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It's Saturday, December 2, 2023.

Today’s edition covers EU and UK measures to separate faith from government, a new translation and a new film from Jesus Film Project, two different heavens discussed in the Bible, and more.

By knowledge the righteous are delivered (Proverbs 11:9). Enjoy!

Of Christian Concern

AN EU RULING ALLOWS BANS ON RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS, AND A UK BILL AIMS TO SEPARATE CHURCH AND STATE

Photo: Pavel Danilyuk

Government offices in the European Union (EU) are allowed to ban the wearing of religious symbols such as Muslim headscarves, the EU’s top court has ruled. The ruling states that such a prohibition “does not constitute…direct discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief…provided that that provision is applied in a general and undifferentiated way.” In other words, religious symbols can be forbidden as long as all of them are forbidden.

In similar news, a bill to officially separate the Church of England from the state is to be introduced to parliament on Wednesday, December 6. The bill’s champion is Liberal Democrat peer Lord Scriven, who reportedly said, “In a modern and plural England, it is rather archaic and unacceptable that a privileged religious organisation is planted right at the centre of the way the state is organised and run. The separation of the Church of England and the state is long overdue.”

The passage of this new bill in the United Kingdom may be unlikely, since, Christianity Today notes, “Private members' bills rarely become law but often generate publicity for their cause.”

JESUS FILM PROJECT ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF 2,100TH JESUS FILM TRANSLATION, AND A NEW ANIMATED FILM

A screenshot from Jesus Film Project’s 1979 live action film, side by side with a screenshot from the sneak peek of their upcoming animated film.

The Jesus Film, the record-breaking 1979 movie based on the book of Luke, “is set to be launched in its 2,100th translation,” Jesus Film Project announced last month. The movie is reportedly “the most watched movie on the planet,” and has been used by God “to call millions to Himself.” It “was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the most-translated film of all time when it surpassed 817 translations,” the ministry says, and “it remains the world’s most translated film” today.

The latest language is Waorani—the language spoken by the indigenous tribe in Ecuador that famously killed missionary Jim Elliott, Nate Saint, and their companions in 1956. The Waorani people were subsequently evangelized by Elliott’s widow Elisabeth, and Saint’s sister Rachel and son Steve.

Today, the tribe is around 3,000-strong. The film, which “has gained international acclaim over the years for its impact in introducing people to the gospel,” is set to premiere in the new language early 2024.

On Thursday, the ministry also announced that it will release a new animated “JESUS” film in 2025. This new film will use “much” of the dialogue from the original film, “but in a refreshed script.” See a sneak peek at minute 1:09:18 of this video.

Jesus Film Project is a ministry of Cru, an organization best known for its campus outreach programs, which was recently called out for its liberal approach to LGBT issues.

Also Noteworthy

→ Christians in Bastar, a district in Chhattisgarh, India, are being denied the right the bury their dead, with at least five incidents occurring since November 10, according to local Christian leader and politician Phulsingh Kachlam.

→ US Cardinal Raymond Burke lost his apartment and salary after criticizing Pope Francis’ pro-LGBT position.

→ Up to 1,500 pastors resigned each month during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Andrew McQuitty, Pastor Emeritus of Irving Bible Church, who discussed the statistic in a recent interview.

→ Christian families in Gaza received essential supplies, financial assistance, and meals during the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas this past week, according to a newsletter update from Christian Mission to Gaza. The ceasefire ended Friday.

Content Catch-Up

Recent, notable content by Christian creators, or of Christian interest.*

→ Always Reviving: The latest edition of the periodical Christian History discusses the concept of revival, provides examples through Church history, and explores how “a hunger for renewal in the High Middle Ages led to the Reformation.” (Magazine)

→ Son of Hamas at UN: In an address to the United Nations, professing believer Mosab Hasan Yousef shares his story as the son of a Hamas co-founder, and delivers a fiery rebuke to the UN for “fail[ing] to condemn” Hamas. (Video)

→ God - He Needs You Not: Author Jack Richardson IV writes on how “the core of the decay in America originates from its attitude, and mischaracterization of God.” (Article)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

The Bible, Briefly

Two Different Heavens

The New Jerusalem, Armenian manuscript by Malnazar and Aghap'ir in New Julfa bible, 1645. (Public Domain)

Did you know the Bible refers to more than one heaven? It’s true. Here’s what it says.

Heaven is the dwelling place of God (1 Kings 8:30), though it cannot contain Him (1 Kings 8:27). It’s where Christ currently resides at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:55-56). When believers die, they are ushered into Christ’s presence (Philippians 1:23)—which means, by logical deduction, they go to heaven.

But the Bible is also clear that at the end of the world, after the final day of judgment, that heaven will pass away and be replaced with a new one: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…” (Revelation 21:1)

So yes, there are two different heavens: the present, temporary heaven and the future, final heaven. God reigns from the present heaven, and the disembodied souls of believers go there when they die. But after the resurrection, when the dead are raised (Acts 24:15)—that is, when their souls are reunited with their bodies—and the present heaven is replaced by a new one, this is what happens:

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.’” (Revelation 21:2–3)

So, the new heaven releases a new Jerusalem, which descends to the earth. Thus, the new heaven and the new earth are united, and God dwells with His people finally and forever.

Author and minister Randy Alcorn writes, “Books on Heaven often fail to distinguish between the intermediate and eternal states, using the one word—Heaven—as all-inclusive. But this has dulled our thinking and keeps us from understanding important biblical distinctions.”

So, the next time you talk about heaven, be sure to clarify which heaven you’re talking about!

Church History Tidbit

Miniature of Leo IX contained in an illuminated manuscript of the 11th century, side by side with the enthronement of Michael I Cerularius from the 13th-century Madrid Skylitzes. (Public Domain)

As discussed last week, one of Pope Urban II’s motivations for the First Crusade (1096) was “to unite all Christendom in a war to recover the Holy Land, thus ending the schism with the Greeks…”*

What schism was that? It was a schism—a split—that occurred 42 years prior, and is often called the Great Schism (1054), or the East-West Schism. 

This divorce, so to speak, between the Roman church (the West) and the Constantinopolitan church (the East) was precipitated by a number of disagreements. Some were religious, such as whether unleavened bread was permissible for communion (Rome said yes, Constantinople said no), the wording of the Nicene Creed, and whether clerics should remain celibate (Rome again saying yes).

Other disagreements were perhaps as political as they were religious, especially over whether the Pope, the leader in Rome, should have authority over the Patriarch, the leader in Constantinople. You can figure for yourself who said yes and no to that proposition!

On July 16, 1054, the church in Rome excommunicated Patriarch Michael Cerularius and the entire church in the east. The church in Constantinople returned the favor by excommunicating Pope Leo IX and the entire church in the west.

The two churches, which are the two largest branches of Christendom today, have never reunited. But they did officially bury the hatchet in 1965, when Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I undid the mutual excommunication decrees.

_______

*Carl Stephenson, Mediaeval History: Europe From the Second to the Sixteenth Century, Fourth Edition, ed. Bryce Lyon (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), 254-264.

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Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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