Franco and Protestantism

https://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/33362/francoism-against-protestants-recovering-stories-of-repression-and-resilience

Given that we now have calls for a 'Protestant Franco', this book should interest all readers. At present I can't seem to locate the book in English, and so that may be forthcoming. At least we'll hope so.

Demographic Changes in Northern Ireland

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-62980394

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-unionist-nightmare-in-ulster.html

This represents a rather noteworthy change in the demographics of Northern Ireland – and at a particularly interesting time. Sinn Fein now holds power which in some respects is the outward expression of this now verified demographic reality.

Jordan Cooper, SSPX, and the Collapse of Civilisation

https://justandsinner.libsyn.com/a-response-to-an-sspx-priest-on-luther

In this podcast Cooper provides a capable defense of Luther and his legacy and offers some helpful critiques of Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation's opposition to it.

Sobering News from Ulster

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/8/northern-ireland-unrest-four-key-questions-answered

Everyone who has followed the news surrounding Northern Ireland and Brexit has dreaded this moment. Hopefully, things will calm down but there's another element to the story the Al Jazeera article fails to pursue.

How Should We Then Live Part 4: The Reformation

In some respects this was a simpler episode keeping to more basic but recurring and even redundant themes. Schaeffer assumes that his audience is already familiar with the basics of the Reformation narrative and spends hardly any time laying out its chronology. I was surprised however to hear how he postured his narrative. He argued the Reformation was the breaking away of the Reformers from the Roman Catholic Church. Additionally the movement represented a turning away from the humanistic elements of medieval Catholicism.

Confusion in Reporting on Christianity in China

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/05/asia/china-bible-online-christianity-intl/index.html

This CNN story includes a short video which juxtaposes the official state sanctioned Catholic Church (CPCA) with the underground movement. The same state of affairs exists within Protestantism with its Three-Self Patriotic Churches (TSP) and its underground.

Can Western Evangelicals Condemn the Kremlin's Ban on The Watchtower Society?

http://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/2562/Other_Russian_confessions_react_to_prohibition_of_Jehovah_Witnesses_

There's a sad irony here. Russian Evangelicals are right to condemn and reject the state's ban on The Watchtower Society. While the Watchtower represents a rejection of the Biblical Gospel it nevertheless should be allowed to exist and its followers should be permitted to pursue their own path.

Western Evangelical condemnations of the ban, instigated by the Anti-Western Kremlin and the anti-Evangelical campaign flowing from the Orthodox Patriarchate, are often more rooted in pragmatics and politics.

The DUP and Ulster's Christian Witness

http://www.lastampa.it/2017/06/12/vaticaninsider/eng/comment/theresa-may-risks-inflaming-irelands-religious-tensions-AF1zL5IwnBhxTiBpmz5B5N/pagina.html

With Theresa May's failed bid to secure a sold Parliamentary majority in the recent Snap election, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland has been the subject of a great deal of media attention. They are her 'ace in the hole', her means to retain power and avoid resignation and further elections in the near future.

Ulster in Light of Brexit

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/10/mcguinness-northern-ireland-cash-for-ash

https://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/northern-ireland-faces-elections-raising-fresh-uncertainty-over-brexit-talks/

This is one of the recent stories that needs to be followed. For Christians this is actually a much 'bigger' story than the host of issues surrounding Brexit.

Underground Catholics in China

The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) is Beijing's answer to Papal authority and its parallel to the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). These are the state-sanctioned organisations that govern both the Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations within the People's Republic of China.

The Underground Church rejects Beijing's jurisdiction and forms what the government considers to be illegal worship cells. Usually the news if it focuses on the Underground Church tends to report on the Protestant side of things.

Magisterial Protestantism and America's Founding: Did Knox and Calvin Believe in Religious Liberty?

https://store.hslda.org/from-tyndale-to-madison-p43.aspx

An ad for this book turned up in my inbox.

What a strange narrative these folks have sought to create. Religious Liberty, and then to cite Calvin and Knox?

Halloween: Pagan, Christian, Does it matter?

updated October 2017

Since it's that time of year again I am providing links to pertinent articles for those who haven't read them and might be interested.

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2011/10/halloween-2011-and-lprs-issues-etc.html

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2010/10/all-sacralists-eve.html

http://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2016/10/halloween-compromise.html

The End of Paisley

I was enjoying a pleasantly cool and overcast late summer afternoon. As I was scraping the side of an old house back in the woods, the news came over the radio...

Ian Paisley is dead at 88.

These moments always hit me. It will stay with me forever.