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Adventist News + Lutherans to apologize for Anabaptist persecution

According to the August 12, issue of The Christian Century,

The Lutheran World Federation is preparing to formally ask forgiveness from Anabaptists—Mennonites, Amish and similar believers—for 16th-century persecution, including torture and killings.

The decision to prepare the statement was made by the LWF Council, the world body’s main governing agency, which met in Arusha, Tanzania, June 24-30.

Anabaptists, whose name means “rebaptizers,” were the radical wing of the Protestant Reformation and were persecuted by both Lutherans and Catholics. They emphasized believer’s, or adult, baptism, even for those who had been baptized as infants.

Much of the Lutheran persecution of Anabaptists was based on writings by key figures in the Lutheran movement such as Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, as well as condemnations in Lutheran confessional documents such as the Formula of Concord and the Augsburg Confession, which are still considered authoritative for Lutherans today.

As the Theolog writes:

Walter Brueggemann reviewed two books on the scriptural roots of violence for the June 3 [Christian] Century and concluded that churches should not continue their “prattle about love, reconciliation and forgiveness unless they seriously take into account the lethal dimensions” of their religious tradition.

ADVENTIST NEWS

  • Government plans to cut tax concessions for non-profit enterprises,
  • A conference in PNG has been held for Seventh-day Adventist parliament members,
  • A Western Australian church is running friendship clubs for lonely seniors,
  • Author of new biography hopes to inspire readers to serve others,
  • Adventist-owned and operated AM and FM radio station grow to 122,
  • The new Fulton College site agreement formalised by a traditional Fijian ceremony.

A Loma Linda University researcher publishes a finding on weapons and school violence: “pupils who identified themselves as white were more likely to carry weapons than those who identified themselves as black.”

The USA Today reports on the new U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission compliance manual:

Muslims have faced the sharpest increase in workplace discrimination of any major religious in recent years. Between 1997 and 2007, the number of discrimination charges filed by Muslims more than doubled, from 398 to 907. That figure peaked at 1,155 in 2002, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Although religious-discrimination charges increased 13% nationally in 2007, Jews and Seventh-Day Adventists have both seen their total number of complaints decline in the past decade, while Catholics and Protestants have reported only a gradual increase.

James Standish, [via Mark A. Kellner/Adventist Review] of our North American Religious Liberty Association, shares what the new regulations mean for U.S. Adventists.

ANN reports that the Lithuanian government now recognizes Adventist Church:

The Lithuanian government granted the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s application for state recognized status on July 15, qualifying the church for state subsidies and certain tax exemptions, as well as excusing theology students and clergy from military service.

“State recognition for the Seventh-day Adventist church in Lithuania means that its contribution to public life and culture is recognized,” said Bertold Hibner, president of the Adventist Church in Lithuania. “I hope that the church will see it as a strong commission to serve and proclaim to the community the good news of the gospel.”

The Toronto Star interviews Bernard Collins (a former Adventist) of the roots-reggae legends The Abyssinians.

Q: How did your career in music begin?

A: I used to sing in the Seventh Day Adventist church with my grandmother where we lived in the country. I always had the urge to sing and when I moved to Kingston I wanted to meet all of the big artists; so I went to Trench Town, which was like the university for music, because all of the young talents like Alton Ellis, Bob Marley and Ken Booth came out of there. I met all those guys and would hang around trying to get inspiration and learn about the music business.

Q: What do you recall about how “Satta Massagna” was composed?

A: One night back in 1969 we were sitting outside (the Manning) house. Donald, as always, was playing his guitar, struggling on a few chords. The melody just came inside of me and I started singing “There is a land far, far away/ Where there’s no night, there’s only day,” and he went inside his house, came out with some paper and started writing down the lyrics. I would sing one line, he would come in with a few lines, that was it.

Q: Were you a Rastafarian then?

A: I was, but maybe I never recognized it, because I grew up in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which is similar to the Rastafarian movement – we don’t eat pork, we don’t wear jewellery to church and certain other things we don’t do, same as the Rastas. I was learning about Rastafari, meeting the elders in Trench Town who would reason with us as youth and tell us about Africa and Marcus Garvey. It wasn’t until we released the second album Arise in 1978 that I (grew dreadlocks) and started to identify myself as a Rasta.

St. Helena writer prefers living around Adventists.

Adventist Hinsdale Hospital makes Parkinson’s treatment breakthrough

A medical device used to manage patients’ chronic pain could aid sufferers of Parkinson’s Disease, an Adventist Hinsdale Hospital doctor has discovered. Dr. Ahmed Elborno, medical director of the hospital’s Pain Management Center, recently implanted a spinal cord stimulator device in a patient that not only quelled her chronic pain but also put an end to her Parkinson’s-like tremors.

He plans to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval to use the stimulator device to treat patients with tremors. A series of clinical trials will likely follow.

“To me, this is not just a treatment,” said Elborno, an interventional pain practitioner. “It could be a cure.”

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