News

News Briefs: December 08, 1997

An art exhibit at the National Gallery of Victory in Melbourne closed October 13 after attacks on the controversial Piss Christ photograph of New York artist Andres Serrano. On October 11, a 51-year-old man damaged the frame when he grabbed the picture off the wall. The following day, the artwork itself sustained heavy damage when an 18-year-old man attacked it with a hammer. The gallery decided to close the display because it could not guarantee the safety of visitors. Earlier in the week, a court had rejected the Roman Catholic church’s request to close the exhibit on the grounds that Piss Christ is blasphemous.

Samuel Habib, 69, president of the Protestant Churches of Egypt since 1980 and general director of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, died of a stroke October 6 while visiting Pasadena, California.

Two denominations have expressed reservations about the evangelism to India ministry of Kilari Anand Paul, the 34-year-old leader of the Houston-based Gospel to the Unreached Millions (GUM). The Southern Baptist Missions Board unanimously expressed “no confidence” in Paul, citing a lack of financial accountability and exaggerated claims about the ministry. Assemblies of God Southeast Asia director David Grant told CT the denomination will not endorse or recommend Paul’s ministry, based on Paul’s different philosophy of ministry and other questions.

Copyright © 1997 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

December 8, 1997 Vol. 41, No. 14, Page 74

Also in this issue

Mary Rejoicing, Rachel Weeping: How shall we reconcile the glorious birth of the Savior with the bloody deaths of the boys of Bethlehem?

Our Latest

News

Died: John Huffman, Pastor Who Told Richard Nixon to Confess

The Presbyterian minister and CT board member committed to serve the Lord and “let the chips fall where they may.”

The Pastor Who Rescues People from Japan’s ‘Suicide Cliff’

Yoichi Fujiyabu has spent three decades sharing God’s love to people who want to end their lives.

An Ode to the Long Season

Why fans love a game designed to break their hearts.

Is This Heaven? No, It’s Banana Ball

What baseball’s most amusing team gets right about joy in sports.

News

Black Clergy and Christians Grapple with Charlie Kirk’s Legacy

Many say the activist’s inflammatory statements on race should inform how we remember his life.

News

A Sudden Death: Voddie Baucham, Who Warned the Church of Fault Lines

Known for confronting critical theory, moral relativism, and secular ideologies, Baucham died a month into leading a new seminary in Florida.

Why Many Black Christians Reject the Evangelical and Mainline Labels

The history of a prominent church pastored by MLK in Alabama shows the reason African Americans often don’t embrace either term.

News

Pastor Abducted in Nigeria Amid Escalating Kidnapping Crisis

Armed gang continues to hold him after family paid the ransom.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube