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Skriven 2007-12-19 17:05:16 av Friends (8:8/2)
Ärende: Religion Today Summaries
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From: "Friends" <friends@familynet-international.org>


                Wednesday, December 19, 2007

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           Religion Today Summaries
                  Welcome to Religion Today Summaries, a free newsletter
from Crosswalk.com, the world's largest Christian website. We honor your
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                  Religion Today Summaries - Dec. 19, 2007
                  Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff
                  Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians
around the world.

                  In today's edition:

                    a.. China's New Bestseller: The Bible
                    b.. Attack on Christianity Reaches Cosmopolitan Pockets
in India
                    c.. Belarus Pastor and Homeowners Fined for Holding
Worship Service in Private Home
                    d.. Most Americans Believe in Christ's Virgin Birth
                  China's New Bestseller: The Bible

                  According to Time magazine's online site, Amity Printing
has printed just some 50 million books in the last 20 years, tame by publishing
standards. However, Amity focuses on one title -- the Bible -- and primarily
one market, China, where the company is the largest printer of Christian
literature in the atheist country. Amity has printed 41 million Bibles for
Chinese believers at its plant outside the southern city of Nanjing, including
more than 3 million copies last year. (About nine million copies have been
exported to Africa, other parts of Asia and Central Europe.) Amity Printing, a
joint venture between the Amity Foundation, a Chinese Christian charity, and
the United Bible Societies, is acting entirely within the law. Its chief
customer is the China Christian Council, the supervisory body for the country's
state-controlled Protestant churches. Peter Dean, a New Zealander and the
resident consultant for the United Bible Society at Amity's Nanjing plant,
says, "In the case of Bibles, the government took a step in 1979 and extended
trust toward the church to assemble, worship and print its own materials. I
think it's important to make full use of the trust that was extended. That
helps build the future that everybody wants." A poll earlier this year
indicated there could be close to 300 million believers in China.

                  Attack on Christianity Reaches Cosmopolitan Pockets in
India

                  Compass Direct News reports that violence and
discrimination against Christians in India is reaching beyond uneducated, rural
villages -- Hindu extremists are increasingly targeting middle class churches
in cosmopolitan centers. A mob of at least 150 unidentified people damaged a
Catholic church under construction in the national capital on December 5,
threatening to break the bones of the site foreman and laborers. The city of
Bangalore has become religiously tense after a mob of Hindu extremists in June
beat independent pastor Laxmi Narayan Gowda and tried to set him on fire before
parading him naked in a suburban area. To influence educated, middle-class
people, Hindu extremist groups are setting up IT (Information Technology)
shakha (gatherings) "aimed at grooming IT personnel towards the RSS way of
thinking," according to the Rediff.com news website.

                  Belarus Pastor and Homeowners Fined for Holding Worship
Service in Private Home

                  The official whose actions brought three members of a
Belarus Baptist congregation to court for meeting for worship in a private home
without state registration is defending his actions, ASSIST News Service
reports. "If they want to pray to God they must have a registered place of
worship," Ruslan Krutko of the Executive Committee in the town of Baranovichi
in the western Brest Region of Belarus insisted to Forum 18 News Service. "They
can't use a private home as a place of worship. You couldn't use a private home
as a public toilet, could you?" An official of the Baranovichi town
Administrative Court said that the three Baptists -- Pastor Dmitry Osyko, and
homeowners Stepan Paripa and Nikolai Pestak -- were each fined on Dec. 14.
"No-one violated anyone's rights - the three were dealt with in accordance with
the law," Krutko told Forum 18. "But it was the court that took the decision
not us. If they believe their rights were violated they can lodge an appeal. If
we are found to have done wrong under the law, then of course we will
apologize." Krutko refused to say whether the actions against the Baptists
violated their rights under the country's Constitution to practice their faith
freely, insisting that such guarantees and the country's laws are "different
categories."

                  Most Americans Believe in Christ's Virgin Birth

                  The Christian Post reports that the majority of Americans
believe the Biblical story of Jesus Christ being born to the virgin Mary
literally, according to a survey released Monday by the Barna Group. Three out
of four adults said they believe in the gospel narrative of the birth of Jesus
Christ. Even among atheists and agnostics, 15 percent said the event happened
literally. Surprisingly, a solid majority of self-described liberals on
political and social issues (60 percent) believed in the biblical view of
Christ's birth. The Christian polling organization surveyed over 1,000 adults
on a half dozen biblical stories to find out if they view those stories to be
factually accurate.

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