Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
In today's edition:
- Oldest Bible Made whole Again Online
- No End to 'Misery' in Congo, Aid Group Warns
- Warren Speaks at Islamic Convention to 'Build Bridges'
- Malaysia Set to Rule on Use of ‘Allah’ among Non-Muslims
Oldest Bible Made whole Again Online
Reuters reports that the world's oldest Bible, previously scattered in portions in several museums, was made whole again Monday. The fourth century Codex Sinaiticus contains the earliest known surviving copies of each Gospel, the rest of the New Testament and about half of the Old Testament. "The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures," said Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library. "This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation," he said. Scholars believe the surviving 800 pages of work were written by only four scribes.
No End to 'Misery' in Congo, Aid Group Warns
Christian Today reports that the Democratic Republic of Congo's true war is far from over. Humanitarian agency Caritas International estimates that 14 percent of Congo's children will die before their fifth birthday, while more than one million children there presently suffer from malnutrition. Women still face the searing possibility -- even likelihood -- of rape. “The war is far from over in Congo and neither is the misery for the people. Hundreds of thousands more have been driven from their homes in fresh clashes between militias and the government," Caritas Congo National Director Dr Bruno Miteyo said. The disaster has displaced over 1.5 million people.
Warren Speaks at Islamic Convention to 'Build Bridges'
The Christian Post reports that megachurch pastor Rick Warren says he knew what awaited him when he agreed to speak at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention over the weekend. “Every time I speak to any non-Christian group, I get criticized by well-meaning believers who don't really understand how much Jesus loves lost people. They are more concerned with their own perceived purity than the salvation of those Jesus died for,” Warren wrote in a recent update to the Saddleback family. Warren joined the annual convention as part of an interfaith panel, leading some to criticize him for not conveying the "exclusivity of Christ" during his time at the conference.
Malaysia Set to Rule on Use of ‘Allah’ among Non-Muslims
Compass Direct News reports that the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Malaysia scheduled to determine the legality of the word “Allah” in non-Muslim literature tomorrow. Such a limit on free speech in Malaysia is especially biting for Muslim converts to Christianity; already the Malaysian government does not recognize their conversions and marriages and still considers their children to be legally Muslim. Malaysian authorities and Malaysia’s Roman Catholic Church have continued to lock horns over use of the word “Allah” in the Malay-language edition of the Herald, the church’s newspaper, as they await the ruling. The newspaper had been allowed to use the term until a final court decision, but the Kuala Lumpur High Court on May 30 overturned that brief reprieve.
