It’s Thursday, September 7th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Finish persecute Christian over Biblical beliefs
A Christian parliamentarian from Finland was back in court last week. Päivi Räsänen as well as Bishop Juhana Pohjola face a criminal trial on “hate speech” charges for expressing their Biblical beliefs.
A district court found the two not guilty last year. However, Finland’s former Prosecutor General is still going after them through an appeal. A conviction could mean a fine and years in prison.
At issue is a pamphlet Räsänen wrote 20 years ago which Bishop Pohjola published. It opposes sexually perverted lifestyles.
The parliamentarian had this to say upon arriving at the court: “I know that the prosecution is trying to make an example of me to scare others into silence. … With God’s help, I will remain steadfast and continue defending everyone’s human right to free speech.”
Psalm 14:4 says, “Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up My people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?”
China has fewest religiously affiliated people
A new report from Pew Research found that China is the least religious country in the world based on formal religious identification.
About 90% of Chinese adults say they identify with no religion. That’s about 1 billion people, the largest number of religiously unaffiliated in any country. However, 33% of Chinese adults say they believe in Buddha or Buddhist deities. So, it appears as though the Chinese are self-identifying in a variety of ways, perhaps out of fear of the Communist Party.
The report noted China’s strict control over religious activities. Christians in particular face heavy surveillance and oppression. At least 2% of the adult population identifies as Christian, numbering about 20 million. Other estimates put that number higher at around 100 million Chinese Christians.
Texas Supreme Court upholds ban on “transgendering” kids
In the United States, the Texas Supreme Court allowed a law to go into effect that protects children from transgender drugs and surgeries.
The court released an order last Thursday, denying a motion to block enforcement of the law.
The state’s Office of the Attorney General responded, saying it will “uphold the values of the people of Texas by doing everything in its power to protect children from damaging, unproven ‘gender transition’ interventions.”
Over 20 states have passed similar legislation.
God sends torrential rain on sexually immoral Burning Man Festival
Over 70,000 people turned up for the hedonistic Burning Man festival last week in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
The event promotes radical self-expression and involves the burning of a giant effigy, not to mention the practice of a variety of sexual perversions.
However, it appears that God has rained on the parade.
Last Friday, over two month’s worth of rain fell in the area in just one day. The flooding and mud left tens of thousands stranded. It was like a taste of God’s flooding of the world from the days of Noah.
Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah had this to say about the event, “This isn’t healthy. God’s judgment is real.”
American confidence in K-12 public education lowest ever
A new survey from Gallup found that Americans’ confidence in K-12 education is at an all-time low.
Only 36% of adults expressed satisfaction with U.S. K-12 education, down from 51% in 2019. Satisfaction hasn’t been this low since 2000.
The survey noted, “Both party groups are at or near record-low satisfaction levels, but Republicans are significantly less likely to be satisfied than Democrats are.”
Meanwhile, homeschooling continues to grow in the U.S. An estimated 2.8% of students learned at home in 2019. That figure is now over 5% this year according to the Household Pulse Survey.
New Bible translation in Mohawk language
And finally, translators of the Word of God have completed another Bible in a new language.
A complete Bible is now available in the Mohawk language for the first time. The language is spoken by 3,500 people belonging to the Mohawk nation, an indigenous people living predominantly in southern Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
Harvey Satewas Gabriel did most of the translation work into his native tongue. He built on the work of his great-grandfather, Sosé Onasakenrat, who translated the Gospels in the 1800s.
Gabriel’s wife, Susan, said, “Harvey’s primary focus is ‘The Word,’ especially in Mohawk Language. His favorite passage from the Bible is John chapter 1: ‘In the beginning was the Word.’ He always remembers the first time he heard that in church, and he asked his mother why we don’t have a Mohawk Bible.”
John 1:1 and 14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, September 7th in the year of our Lord 2023. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.