Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 11, 2007

Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff | Crosswalk.com | Updated: Sep 11, 2007

Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 11, 2007

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

  • Christian Woman Tortured to Death in Eritrea
  • Challenges Spur Naturalists to Visit Creation Museum
  • Egyptian Court Delays Ruling on 'Reconversion'
  • Christian Educator: Children Ill-Prepared to Evangelize

Christian Woman Tortured to Death in Eritrea

Eritrean authorities tortured a woman to death on Wednesday September 5 for refusing to recant her Christian faith, the fourth such killing in less than a year, according to a Christian support organization. Open Doors said in a statement that it had confirmed the death of 33-year-old Nigsti Haile at the Wi’a Military Training Center; she was one of 10 single Christian women arrested at a church gathering in Keren who have spent 18 months under severe pressure. On February 15, Magos Solomon Semere died under torture at the Adi-Nefase Military Confinement facility outside Assab, and last October 17, two other Christians died from torture wounds in Eritrea. Two days after Immanuel Andegergesh, 23, and Kibrom Firemichel, 30, were arrested for holding a religious service in a private home south of Asmara, they died from torture injuries and severe dehydration in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala, eyewitnesses told Compass Direct News.

Challenges Spur Naturalists to Visit Creation Museum

OneNewsNow.com reports that the chief state naturalist is planning a group field trip to the new Creation Museum because of a growing number of park visitors challenging naturalists with what they learned at the museum. "Visitors are asking, 'Well, it said this at the Creation Museum, but you all are saying something different,'" Carey Tichenor said. As many as 18 park naturalists are planning to visit the Creation Mmuseum Nov. 1 to "better understand what visitors are asking, not to challenge religious beliefs."

Egyptian Court Delays Ruling on 'Reconversion'

An Egyptian court on Saturday September 1 delayed ruling in the appeal of converts to Islam who wish to return Christianity, setting the date for a ruling at November 17, Compass Direct News reports. In April, a lower court overturned previous rulings allowing converts to Islam to revert to their original faith, claiming the group of at least 12 was “manipulating” religion. Interior Minister Habib al-Adly spoke out in support of the lower court ruling the following week, insisting that any Muslim who abandons his faith must be killed, according to Egyptian weekly Sout al Oma. Hossam Baghat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said that many conservative scholars have not labeled the group of “re-converts” as apostates, creating some hope that their appeal may succeed. Baghat said he hoped that the case of the group of Muslim converts returning to Christianity might help the case of Mohammed Hegazy, a Muslim-born Egyptian who is suing the government to have his conversion to Christianity officially recognized.

Christian Educator: Children Ill-Prepared to Evangelize

OneNewsNow.com reports that an advocate for Christian private schools says believers have a duty to give their children a godly education, and should not be fooled by the argument that their Christian children can be "salt and light" in secular schools. Edward Gamble, Director of the Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools, says Christians who send their children into the public school system are disobeying God's command to educate their children biblically, calling the missionary argument false. "I've heard that over and over and over again for the last 20 or 30 or 40 years," Gamble confesses, "and when I look at the results, the results say that the world influences the kids more than the kids influence the world... We don't send children to the mission field -- we send adults."

Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 11, 2007