Christian universities are multiplying worldwide and represent a new stage in the development of Christianity in the Third World, writes Joel Carpenter in the Lutheran magazine The Cresset (Trinity, 2004). He writes that in the three years he has been researching the rise of the new Christian universities in Latin America, Africa and Asia, their numbers have […]

Buddhism is “enjoying an unprecedented boom in Germany,” reports the German newspaper Deutsche Welle (June 9). The number of Buddhist groups is rising along with Eastern religious teachings being popularized by best-selling books and even in the secular media. Although the German government does not keep statistics on Buddhism, the German Buddhist Union estimates that there are […]

Books and movies on world religions and their ancient texts are drawing individuals and groups into study and dialogue between different faiths, reports the e-newsletter Religion Bookline (June 1). Feeding much of this interest are productions such as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ, as well as semi-scholarly and popular books by Karen Armstrong, Dan Brown (author […]

A growing apologetic movement in Mormonism is helping to create a more “progressive” wing of the church that increasingly seeks intellectual respectability, according to the independent Mormon magazine Sunstone(May). Groups seeking to intellectually defend Mormon teachings, such as the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR), […]

Religion will likely be an issue in the upcoming U.S. presidential campaign, but it still remains to be seen if candidate Senator John Kerry and his fellow Democrats can address such concerns in a persuasive way, particularly gaining the support of Catholic voters. Writing in Commonweal magazine (June 4), Amy Sullivan notes that Kerry and other liberal […]

For the first time since the break with the Moscow Patriarchate (MP) in 1927, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR). Metropolitan Laurus, made an official visit to Russia in the second half of May and has had discussions with Patriarch Alexy II as well as with other Russian Church hierarchs and […]

After French authorities recently tried to expel an Algerian imam who had apparently justified his wife’s beating based upon religious principles, as well as expelling a self-proclaimed imam who had told his congregation to rejoice about Madrid’s bombings, the issue of training the future religious leaders of French Islam increasingly appears as a key issue. […]

The Christian media, particularly radio, in Canada is expanding, serving as a new alternative to the secular media, reports the Canadian evangelical magazine Faith Today (May/June). “Whether it be radio, television, print or web, new Christian alternatives are popping up quicker than ever before and non-Christian audiences appear to be growing. In radio alone, more than 30 […]

Conservative Christian “stay-at-home moms” are increasingly entering the ranks of pro-family activism, reports World magazine (May 15). The magazine reports that there is an “emerging group of women who have faced a choice: Continue in paid work in support of conservative values or stay home to nurture their kids….Instead they’re working part-time from home, advocating for family […]

Although charismatics are the biggest buyers of Christian books, Pentecostal and charismatic works remain underrepresented in the theological offerings of evangelical publishers. In Books & Culture (May/June), Arlene Sanchez-Walsh writes that a combination of remaining anti-intellectualism among Pentecostals and a rationalistic bias among evangelical gatekeepers has excluded the publication of scholarly work from Christians of this tradition. […]