All High Priests Invited to Edict of Milan Celebrations

For a little background; The edict of Milan was signed by Constantine I and Licinius in 313. Constantine was the emperor of the western Roman Empire and Licinius ruled the Balkans.  It gave Christians and persons of all other religions the right to practice their religion without persecution.  

Constantine himself is considered a saint by the Orthodox Church, although his Christianity is a subject for debate and he did not actually receive baptism until shortly before his death.  While he publicly proclaimed himself to be a Christian, he still took part in many pagan practices.  In this way he is indeed a forerunner of many Christian churches who incorporate pagan practices, symbols and holidays into Christian religion.

Serbian Patriarch Irinej Invites All To Edict Of Milan Celebrations

BELGRADE – Serbian Patriarch Irinej invited on Thursday all believers and people of goodwill to join in the final part of the marking of a great historic event – 1700 anniversary of the Edict of Milan, as the closing ceremony is scheduled to take place in Nis on Sunday, when heads of Orthodox Churches of other countries will hold a liturgy.

“A great privilege has been bestowed upon our Church that the central ceremony of the entire Christianity be in our city, Nis, because Emperor Constantine was born in it,” Patriarch Irinej told Tanjug ahead of the gathering that the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) qualified as the greatest in its history.

The Edict that Emperor Constantine issued gave the Christianity the freedom or right to freely preach, Patriarch Irinej said.

This great event was a turning point in the history of mankind, as the European culture based on the truths of Christianity developed on its foundations, the Patriarch said.

Patriarch Irinej announced that representatives of all Orthodox Churches, other Christian Churches and communities, and culture officials from the entire Christian world will gather on that occasion.

Bishop of Backa Irinej, a spokesman for the SPC, announced that two holy objects will be on display at the Cathedral of St. Emperor Constantine and Empress Helena in Nis – a part of the holy cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified and a hand of St. John The Baptist.

According to the schedule that was published by the SPC, a ceremonial welcome will be organized at St. Archangel Michael’s Cathedral in Belgrade on Saturday for high priests, among which Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, and Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem are expected.

Serbian Patriarch Irinej

http://inserbia.info/news/2013/10/serbian-patriarch-irinej-invites-all-to-edict-of-milan-celebrations/

Evangelicals Begin to Question U. S. Policies

There was a time not to long ago that most American evangelical Christians saw the United States as a moral force in the world.  The thinking was that if the U. S. was doing it, it must be the right thing to do. Those days may be coming to an end, however.  The promotion of legal abortion as a standard of freedom, the exporting of filth in the name of free speech and the high rate of collateral damage from Mr. Obama's drone war have put a serious dent in any claim the U. S. had to moral authority.

It is with these things in mind that we read in the Christian Post the rather shocking news that 62% of evangelical pastors oppose a military strike on Syria.  It seems that the era when evangelical Christians walked in lock step with the government may be over.

62% of Evangelical Pastors Oppose Syria Strike, NAE Says

The National Association of Evangelicals conducted a poll of its member pastors and found that 62.5 percent oppose U.S. military intervention in the Syrian civil war.

"Should Congress authorize direct U.S. military intervention in Syria?" the survey asked. Only 37.5 percent answered "yes," NAE President Leith Anderson announced in a statement to Jonathan Merritt at Religion News Service.

The National Association of Evangelicals represents 40 evangelical Christian denominations and over 45,000 local churches. Not all evangelical denominations are NAE members, though.

The largest evangelical denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, for instance, is not a member. So, the views of Southern Baptist pastors would not be included in the results. (Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, does not support a military strike against Syria.)

Anderson does not take a definite position himself on the issue in his statement. Rather, he outlines several reasons that the issue is difficult and that evangelical pastors are in disagreement.

On the one hand, he points out, there has been an international consensus against the use of chemical weapons, and not taking action now could encourage further use of those weapons in the future. On the other hand, whether a military strike against Syria would help or hurt the situation is unknown. It could make the situation worse by leading to a broader regional conflict.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/62-of-evangelical-pastors-oppose-syria-strike-nae-says-103853/