Christians

Broken blade. Shaking hands. Clouded mind. “I could have killed him.”

Let me paint you a picture of Esther Moo’s life, one of approximately 1959 Karen refugees who migrated to Australia between 2009 and 2010.

Some statistics circulated by the international press have created an increasingly negative image of Christians and Christianity. How well-founded is this image, and how should those targeted by it deal with it?

"With architecture we build buildings, with mechanics we build machines; is there no place among the sciences for one dedicated to human beings? Ethics is capable of working out the principles according to which a person must be 'built' in order to be truly human" (Traian Herseni).

When it comes to dealing with grief, psychotherapist Francis Weller points out that "it takes outrageous courage to face an outrageous loss". By supporting those who are bereaved, the Church shows that it possesses the qualities needed to balance concern for current suffering with faith in the ultimate victory over death.

"On the 5th of March 1986, life left me! I was in the process of moving and that evening I felt terribly tired and cold..." (Ruth Frikart-Moor)

Dr Kendra Haloviak-Valentine, Professor of New Testament at La Sierra University in Redlands, California, comes from a family with a tradition of theology and research.

The Anabaptist creed emphasised the premise that Bible truth was accessible even to secular readers and listeners, who had a rudimentary education.

Less than 50 years after the supporters of Martin Luther’s ideas in Germany were mockingly called “Lutherans,” England was in its turn discovering a derogative nickname—“Puritans”—which it applied to a category of Christians who disturbed the ordinary life of the English church and society.[1]

A deeply religious English politician and tireless social reformer, William Wilberforce, nicknamed the “Nightingale of the House of Commons” for his distinct and melodious speaking, made history with his contribution to the complete abolition of slavery in the British Empire.

Pietism was a movement of spiritual revival that took place between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries mainly in Germany and Bohemia.

In the most difficult moments of his life, Franz Hasel prayed: “Lord, if I am attacked, I will have no way to defend myself. I must trust in You to be my protector. My life is in Your hands.”

"If I were tortured, I would confess to anything. I would confess to being the Sultan of Turkey," says Goya in a film by Milos Forman. "No, you wouldn't!" Father Lorenzo contradicts him, but Goya insists: "I would confess anything to avoid torment."

In his desire to secure an heir to the throne, Henry VIII set off a domino effect that would ultimately change the face of America and the world.

Regarded as a saint and one of the six Western Fathers of the Church, Gregory the Great (590–604) is often considered the first great pope. He was the first monk to become pope, and is considered one of the most important. He is also known for sending diplomats (missionaries) who persuaded kings to fight against the pagans and heretics of the West.