Peter Zhao has become one of the most important dissenting voices in China, publicly arguing that Christianity and its related ethical system is the key to economic growth. Zhao, a Communist Party member and advisor to the Chinese Central Committee, is among a group of Chinese intellectuals who are looking to the West to the […]

01: The Evangelical Manifesto represents an attempt by a wide spectrum of evangelical leaders to avoid the politicization of the movement. The statement seeks to articulate a clear definition of what it means to be an evangelical and to differentiate it from both fundamentalism and liberal Protestantism. The 19-page manifesto asserts that theological principles should […]

01: The Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), a conservative coalition of churches that have split from or were established apart from mainline Episcopal and Anglican bodies, has embarked on its own kind of ecumenism by openly appealing for the pope to restore Anglican unity with Roman Catholicism. The TAC is said to be the largest of […]

01: The Gospel Coalition is a new network of conservative evangelical leaders seeking to restore a firmer doctrinal identity to evangelicalism while engaging contemporary issues. The coalition, which is spearheaded by 40 prominent theologians and pastors, recently met to hammer out a confessional statement with a broadly Reformed or Calvinistic orientation. At the same time, those involved […]

01: A New Sanctuary Movement is taking shape that could put churches near the center of the American debate on immigration. A small but growing coalition of churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are seeking to rehabilitate the 1980s sanctuary movement by that name, where congregations took in illegal immigrants escaping political violence in their […]

01: Writer Donald Miller has become a spokesman for evangelicals frustrated with evangelical culture while still trying to maintain their beliefs. Miller, whose best-selling books include Blue Like Jazz and To Own A Dragon, delivers his thoughts on Christianity in a personal, highly informal manner that candidly discusses the problems of being an evangelical. Miller speaks […]

01: The recent formation of the Council of Ex-Muslims is an attempt by religious “apostates” to support each other and speak out against their former religion in Europe. The council claims to represent the views of a majority of secular-minded Muslims in Europe. The council’s leader, Maryam Namazie, said it would be a branch of a […]

01: Although Transhumanism has been largely secular, even atheistic, the formation of the Mormon Transhumanist Association suggests a new openness to religion in the movement The society, formed in 2006, was accepted as the only religious special-interest affiliate of the World Transhumanist Association. Transhumanism, which holds that technology will radically alter human nature, has been largely anti-religious, arguing that traditional […]

01: The New Wineskins Association of Churches joins other renewal groups in mainline denomination in straddling the line between schism and remaining in their church bodies. The association was started for evangelical churches within the Presbyterian Church (USA) unhappy with the liberal directions of their church (particularly on gay rights issues). But at the association’s February meeting, […]

01: The exclusive Brethren have long provided almost a textbook definition of a “sect.” Their members lead strict and separated lives that shun “worldliness” and outside attention. But judging by recent events in Australia and other parts of the world, the movement is taking a new interest in politics. In Australia, the exclusive Brethren have been under […]