The Acton Commentary this week from my friend John pares church budgets to government budgets, and what “government thinking” might look like if it were reflected in charitable and ecclesiastical budgeting. He writes, “If we think the government is the best source passion for the needy and the engine of economic growth, then it makes sense to set taxes at high rates so the government can do all good things for the people.” On that point, over at Evangelical Perspective...

We have tried to raise awareness of the persecution and violence Coptic Christians face in Egypt and around the world at the Acton Institute and in the pages of Religion & Liberty. On New Year’s Day, a suicide-bomber killed 21 Coptic Christians as they left al-Qiddisin Church in the port city of Alexandria, Egypt. On the heels of the attack, news reports have surfaced that al-Qaeda lists Coptic Churches in the Netherlands as targets for their terror. CNN also reports...

From the Jan. 5 Acton News & Commentary. This is an edited excerpt of “Health-Care Counter-Reform,” a longer piece Dr. Condit wrote for the November 2010 issue of the Linacre Quarterly, published by the Catholic Medical Association. For more on this important issue, see the Acton special report on Christians and Health Care. Dr. Condit is also the author of the 2009 Acton monograph, A Prescription for Health Care Reform, available in the Book Shoppe. Obamacare and the Threat to...

News from the Acton Institute: The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty is joining forces with Refo500, a project that aims to bring international attention to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Leading up to the anniversary in 2017 of Martin Luther’s posting of his Ninety-Five Theses, Refo500 is engaging with a variety of partner organizations to promote the importance of the Reformation period and its relevance for today’s world. “Refo500 has the potential to help Acton...

L’Accorche-Choeur, Ensemble vocal Fribourg. Veni, Veni Emmanuel is a synthesis of the great “O Antiphons” that are used for Vespers during the octave before Christmas (Dec. 17-23). These antiphons are of ancient origin and date back to at least the ninth century. ...

Catching up on some recent mentaries. We e a new writer, John Addison Teevan, who is director of the Prison Extension Program at Grace College. He also teaches economics and Bible courses at the Winona Lake, Ind., school. This column was published Dec. 29. Sign up for the free, weekly email newsletter Acton News & Commentary here. A Tithe for Uncle Sam By John Addision Teevan Political leaders talk as if the money Americans keep (not paid in taxes) belongs...

Dr. Donald Condit joined host Drew Mariani on the Relevant Radio Network to discuss the positives aspects of end-of-life planning as well as the troubling issues surrounding end-of-life care under government health care systems. Dr. Condit is an orthopedic surgeon and the author of Acton’s monograph on health care reform, entitled A Prescription for Health Care Reform and available in the Acton Bookshoppe; he has also authored a number mentaries on health care for Acton and other organizations; his most...

Our Savior, the Dayspring from the East, has visited us from on high, and we who were in darkness and shadow have found the truth; for the Lord is born from the Virgin (Exaposteilarion, tone 3) The video features the Romeiko Ensemble, a Byzantine choir, performing hymns for the Feast of the Nativity in 2006 at the Hellenic Library in Athens, Greece. About those Byzantine brims: The cantors (psaltes) wore wide-brimmed hats (skiadion) or tall “bullet” hats (skaranikon) and dressed...

I took some issue with a quote from an otherwise fine piece about food banks in the December issue of Christianity Today. So let me follow-up with a mendation without reservation for this profile of the work of the Big Reach Center of Hope in the current issue of CT by Nicole Russell, “A God-Sized Food Bank.” Big Reach is “a food pantry and distribution center situated in a town so small it’s an unincorporated dot on the Ohio map....

Christianity Today has named the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization at Cape Town one of the top news stories of 2010: Thousands of global evangelical leaders gather in Cape Town to discuss missions, highlight evangelicalism’s global diversity, pray for religious liberty, and build relationships that will likely bear unexpected fruit in the decades e. Check out some of the resources from the Acton Institute related to Cape Town 2010: Jordan Ballor, “The Ecumenical Future,” Acton Institute PowerBlog (November 19, 2010).Brett...