Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Vaclav Klaus: (b. 1941, Bohemia) Prime Minister of the Czech Republic 1992-1197, President of the Czech Republic, elected 2003. Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

Jiri Paoubek: (b. 1952, Czechoslovakia) Prime Minister of the Czech Republic  2005-2006. Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

Martha Bedell Alexander: (b. 1939, Florida (USA)) Librarian, chaplain, North Carolina House of Representatives  1993-2013. Episcopal.

Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard: (b. 1938, Netherlands; Beatrix of the Netherlands) Wife of Claus van Amsberg.  Queen of the Netherlands (1980-2013) Protestant Church of the Netherlands.

Claus George Willem Otto Frederik Geert van Amsberg: (b. 1926 – d. 2002) Husnad of Beatrix of the Netherlands, diplomat.  Dutch Reformed Church.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Abraham Johannes Muste: (b. 1885, Netherlands – d. 1967; A.J. Muste) American Clergyman, civil rights activist, pacifist.  Muste was a proponent of the Social Gospel.  He was a Dutch Reformed Socialist who became a Quaker Christian pacifist.

Honorio Hermeto Carneiro Leao, Marquis of Parana: (b. 1801, Brazil –d. 1856) Judge, politician, diplomat, and monarchist.  Roman Catholic.

Howard Thurman: (b. 1899, Florida (USA) – d. 1981) Baptist minister, educator, author, philosopher, theologian, civil rights leader.  Thurman was a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr.

James Leonard Farmer, Jr.: (b. 1920, Texas (USA) – d. 1999) Civil rights activist who organized the 1961 Freedom Ride and was a cofounder of the Congress of Racial Equality.  Son of James Leonard Farmer, Sr. Methodist.

James Leonard Farmer, Sr.: (b. 1886 – d. 1961) Author, theologian, educator, university professor.  Father of James Leonard Farmer, Jr.  Methodist.

"Amazing Grace" Performed On the Carillon

The carillon is the world's largest musical instrument, consisting of at least twenty-three large cast bronze bells housed, usually in a bell tower.  The bells can be rung to play a melody, or to produce chords, by a keyboardist performing on an organ-like set of wooden keys and foot pedals.  Music produced on a carillon can be heard for miles.

Most of the world's carillons are in the low countries of Europe.  There are 164 carillons in the United States, with many on university campuses and supported by the school's music departments.  Example's in the United States include Denny Chimes at the University of Alabama and the carillon at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama where Dr. Stephen Brooks Knight has been the carillonneur for thirty-eight years.

Amazing Grace

Demonstration of how a carillon is played

Dutch Prince Survives Avalanche

Prince Friso of Orange Nassau (born 1968), a son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was almost killed on Friday 17 February 2012 while skiing off marked trails in Austria.  The sport is considered to be especially dangerous because rescue personnel and equipment are not readily available in such areas and, since the areas are not developed, access is very limited.  Prince Friso was caught in an avalanche and was buried under several feet of snow.  He is in critical but stable condition at a hospital in Innsbruck.  The members of the family are Protestant Christians.  Please pray for Prince Friso's recovery.

The Right to Refuse Based on Religious Beliefs

67 year-old Dutch civil servant Wim Pijl was fired recently in The Hague (Den Haag) for refusing to perform same-sex marriages.  Pijl cites his Christian beliefs as the reason.  “As a Christian, I learned from the Bible that there is only one marriage, between a man and a woman.”

The Hague city government dismissed Pijl because he “refused to take back his remarks.”  Pijl, one of 104 known Dutch civil servants who refuse to perform same-sex marriages, says he may take civil action against the city.

The Netherlands was the first country (2001)to legalize gay marriage.  The prime minister has guaranteed that same-sex marriages will be available coutrywide.

The issue brings into sharp focus the conflict between governmental policies and the right of government employees to refuse to act in ways which would violate their religious beliefs.  The same issue has begun to arise in the United States where the discussion is about whether physicians may refuse to perform abortions.

In the United States a person may, based on their religious belief, refuse in court to "swear on the Bible."  They are allowed instead to promise to tell the truth.  I believe that the same principle should apply in the cases above.  Surely a way short of dismissal can be found to accommodate legitimate religious objections. 

http://www.cip.nl/nieuwsbericht_detail.asp?id=25595 

http://www.persecution.org/2011/11/18/dutch-christian-civil-servant-fired-for-opposing-gay-marriage/   

It's Not Her!

Dutch forensics authorities have just announced that the female human jawbone found on a beach in Aruba does not belong to the missing American teenager, Natalee Holloway.  That leaves open the possibility that she may still be alive.  The question then becomes; whose jawbone is it?  Whose missing daughter has just been found?  Who killed her?  Are there other bones on Aruba's beaches?

scripture4all.org

     Scripture4all.org is a wonderful free website based in the Netherlands and loaded with features useful to serious students of the Bible.  The backbone(s) of the site is(are) the interlinear Greek and Hebrew Bibles.  Their format is three stacked lines per verse; line one is the Greek or Hebrew text, line two is the extremely literal translation, and line three is the plain English paraphrase.

http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Hebrew_Index.htm

http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Greek_Index.htm

http://www.scripture4all.org/

     Other useful features include an Interlinear Scripture Analyzer used for word studies in Greek or Hebrew.  The word processor quirk with which I have struggled, their insistence on placing Hebrew letters in English letter order, can be overcome here: Hebrew can be displayed in either left to right or right to left letter order.  The site is free but donations are accepted and a statement is made that that new features may require a small fee.