Responding to the needs of Christians in parts of the world where it is difficult to access the internet, the developers of the popular YouVersion Bible app have launched a new version of it which can be used offline, Christianity Today (CT) reports. App developers from Life.Church in Oklahoma joined with the global Bible ministry Biblica in creating the offline YouVersion Bible App Lite.
Amid an ongoing conservative movement to ban books considered inappropriate for minors in school libraries, the Davis School District north of Salt Lake City in Utah has banned the King James Version of the Bible for elementary and middle schools on the grounds it contains verses that are too violent and sexually explicit for younger children, the Associated Press reports. The complete Bible will still be available in high school libraries across the 72,000-student district.
A new study shows that 18 Christian colleges have closed or merged since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Christianity Today reports.
A group of Hindu nationalists vandalized a Gideons Bible stall set up at the New Delhi World Book Fair in India last week, accusing the volunteers running it of “trapping” Hindus into Christianity, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
Wycliffe Associates, an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation, will participate in a New Testament dedication in a South Asian nation (undisclosed for security reasons) this month, which is the first completed Bible translation project in a minority language.
A new poll by Pew research shows that half of self-professed U.S. Christians, and 39% of all Americans – religious or otherwise – believe “we are living in the End Times,” the Christian Post (CP) reports.
A new census shows the number of people identifying as Christian in England and Wales has fallen below 50% for the first time, although researchers say this does not mean Britain has turned its back on religion, Christian Today (CT) reports. The census also shows that the percentage of the English and Welsh population who said they had no religion rose sharply from 25.2% in 2011 to 37.2% in 2021.
As crowds enjoyed soccer in the bloodstained stadiums of Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup after thousands of migrant workers were killed, Christians began distributing Bibles in 14 languages.
Continuing its violent attacks on Christian civilians, the ‘Tatmadaw’ Burmese military junta bombed a Baptist seminary in Kachin state last week, injuring four men in their dormitory, Christian Headlines (CH) reports.
A new study published Tuesday shows that less than a third of US adults believe the Bible should be America’s guide to determining right and wrong, the Christian Post reports. The study was the fourth installment of America’s Values Study carried out by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.
A Texas-based Christian organization has this year delivered 225,000 Children and Teen Bibles to North Macedonia, an eastern European country that was part of the former communist federation of Yugoslavia and where Bibles are still hard to come by.
The Museum of the Bible announced that a copy of Hipparchus’ map of the stars was found on the same bit of manuscript that had a later Christian treatise written upon it.
An interdisciplinary team of Israeli scientists and archaeologists may have come one step closer to “proving” the historical veracity of the Bible.
Dutchman Anne van der Bijl, known as the “Brother Andrew” who founded Christian charity Open Doors and became a voice of voiceless persecuted Christians, has died, his group confirmed Wednesday. He passed away in the Dutch town of Harderwijk at age 94.
A congregation of Christians escaping government persecution in China are applying for refugee status in Thailand after being denied asylum in South Korea, DW reports. In its efforts to impose “Sinicization” on the country, China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been engaged in a formidable crackdown on independent evangelical churches that will not register with the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic movement.
A Christian radio station that ministers to Russian speakers has had to relocate from Ukraine to Hungary since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed an almost total ban on Russian music and television in July, Christianity Today (CT) reports.
A 180 year-old church Bible has survived an August 13 fire that destroyed the historic College Hill Presbyterian Church in Lafayette County, Oxford, Mississippi earlier this month, CBN News reports.
A contingent of conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage has separated from the Australian Anglican church to launch a new denomination called the Diocese of the Southern Cross, Church Leaders reports.
Six Christian women in India’s Uttar Pradesh state were charged with forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity and were imprisoned on July 30, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. With the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party in power since 2014, India’s Christians have become increasingly vulnerable to harsh anti-conversion laws which are frequently abused by Hindu extremists looking to harass and imprison believers.
American evangelist Franklin Graham has urged Christians to pray for President Joe Biden, who contracted a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus despite receiving vaccinations.
