Category: Religion

In Tanzania, there is an increased demand for test tube babies scientifically refered to as In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).

It is a service sought by couples that are unable to naturally get pregnant.

Last week we had reported that over 80% Tanzanian men are unable to impregnate a woman which has forced most tanzanian females across Kenya seeking artificial means to enable and or enhance pregnancy at fertility clinics.

Now this has taken a new twist. Tanzanian religious leaders have comeout strongly and condemned the artificial acts and practices of making babies through ‘test tubes’ which they say is against the will of God.

They said In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) technology was wrong because according to the Creator, a child should be obtained through an act of sex between husband and wife.

The bishop of Africa Inland Church, Peter Kitula says that the procedure is not recommended in the Christian faith since people are married to reproduce themselves by way of consummating their marriage and not through some artificial processes.

“This is well understood and we preach it persistently, that a child must be a result of the sex act between husband and wife, who have been joined in a holy matrimony.”

He said women should shun the IVF alternative even after failing get a child naturally “since everything that happens to us is part God’s plan.”

“If the Almighty God has not blessed you with a child, you should simply accept the situation because that would be a test to your perseverance… you must keep on praying,” he advised.

Commenting on the matter, an expert in Biblical Language and Interpretation at Bugema University, Professor Reuben Mugerwa, said there is the concern that a test tube baby may not receive warm love from parents, having not been conceived naturally.

Prof Mugerwa said: “God intended sexual intercourse to be the only avenue of bringing forth children because of the intense love couples experience in the process of making a child in a natural way.”

Sheikh Musa Kundecha of Dar es Salaam noted that under Islam, the method would be alright if a couple were confirmed unable to get a baby naturally.

He said it would be a sin if a couple would opt the method while they were capable of obtaining a child through sex.

“We consider a baby obtained through the test tube while a couple is still biologically capable of naturally reproducing as haram (unclean),” he said.

Bishop Rwandamura Charles of United Christian Church has said that the church has started checking Christians before entering into the church premises.
He added that the act is in line with ensuring security among Christians.

Though the act of checking Christians is not familiar in Rwanda, the UCC Bishop told IGIHE that since the church has a diversity of people coming inside, there is a need to ensure their security.

Rwandamura said:”People are losing their phones and their bags. For that matter, those who steal must be recognized and stopped.”

Currently, a Kigali security company “Topsec” has been hired to conduct security screening of Christians at UCC Church located in Niboye sector.

An ancient scrap of papyrus makes explicit reference to Jesus having a wife, according to a renowned expert in Christian history.

Harvard divinity professor Karen King unveiled the 4th-Century Coptic script at a conference in Rome.

She said researchers had identified the words “Jesus said to them, ‘my wife’”, which might refer to Mary Magdalene.

Christian tradition holds that Jesus did not marry – but Ms King said in early years it was subject to debate.

The provocative find could spark debate over celibacy and the role of women within Christianity, she added.

But the announcement sparked scepticism from some theologians.

Jim West, a professor and Baptist pastor in Tennessee, said: “A statement on a papyrus fragment isn’t proof of anything. It’s nothing more than a statement ‘in thin air’, without substantial context.”

Wolf-Peter Funk, a noted Coptic linguist attending the same conference as Ms King, said there were “thousands of scraps of papyrus where you find crazy things,” and many questions remained about the fragment.

‘Worthy disciple’
Ms King said the document, written in ancient Egyptian Coptic, is the first known scripture in which Jesus is reported to cite his wife.

She said the 4th-Century text was a copy of a gospel, probably written in Greek in the 2nd Century.

She said initially she was sceptical about the yellowish brown papyrus, and started from the notion that it was a forgery – but that she quickly decided it was genuine.

Several other experts agreed, she said, but the “final judgment on the fragment depends on further examination by colleagues and further testing, especially of the chemical composition of the ink”.

Ms King said the script was not proof of Jesus’s marital status.

“It is not evidence, for us, historically, that Jesus had a wife,” she said.

“It’s quite clear evidence, in fact, that some Christians, probably in the second half of the 2nd Century, thought that Jesus had a wife.”

Ms King said it revealed the concerns of early Christians with regards to family and marriage matters.

“From the very beginning, Christians disagreed about whether it was better not to marry, but it was over a century after Jesus’s death before they began appealing to Jesus’s marital status to support their positions.

“What this shows is that there were early Christians for whom sexual union in marriage could be an imitation of God’s creativity and generativity and it could be spiritually proper and appropriate.”

Bible scholar Ben Witherington III, a professor in Kentucky, said the term “wife” might simply refer to a female domestic assistant and follower.

Private owner
According to Ms King’s research team, the text also quotes Jesus as telling his followers that Mary Magdalene is worthy of being his disciple.

This, in turn, casts new doubt on the long-held belief that Jesus had no female disciples, and raises issues about Mary’s biblical role as a sinner, the researchers said.

Ms King presented the document at a six-day conference held at Rome’s La Sapienza University and at the Augustinianum institute of the Pontifical Lateran University.

The faded papyrus is hardly bigger than a business card and has eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass.

The private collector, who owns the fragment, has asked to remain anonymous because “he doesn’t want to be hounded by people who want to buy this”, Ms King said.

She said he had contacted Ms King to help translate and analyse it.

Nothing was known about the circumstances of its discovery, but because of the script used she had concluded it must have come from Egypt.

BBC

The association of the glorious Cross in Rwanda this Sunday, for the 19th time, marched as part of praying for peace to be established in the Great Lakes region.

The message of the day, focused on ensuring that every Christian gets sensitized as a catalyst for peace.

The march organized by the association glorious Cross branch in Rwanda was part of the parish of the Catholic Church Gikondo.

The march ended at Rebero hill Rebero located at Kigarama sector in Kicukiro District.

The march attracted several Christian groups involving both young and the elderly.

In a press interview, Father Joseph Bishyanuka of the Franciscan Congregation of Rwanda, said the march is organized annually by the Catholic Church.

He also said that many Christians from different countries of the region of the great Lakes meet the march, whose main purpose is to pray for peace to be consolidated in the region.

Pastor Sibomana Jean has been appointed as interim spokesperson for the ADEPR Pentecostal church in Rwanda.

Also on Sunday, a new Interim management committee was appointed in a move to address the troubles the church has been engulfed in including ethnic divisionism, corruption and mismanagement of the church.

The six-member committee will investigate the existing challenges and provide immediate solutions for the smooth running of the church.

Pastor Rwagasana Tom appointed as interim assistant spokesperson also in charge of social affairs at the ADEPR church.

Mutaganzwa Viateur appointed as interim executive secretary .

Mutuyemariya Christine appointed to take responsibility of the church’s Finance.

Pastor Ntibarikure Jean will be the interim official in charge Health
Nkuranga Aimable appointed as advisor on Finance and Economic affairs at the church.

Pastor Sibomana urged members of the ADEPR church to accept and be supportive of the new committee.

Zimbabwe has announced a decision to deport a Rwandan national Bizimana Théoneste who is said to have started a satanic religion.

Bizimana is said to have sought registration for the satanic religion but the Zimbabwe authorities responded by serving him with deportation.

Bizimana will be deported alongside with other two Congolese nationals George Rene Lungange and Ngendo Brangsto with whom they have been working together in the satanic religion which they sought to legalize on Zimbabwe soil.

The three arrived in Zimbabwe as refugees who have been living at Tongogara refugee camp.

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In Nigeria, ST. Theresa Catholic Cathedral, Nsukka, Enugu State has announced that from September 9th 2012, the church will no longer allow women with big head gears and handbags into the church premises.

Only head scarfs and very small purses are allowed.

“Please, in view of the present security challenges, the church has urged women to stop coming to Sunday service with big headgears and bags to enable security men know when bomb will be smuggled into the church.

The church has directed security men at the church gate to seize big head gears and bags from Sept. 9. This measure is aimed towards enhancing the security of the faithful during Sunday mass.”

The just concluded crusade code named ‘Rwanda Shima Imana’ held Sunday August 26, that brought together believers from different denominations resulted in disagreements between renowned artist Kizito Mihigo of the catholic faith and pastor Paul Gitwaza of Zion Temple.

The two prominent personalities disagreed on the bible teachings.

Normally before Mihigo starts singing, he first explains to his fans the origin and message in his songs and this is what he did before he sang Arc en ciel (Umukororombya).

In explaining the song Arc en ciel (Umukororombya), Mihigo said the message is derived from the bible book of genesis 6, which Mihigo says describes how God expressed his disappointment towards man especially in the Noah’s arc incidence.

The artist further provided several citations from the Bible explaining how God expressed both his mercifulness and disappointment to man.

Mihigo further explained that God later expressed his mercy and disappointment through Jesus Christ as manifested in Jesus’ teachings.

Thus the message in Mihigo’s song is derived from Gods mercy which he says wants to be bestowed to Rwanda.

However, Pastor Gitwaza who was the coordinator of the event took to stage saying don’t Blame Mihigo, he didn’t study theology like me.

“Let me first correct Mihigo especially where he alleges that God killed his own people. God does not kill his own people. It’s Satan who kills them. When there are killings its Satan doing so but not God.”

Pastor Gitwaza added that Mihigo is not a pastor; he is not even a reverend. He is just a young gospel singer. Don’t blame him.”

In a new twist Mihigo took to the stage and responded to pastor Gitwaza comments saying, “Brethren Gitwaza I realize you did not understand my explanations of the song Arc en ciel (Umukororombya).

“I didn’t say that God is an angry God. But I said God expressed his anger and mercy more with the coming of Jesus Christ.

Mihigo further noted that at such an event converging various religious denominations, nobody should assume the role of correcting others because this would mean one trying to take others to his own church.

Residents of Nyanza district were shocked when christian believers of the ADEPR faith in Rwanda had their pastor conducting baptsim of group members at a swimming pool inside a bar.

The Bar is at Dayenu Hotel located in Nyanza district where new ADPR faithfuls were immersed in a swimming pool as a form of baptism conducted on August 17.

Other members of the ADPR have condemened this act saying its absurd to baptise members in unholy waters moreover in a Bar.

Source: Kigalitoday

In the United States, a couple has been denied a chance to wed because they are simply Black.

The couple got the shock of their lives when the pastor at the church they attended told them the wedding they planned could not be held there because they are black.

Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson wedding was meant to take place july 20.

Pastor Stan Weatherford told the network there had never been a wedding for blacks at the First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, since it was opened in 1883.

The white congregation threatened to push for the Firing of the pastor if he dared wed the black couple at the church.

“My 9-year-old was going to the church with us. How would you say to your 9-year-old daughter, ‘We cannot get married here because, guess what sweetie, we’re black,’” Charles Wilson told ABC affiliate.

The bad news forced the couple to move their ceremony to another church where it was held July 21.

A resident in the area said, “That church was their home,” said local resident Theresa Norwood, 48.

“What would Jesus have done? He would have married them, without a doubt, because it’s the right thing to do. We’re all God’s children,” she said.