Baptist Press Archive

Thursday, April 18, 2002

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  • Bethlehem crisis festers as Powell ends peace mission
    by Art Toalston, posted Thursday, April 18, 2002 (22 years ago)

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--The volatile standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity cries out for an "urgent nonviolent solution," Secretary of State Colin Powell said April 17.

    But he left Jerusalem not having found one during his 10-day mission to seek peace between warring Israelis and Palestinians.

    Israeli troops and tanks remained in place around the 1,400-year-old Church of the Nativity where an estimated 250 Palestinian gunmen have been holed up since April 3. Read More

  • Judge protects Oregon law legalizing assisted suicide
    by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, April 18, 2002 (22 years ago)

    WASHINGTON (BP)--A federal judge acted April 17 to protect Oregon's law permitting physician-assisted suicide.

    Judge Robert Jones permanently blocked an order by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to bar the use of federally regulated drugs by doctors assisting patients in committing suicide. The Department of Justice said it is considering an appeal. Read More

  • Holman Christian Standard Bible: maintaining a faithful heritage
    by Art Toalston, posted Thursday, April 18, 2002 (22 years ago)

    Click to download Hi-Res Photo
    Yes, a new translation
    Ed Blum, general editor of the Holman Christian Standard Bible, says new Scripture translations will always be needed amid "the explosion of knowledge."


          NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A full-fledged translation of Scripture such as the Holman Christian Standard Bible is an undertaking of biblical proportions.

          Among the challenges: addressing questions not just among the HCSB's Bible scholars and editors but also among pastors and church members.

          The proverbial question of whether another Bible translation is really needed is always at hand, as is the question that can be posed in myriad ways of why a particular Bible passage has been translated in a particular way.

          "The explosion of knowledge means there's always going to be a need for new translations," general editor Ed Blum noted.

          The Holman Christian Standard Bible, however, is especially in the spotlight amid the debate over how extensively "he," "him" and "his" should be replaced by gender-neutral language in Bible translations. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: An English stylist amid Bible scholars
    by John Perry, posted Thursday, April 18, 2002 (22 years ago)

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Among about 95 people who have worked on the Holman Christian Standard Bible, I'm one of a handful with an English-only pedigree. I can't read Greek or Hebrew and, if I could, I might never get any work done. My job as an English stylist is to make sure the text from a translator in England through an editor in Chicago is consistent with another section from California edited in Texas. I'm a stylistic funnel of sorts, which would be easy except that I have to change things without changing anything. Read More

  • Punitive damages levied against church in 16-year-old's drowning
    by Malinda Hallman McGill, posted Thursday, April 18, 2002 (22 years ago)

    COLUMBIANA, Ala. (BP)--First Baptist Church of Columbiana, Ala., will pay $950,000 to the family of Terry White, a 16-year-old boy who drowned May 31, 2000, while on a missions trip with the church. A Baldwin County jury reached the verdict April 3. Read More

  • Evangelistic prayer ministry can energize churches, he says
    by James Dotson, posted Thursday, April 18, 2002 (22 years ago)

    ONTARIO, Calif. (BP)--A comprehensive prayer strategy might be more ideal than reality for many churches pressured with competing ministries. But it can yield powerful results in the lives of individuals, the church as a whole and the cause of Christ globally, a California prayer evangelism leader said. Read More

  • Church mission education: more than organizations
    by James Dotson, posted Thursday, April 18, 2002 (22 years ago)

    ONTARIO, Calif. (BP)--A church that has mission education organizations for every age group and gender may still be missing a large part of its membership in trying to develop "on mission" Christians, a North American Mission Board mission education leader said. Read More

  • Leisure ministries make personal evangelism fun
    by James Dotson, posted Thursday, April 18, 2002 (22 years ago)

    ONTARIO, Calif. (BP)--A bowling-alley missionary or beach evangelist might not be the first to pop to mind when people think of missions service, but it is in these sorts of settings that Christians can be most effective in sharing the gospel, a North American Mission Board evangelism leader said. Read More