Controversial Victorian Catch the Fire Ministries leader Pastor Danny Nalliah said he was not surprised by the Victorian bush fires following a dream he had last October relating to consequences of the abortion laws passed in Victoria. "In my dream I saw fire everywhere with flames burning very high and uncontrollably. “With this I woke up from my dream with ...

African Americans are "markedly" more religious than others in the United States, a new study has concluded, with nearly nine in 10 black people surveyed saying they are "absolutely certain that God exists". The Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life concludes that African Americans are "more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a ...

The President of the Uniting Church Rev Gregor Henderson has today expressed total abhorrence towards organisations and individuals claiming that the devastation caused by the Victorian bushfires is the result of a vengeful God. “The horror and grief we are continuing to experience as these fires rage on are the horrendous results of a natural disaster and the possible devastating ...

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who was enthroned in Moscow as Kirill I, the 16th patriarch in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church has stressed it is his task to ensure unity within the church to preserve the faith, but he is also seen as being a more "political leader" than his predecessor by some analysts. Hundreds of ...

The founders of the Reborn in Christ Church (Renascer) have said they were dismayed and saddened by the deaths of nine people in one of the denomination’s churches after a roof collapsed in the country’s largest city. "What happened was a great fatality. We don’t know the reason. But there must be a purpose for so much suffering. Our heart ...

Charges of polygamy against two men in Canada who have several wives are expected to result in a challenge to the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees religious liberty. Winston Blackmore, aged 52, and 44-year-old James Oler, from Bountiful, British Columbia, belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Each man was charged ...

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company $39.95 From Adam and Eve to Peter, Paul and of course Mary, the Bible is full of characters – both good and undeniably evil. Pharaohs, prophets, kings, soldiers, slaves, merchants, mothers, mistresses, sons, daughters, heroes, saints, sinners, angels, demons and many more are included, some only once. Others are much more fully described in the ...

Africa largest Christian grouping, the All Africa Conference of Churches, has pledged to "pray for an end to illegitimate rule in Zimbabwe" after debating and toning down a statement about the country on the doorstep of Mozambique, where they have been meeting. Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe "is using power-sharing negotiations as a strategy for wasting time and exercising continued control" over ...

The Uniting Church in West Mackay was forced to move a nativity scene after it was daubed with satanic graffiti. West Mackay minister Pastor Euan McDonald said the number 666 was spray painted on a statute of the Virgin Mary and a wall was also vandalised. Last weekend statues were stolen and dumped at a nearby caravan park. "It’s discouraging ...

Patriarch Alexei II of the Russian Orthodox Church, who died on 5 December at the age of 79, will go down in history as the cleric who presided over Russia’s "second baptism" – the post-communist era which saw the liberation of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the restoration of battered church buildings and, even more important, of the ...