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 Remember when people used to dress up for church? Casual Friday has now morphed into Sloppy Sabbath.
April 19th, 2014
08:00 PM ET
Stop dressing so tacky for churchBy John Blake, CNN (CNN) - If the Rev. John DeBonville could preach a sermon to lift the souls of churchgoers across America, his message would be simple: Stop dressing so tacky for church. DeBonville has heard about the “come as you are” approach to dressing down for Sunday service, but he says the Sabbath is getting too sloppy. FULL POST
April 17th, 2014
08:00 AM ET
Did Christians really 'steal' Easter?Opinion by Candida Moss, special to CNN [twitter-follow screen_name='CandidaMoss'] (CNN) - It’s that time of year again: the time when chocolate comes in pastels, cherry blossoms start to bloom and well-marketed religion exposés are released to the world. In other words, it’s Easter. Among the rash of sensationalist stories we can expect through the season, the annual “Easter was stolen from the pagans” refrain has sprouted again just in time for Holy Week. Don’t believe the hype. Perhaps most misinformed theory that rolls around the Internet this time of year is that Easter was originally a celebration of the ancient Near Eastern fertility goddess Ishtar. This idea is grounded in the shared concept of new life and similar-sounding words Easter/Ishtar. There’s no linguistic connection, however. Ishtar is Akkadian and Easter is likely to be Anglo-Saxon. Just because words in different languages sound the same doesn’t mean they are related. In Swedish, the word “kiss” means urine. But the biggest issue for Christians is the claim that Jesus’ resurrection - the faith’s central tenet - might have pagan roots.
March 15th, 2014
11:23 AM ET
Five things you didn't know about Jesus
(CNN) - With Easter approaching, and the movie “Son of God” playing in wide release, you’re going to hear a lot about Jesus these days. You may hear revelations from new books that purport to tell the “real story” about Jesus, opinions from friends who have discovered a “secret” on the Web about the son of God, and airtight arguments from co-workers who can prove he never existed. Beware of most of these revelations; many are based on pure speculation and wishful thinking. Much of what we know about Jesus has been known for the last 2,000 years. Still, even for devout Christian there are surprises to be found hidden within the Gospels, and thanks to advances in historical research and archaeological discoveries, more is known about his life and times. With that in mind, here are five things you probably didn't know about Jesus.  Roman persecution of Christians was depicted in paintings such as "The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer" by Jean-Leon Gerome.
March 30th, 2013
10:00 PM ET
Christ was persecuted, but what about Christians?CNN examines the tumultuous early years of Christianity in a special narrated by Liam Neeson. Watch “After Jesus: The First Christians,” Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. By John Blake, CNN (CNN) - She walked into the Roman arena where the wild beasts awaited her. She trembled not from fear but from joy. Her name was Vibia Perpetua. She was just 22, a young mother singing hymns as the crowd jeered and a lion, leopard and wild cow encircled her. One of the beasts attacked, hurling her to the ground. She covered an exposed thigh with her bloody robe to preserve her modesty and groped in the dust for her hair pin so she could fix her disheveled hair. And when a Roman executioner approached Perpetua with a sword, her last words before collapsing were aimed at her Christian companions: “Stand fast in the faith, and love you all one another and do not let our sufferings be a stumbling block to you.” Millions of Christians worldwide will celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus on this Easter Sunday. But the story of how the church rose to prominence after Jesus’ death is being turned upside down.  Does Easter celebrate a man, a savior, or a myth? Some say Jesus never existed and was a myth created by early Christians.
April 7th, 2012
08:32 PM ET
The Jesus debate: Man vs. mythBy John Blake, CNN (CNN)– Timothy Freke was flipping through an old academic book when he came across a religious image that some would call obscene. It was a drawing of a third-century amulet depicting a naked man nailed to a cross. The man was born of a virgin, preached about being “born again” and had risen from the dead after crucifixion, Freke says. But the name on the amulet wasn’t Jesus. It was a pseudonym for Osiris-Dionysus, a pagan god in ancient Mediterranean culture. Freke says the amulet was evidence of something that sounds like sacrilege – and some would say it is: that Jesus never existed. He was a myth created by first-century Jews who modeled him after other dying and resurrected pagan gods, says Freke, author of "The Jesus Mysteries: Was the ‘Original Jesus’ a Pagan God?"  J. Wilson (right) drank only beer for Lent. Brewmaster Eric Sorensen (left) helped make the beer.
April 27th, 2011
04:20 PM ET
Beer-only fast ends with bacon smoothieBy Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) - J. Wilson has survived his 46-day beer-only fast and found some unexpected spiritual insights. Wilson, who lives outside Des Moines, Iowa, was emulating a Lenten tradition carried out by German monks hundreds of years ago. In keeping with tradition he ate his last solid food on Ash Wednesday and broke his fast on Easter Sunday. “I made a bacon smoothie and that’s what I broke the fast with,” Wilson said.
April 27th, 2011
03:28 PM ET
Baptism in Missouri flood watersiReporter candy91 was on her way to church on Easter Sunday, and when she saw the high flood waters at Mount Calvary Powerhouse Church in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, she almost turned around and went home. A church van was shuttling people through the water and she helped transport a few people in her car as well. She had no idea that one of the young men in her car was planning to be baptized that day. Marcus Pegues was baptized in the flood waters. "He got baptized in the water that God provided for us. … We trudged on and had our Easter service. We didn’t let the water stop us," she said.
April 25th, 2011
01:57 PM ET
Obamas kick off action-packed Easter Egg RollWashington (CNN) -– With the Easter Bunny at their side, the first family opened up their backyard to 30,000 people from all 50 states for the annual action-packed Easter Egg Roll on Monday. As Colbie Caillat sang the national anthem, President Obama appeared on the Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn with the first lady, their daughters Sasha and Malia, and his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson.
April 25th, 2011
01:10 PM ET
Stadium transformed for Easter serviceSeattle's Mars Hill Church held its Easter service at Qwest Field. KCPQ's Jeff Van Sant reports.  An Ethiopian Orthodox worshipper celebrates the Holy Fire ceremony on Saturday in Jerusalem's old city.
April 24th, 2011
10:07 PM ET
Photos: Easter around the worldChristians marked the Holy Week of Easter to commemorate the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. See our high-resolution gallery of images from around the globe. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Opinion by the Rev. James Martin, special to CNN