CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS? In De Wachter (12/20/83) Rev. A. De Jager reflects on an article in a Dutch paper about the situation in some Christian schools in The Netherlands. According to this article many pupils and teachers in the so-called Christian schools seldom or never see the inside of a church and have no contact with a church. Nationwide on the average only two out of six teachers in primary schools go to church regularly. Many schools no longer open with prayer, and singing of hymns has long since been abandoned. One teacher said, “I’m not going to pray when almost all of the students keep their eyes open and look around to see who still prays.” Rev. De Jager comments that such schools can hardly be called Christian anymore, and expresses thanks for the fact that such is not true of Christian schools in Canada and the U.S. He concludes that such examples warn us to be on our guard that teachers and students positively confess the Lord.
GRENADIAN CHURCHES GLAD. According to a news item in Christian Herald (January 1984) the Council of Churches in Grenada supported the U.S.–led invasion of the island to remove the military junta from power. But two Presbyterian mission boards “deplored and protested” the invasion saying that the U.S. resorted to force rather than bargaining. The American Friends Service Committee and the World Methodist Council also criticized the U.S. role in Grenada.
COLSON’S NEW JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP. According to the same Christian Herald, Charles Colson has organized a new non-profit agency to provide assistance to state and federal legislators in dealing with criminal justice issues. The Fellowship will also develop grass–roots support for needed reforms and explore how it can be resource for the correctional community. Colson appointed Gordon D. Loux as president and Daniel W. Van Ness as vice-president.
SEVEN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL PARENTS JAILED IN NEBRASKA. According to Evangelical Newsletter (1/6/84) Fundamentalists from around the country are demonstrating their support for the “Louisville 7,” seven parents who sent their children to Rev. Everett Sileven’s church school in Louisville, Nebraska. They were jailed for contempt of court for refusing to answer questions at a Nov. 23 hearing. Their case is being appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. Rev. Sileven is out of state, getting support for his cause. A group of sympathizers has demonstrated across from the White House, seeking President Reagan’s intervention in the case.
CALVIN ON ASTROLOGY. In the November 1983 issue of Calvin Theological Review (published by the faculty of Calvin Seminary) Mary Potter writes an introduction to and furnishes a new translation of a tract of John Calvin about astrology. It is interesting to note that this superstitious belief in the influence of the heavenly bodies on human life is not a new phenomenon. Calvin exposes its illogical character and also shows that its practice is clearly forbidden in Scripture. Of special interest is the fact that he defends “true astrology,” what we today prefer to call astronomy, the science of studying the stars and other heavenly bodies. Although Calvin’s references to the science of his day leave much to be desired from our modern point of view, he is a strong advocate of the place of scientific enquiry and the use of knowledge thus gained. How intelligent persons can persist in consulting astrologers in the face of the devastating arguments the great reformer marshalls is truly a mystery. One can only conclude that the god of this world is still binding people’s eyes and leading them to believe lies to their destruction.
POPE JOHN PAUL II VISITED A LUTHERAN CHURCH. In a gesture of ecumenical unity the Pope participated in a Lutheran service on December 11 in Rome. This is the first time such an event has occurred since the Reformation. A member of the board of the Evangelical Lutheran Christ Church extended the invitation during a meeting with the Pope in 1982. The pontiff spoke in German to a by-invitation only congregation of 400. He appeared without his mitre, the symbol of papacy, and preached a sermon on the reconciliation of all Christians. He and the Lutheran pastor, Christoph Meyer, joined in reciting a prayer for Christian unity written by Martin Luther. This visit was in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Luther’s birth. (Evangelical Newsletter, 1/6/84).
DR. FRANCIS A. SCHAEFFER ILL. The popular author and lecturer, founder of the L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, was flown in early December from a Swiss hospital to St. Mary’s Hospital of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, with a high fever and serious infection. After treatment with strong antibiotics he responded positively but remained in critical condition, according to reports from the office of his son, Franky Schaeffer, in Los Gatos, California ( from Christian Renewal, 1/9/84).
“HOUSE CHURCHES” IN CHINA IN DANGER. According to a news item in Eternity (January 1984) the communist government of China is going to make it more difficult for Christians to worship in house churches. A 1982 Communist Party statement of policy on religion recently translated into English states “atheistic Marxism is the ideological foundation of the Party’s religious policy.” “Religion will ultimately disappear, but freedom of religion is to be tolerated within strict limits . . . . The party controls religious affairs as part of its United Front policy.” Most alarming is the campaign to disband house churches. The policy statement declared that “only places of worship and religious personnel supervised by these organizations (such as the United Front) are tolerated.” The execution of two widely known Christians as spies was regarded as a serious part of China’s much heralded “crackdown on crime.” John Li and Lin Zerong were acknowledged by officials of the Nationalist government of Taiwan to have been working as spies for that government.
ROMAN CATHOLIC LOSSES IN QUEBEC. An item in Christianity Today (1/13/84) states that the Roman Catholic bishops in Quebec have given a bleak picture of the condition of the church in that province to the Pope. Only 25% of the more than 5 million Catholics attend mass regularly, down from 60% in 1960. A recent survey found that only 18% contacted attend church regularly, although 92% believe in God and 84% believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Since the social revolution in the 1960’s the Church lost its dominant place in Quebec society. Since many people have had religious training, but are looking for answers to spiritual questions, the bishops agree that Quebec Catholics are ripe for the appeal of sects. Atheism is also gaining ground. The article concludes: “The report emphasizes that the Catholic church in Quebec is ‘an old house under renovation,’ although at times it resembles ‘a house in ruins.’”
“CHRISTIANITY COMES OF AGE IN THE NFL” is the title of an article in Christianity Today (11/13/84) on the large number of professional football players who are professing faith in Christ and taking an active interest in Bible study and church activities. Most big league teams have chapels. Dr. Howard Hendricks, professor of Christian Education at Dallas Theological Seminary, is mentioned as one conservative evangelical leader who takes an active part in leading a weekly Bible class for the Dallas Cowboys, attended by some 40 players and staff members. The tensions and problems of the players lead many of them to seek help by turning to Christ. It is difficult for one who takes Lord’s Day observance seriously to understand how committed Christians can continue to participate in professional sports that take place generally on Sunday. This is one of many indications that the traditional view of the Lord’s Day as a day of rest and worship has quite generally eroded away among “evangelicals” who have no place for the Law as rule of the Christian life.