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• The many quests for the 'real' Jesus | Ever since the dawn of the Enlightenment, Western Christian scholars have been trying to throw the churchified Jesus out the window and replace him with a more appealing figure. Yet there's a catch: For the current generation of liberators to believe they are breaking new ground, they must forget that previous scholars did the same thing. (Frederica Mathewes-Green, Los Angeles Times)

Bible:

• Doubting the story of Exodus | Many scholars have quietly concluded that the epic of Moses never happened, and even Jewish clerics are raising questions. Others think it combines myth, cultural memories and kernels of truth. (Los Angeles Times)
• Earlier: Did the Exodus Never Happen? | How two Egyptologists are countering scholars who want to turn the Old Testament into myth. (Christianity Today, Sept. 7, 1998)
• Is nothing sacred? | The Bible, of course, is the direct source of Jewish dietary laws. But to the owner of a Florida company that makes and sells nutritional supplements, it is also a cookbook (The New York Times)
• Hand-lettering of Bibles proves illuminating | Dallas artist's 13-year project predates Minnesota scribes' effort (The Dallas Morning News)

Books:

• Other worlds, suffused with religion | A hybrid with a long history seems to be gaining in popularity (Publishers Weekly)
• Thomas Nelson files suit against former publisher (The Tennessean)
• Earlier: Publisher leaves job at Thomas Nelson unit (The Tennessean)

Church life:

• An uprising in the pews: Kneeling falls from favor | More and more congregations nationwide are deciding to stand for what they believe (USA Today)
• Local Baptist churches vote to form new group | Representatives of 18 Southern Baptist churches are upset that two gay-supportive churches remain members of the Atlanta Baptist Association (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• A life less ordinary | On his tenth anniversary as Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey talks about his unpromising schooldays, his nonstop routine and how he 'sees Christ' in former rivals (The Times, London)
• Archbishop of change | How Carey has overcome the forecasters of doom (Editorial, The Times)
• Clever clergy | Church attendance is falling but not the high academic standards and commitment expected of students working towards ordination (The Guardian)
• Minister tends flock of business leaders | John H. Huntington is the first "missioner to Silicon Valley" of the Episcopal Church (San Jose Mercury News)
• Leading clerics to quit over remarriage | Leading Church of England traditionalists have confirmed plans for a breakaway group over the hotly disputed issue of the remarriage of divorcees. (The Observer, London)
• What is the Church to do, for God's sake? | The Anglicans will have to choose between two voices as they struggle to regain moral authority (Anthony Howard, The Times, London)
• Congregation X rocks the mission | Cornerstone markets new-time religion (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Church torn by ultimatum over tithing | In the stern tones of a bill collector, the letters sent to nearly half the members of the Holy Tabernacle Church of God in Christ Apostolic offered its members a worldly choice: Pay up or get kicked out. (The Boston Globe)

Homosexuality:

• Bishop censures congregation | After months of debate, Bishop Charles Maahs, head of the Lutheran synod in Missouri and Kansas, censured Abiding Peace Lutheran Church in Kansas City, Mo., for ordaining Donna Simon, a lesbian, to serve as its pastor. (Chicago Tribune)

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April (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45