It’s Monday, May 8th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Two kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls rescued in Nigeria
Last Friday, after more than nine years of captivity, two more Chibok schoolgirls have been rescued by Nigerian soldiers, reports International Christian Concern.
Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, who are now in their 20s, were forced into marriage with the Boko Haram Muslim terrorists who kidnapped them. Maltha revealed that she was forced to marry three terrorists during her nine-year captivity. She was eight months pregnant during her rescue and delivered a healthy baby boy on April 28.
Christian communities within Chibok have been faced with ongoing persecution since 2014 when about 300 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram.
The coronation of King Charles III
On Saturday, King Charles III was officially coronated as Britain’s reigning monarch at London’s Westminster Abbey, reports Fox News. Beside him was his wife, Queen Camilla.
The eldest son of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was crowned on Saturday.
The 74-year-old ascended to the throne upon the death of his mother, who died in September 2022 at the age of 96. Queen Elizabeth was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. Charles was proclaimed Britain’s monarch two days later.
The coronation was filled with pageantry and music.
(sound of music)
BOY: “Your Majesty, as children of the Kingdom of God, we welcome you in the name of the King of Kings.”
KING CHARLES: “In His name, and after His example, I come not to be served, but to serve.”
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, led the oath.
ARCHBISHOP WELBY: “The coronation oath has stood for centuries, and is enshrined in law. Are you willing to take the oath?”
KING CHARLES: “I am willing.”
ARCHBISHOP WELBY: “Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, your other realms and the territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs?”
KING CHARLES: “I solemnly promise so to do.”
ARCHBISHOP WELBY: “Will you, to your power, cause law and justice and mercy to be executed in all your judgments?”
KING CHARLES: “I will.”
ARCHBISHOP WELBY: “Will you to the utmost of your power, maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you, to the utmost of your power, maintain in the United Kingdom, the Protestant Reformed religion established by law?”
KING CHARLES: “All this I promise to do. The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God.”
WELBY: “God save the king!”
PEOPLE: “God save the king!”
[Watch the key points in the coronation and subsequent procession at C-SPAN where you can click on just the portions that interest you.]
King Charles’ request to let non-Christians lead prayer was overruled
Two theological controversies arose out of the planning of the coronation.
First, to the discomfort of Anglican church leaders, King Charles wanted four non-Christian religious leaders — a Muslim, a Hindu, a Sikh, and a Jew — to lead prayers at some point during the coronation Christian service in Westminster Abbey.
Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby said, “The coronation is first and foremost an act of Christian worship.”
And Gavin Ashenden, the former Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth, offered his analysis to CBN.
ASHENDEN: “The order of service was delayed. And we’re pretty sure it was delayed because Charles wanted a group of representatives of other faiths to lead the prayers. But there’s a rule in the Church of England; it’s part of the church’s law, and it’s backed up by Parliament’s law, that to lead the liturgy in an Anglican church, you have to be a believing Anglican. So, there was a conflict. And it looks like Charles lost.”
Instead of leading prayers, the Muslim, the Hindu, the Sikh, and the Jew presented the king with four pieces of coronation regalia on page 9 of the Order of Service.
[Those taking part are Most Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala (Buddhist), Lord Singh of Wimbledon, (Sikh), Radha Mohan das (a representative from a Hindu temple in Hertfordshire), Aliya Azam (Islam), and the Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis (Judaism).]
In Exodus 20:2-3, the one true God speaks with clarity. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Defender of the Faith, Defender of Faith, or Defender of Thy Faith?
The second theological controversy actually dates back to 1994.
That’s when Prince Charles had expressed an interest in changing the title of the ruling monarch, once he assumed the throne, from “Defender of the Faith” – meaning the Christian faith — to “Defender of Faith,” a generic reference that would have been inclusive of any faith and thus terribly meaningless, reports EuroNews.com.
Apparently, Archbishop Welby settled on the title of “Defender of Thy Faith,” referring to God’s faith. Candidly, that is an odd reference since God doesn’t need to have faith in His own existence; we do.
Listen for that phrase as Archbishop Welby opens the communion portion of King Charles’ coronation service.
WELBY: “It is right, and our bounden duty, that we should, at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, Oh Lord, Holy Father, Almighty Everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son, our Lord, who has, at this time, consecrated Thy servant, Charles, to be our king. That by the anointing of Thy grace, he may be the Defender of Thy faith and the protector of Thy people, that with him, we may learn the ways of service, compassion, and love. And that the good work that Thou has begin in him this day may be brought to completion in the day of Jesus Christ.”
That last sentence is a clear reference to Philippians 1:6 which says, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Gunman at Texas mall killed 8, wounded 7
And finally, a gunman shot and killed eight people and wounded at least seven others at Allen Premium Outlets mall located 25 miles north of Dallas on Saturday, reports Reuters.
EYEWITNESS #1: “It was at least 50 to 100 rounds. It was nonstop and there was nothing we could do. It was just terrible.”
According to a DashCam video of the scene, the gunman, dressed in black, pulled up in a Grey Charger, opened his door, and just started firing on shoppers as they walked by the H&M store.
Allen, Texas Police Chief Brian Harvey explained how the shooting came to an end.
HARVEY: “At 3:36pm this afternoon, one of our officers was on an unrelated call at the outlet mall. He heard gunshots, went to the gunshots, he engaged the suspect, and neutralized the suspect. He also then called for ambulances.”
The attacker has been identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, who had been living with his parents until recently before he started staying at a motel nearby, reports NPR.
Police found an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun at the scene after Garcia was killed.
Steven Spainhouer, whose son worked at the H&M store at the scene of the shooting, said this.
SPAINHOUER: “It was a warzone there. There is no other way to describe it. There’s no way these people could have survived the assault of those weapons.”
Please pray for God’s strength and comfort for both the grieving families and the wounded survivors.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Monday, May 8th in the year of our Lord 2023, my 57th birthday. 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.