By DANNY MINTON Seventy-five years ago, on September 15, 1935, the “German Nuremberg Laws” were initiated. Those laws stripped the Jews of their German citizenship. A Jew was defined as anyone who had three to four Jewish grandparents, including those who converted to another religion. In October of 1938, 17,000 Polish Jews living in Germany were rounded up and sent
Read moreBy LORETTA FULTON An international team of scholars led by Abilene Christian University religion professor Dr. Curt Niccum has scored a major win for ACU. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded the team a $300,000 grant to produce print and digital editions of Old Testament books in Ge’ez, the ancient language of Ethiopia. Megan Roth, executive director of
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Editor’s Note: Everyday Ministry is an occasional feature of Spirit of Abilene, highlighting people who weave ministry into their everyday lives. If you know someone you would like to see featured, email editor@spiritofabilene.com with the name, contact information and a brief description of the person’s ministry. By LORETTA FULTON An email request from the missions minister at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church caught
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By LORETTA FULTON “You can’t really have faith without social justice.” That emphatic statement set the tone for one session of the annual Religion News Association conference held Sept. 24-25. Normally, RNA, an organization of journalists who write about religion issues for the news media, meets in a different city each year, except for every four years when it meets
Read moreBy DANNY MINTON The story in Kelly Tyler-Lewis’ book, “The Lost Men,” was intriguing and one of those hard to put down. When I finished, I was struck by how what had happened was mainly due to the failure of proper leadership. In 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail with his crew aboard the Endurance to try and be the first men to cross the Antarctic. Several books and documentaries focus on the story.
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A tour of Temple Mizpah and a discussion of Judaism led by Dr Marc Orner is the first installment of a Facebook video series hosted by the Abilene Interfaith Council. Due to COVID-19, the council is “meeting” on Facebook this year with a monthly video series of faith communities in Abilene. Additional videoes are being prepared for coming months. Click
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury The day’s twilight came with September at its best. My wife urged me to take Sailor, our rescue dog, on a walk around the block. So away we went, thankful for a cool breeze, gorgeous sunset and sidewalks. We chanced to walk alongside a next-block neighbor who posed a random-as-it-gets question: “Do you remember anything
Read moreFETZER INSTITUTE NEWS RELEASE The likelihood that Americans will vote or otherwise engage in civic and political life is informed by their spiritual identity, according to a new two-year study released less than two months before the 2020 elections. People who identify themselves as “highly spiritual” are more likely to say that it is important to make a difference in
Read moreBy NANCY PATRICK September is National Suicide Prevention Month. As one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world, America should be one of the happiest places to live. Unfortunately, the rise in American suicides implies the opposite. A couple of years ago, the suicides of 55-year-old fashion designer Kate Spade and internationally popular chef and food techy
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