adams, close and huge. It is high summer,...

Muhammad would roll over in his grave if he heard what Obama said! In a recent lecture, former U.S. President Barack Obama told his listeners that women are better than men and that the world would be better off if all countries made women leaders. Mr. Obama declared: “Now women, I just want you to know; you are not perfect, but what I can say pretty indisputably is that you’re better than us (men). . . . I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across...

John 11:41–42 …And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me… After Jesus had said these words, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And the man who had been dead for four days came out of his tomb! This is one of the greatest miracles that Jesus performed. Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus raised him to life. Wouldn’t you agree that death is indeed an extreme problem? Having no money in the bank, being sick and losing...

Dr. Christopher W. Kerr is the Chief Medical Officer at The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, where he has worked since 1999. His background in research has evolved from bench science towards the human experience of illness as witnessed from the bedside, specifically patients’ dreams and visions at the end of life. Although medically ignored, these near universal experiences often provide comfort and meaning as well as insight into the life led and the death anticipated. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Christians demand that 65% of characters on TV and the movies be Christian and that they be portrayed in a positive light. Christians demand that 65% of students enrolled in all colleges be Christian. Christians demand that 65% of all college and elementary and secondary school teachers be Christian. Christians demand that 65% of all actors and actresses on TV be Christian. Christians demand that 65% percent of all TV and movie scripts have Christian content. Christians demand that 65% of all professional athletes be Christian. Et al. Why don't we see headlines like this?

What is the craziest unexplained event you have witnessed? Jennifer Scholl, MSW from The Ohio State University (2018) First, let me say that I am and remain a huge sceptic, even after this happened. I’ve thought of every possible explanation and I still have no idea how this happened. Whether you choose to believe me or not, I have no reason to make this up and like I said, I’m skeptical every time I hear a story like this. But nonetheless, here is the completely unexplainable event I witnessed: In 1999, my mother was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor...

India's Supreme Court have today ruled in favour of a Hindu group in a long-running battle over a centuries-old religious site also claimed by Muslims, in a verdict that could raise tension between the two communities. The ruling paves the way for the construction of a Hindu temple on the site in the northern town of Ayodhya, a proposal long supported by Prime Minister Narenrda Modi's ruling Hindu-nationalist party who described the decision as a 'milestone'. The dispute over land ownership has been one of the country's most contentious issues, and was inflamed when the 16th-century Babri Masjid mosque was...

The discovery, said Dr. Scott Stripling, is consistent with what he expected to find in the fields of the ancient city where the tabernacle for the Ark of the Covenant once stood. “When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar” (1 Kings 2:28). This passage in the Bible may have come to life just a few weeks ago for a team of 200 archaeologists and volunteers, who have been excavating in the field of ancient Shiloh. This...

Anthony Malcolm Daniels, who generally uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple is an English writer and retired prison doctor and psychiatrist. He worked in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries as well as in the East End of London. Before his retirement in 2005, he worked in City Hospital, Birmingham and Winson Green Prison in inner-city Birmingham, England. He is the author of a number of books, including Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass; Our Culture, What's Left of It; and Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality. In this episode we will be discussing existentialism,...

JERUSALEM, Israel – Archaeologists in Israel say they may have discovered the true location of Emmaus, the Biblical town where Jesus first appeared to two of his followers after being crucified and resurrected. Haaretz reports that researchers found the massive 2,200-year-old walls of a Hellenistic fortification believed to have been built by the Seleucid general who defeated Judah the Maccabee, the Jewish leader spoken of in the Hanukkah story. Since 2017, a Franco-Israeli team has been excavating a hill overlooking Jerusalem known as Kiriath Yearim, an area believed to be where the Ark of the Covenant was kept for 20...

Archaeologists have uncovered the massive walls of a 2,200-year-old Hellenistic fortification that may have been built by the Seleucid general who defeated Judah the Maccabee, the famed Jewish leader at the center of the Hanukkah story. In an unexpected twist, the discovery could also help identify the location of the biblical town of Emmaus, where the Gospels say Jesus made his first appearance after being crucified and resurrected. Since 2017, a Franco-Israeli expedition has been digging at Kiriath Yearim, a hill overlooking the approach to Jerusalem a few kilometers west of the city, next door to the town of Abu...

An organizer reads excerpts from a sacred Zoroastrian text at one of the Kurdistan Region's fire temples in Darbandikhan, Aug. 8, 2019. (Photo: Kurdistan 24/Karwan Yara) A local organization dedicated to the Zoroastrian religion and philosophy on Thursday held a special ceremony at one of the group's fire temples located in the Kurdistan Region.Members of the Basna Organization, whose efforts usually focus on preserving local archaeological sites, performed the rite in Sulaimani province’s town of Darbandikhan.During the event, participants observed a number of the religion's rituals and read some of the faith's texts and core doctrines aloud to attendees. Organizers...