LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 17/12
Bible Quotation for today/I have
conquered the world
Latest analysis, editorials,
studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
No escape
from Taif /By: Michael Young/Now Lebanon/June 16/12
Egypt: A
setback or a correction/By Tariq Alhomayed/ Asharq Al-Awsat/ June 16/12
Will there be
a "jihad" in Syria/By Mshari al-Zaydi/Asharq Alwsat/ June 16/12
Islamic
Terror vs. Norway Massacre: Chicken or Egg?/By Raymond Ibrahim/Jihad Watch/June
16/12
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous
Sources for June 16/12
US
military intervention in Syria – “Not if but when”
U.S.
says weighing 'next steps' with partners on Syria
Crown Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Dies - Saudi
Royal Court
UN observers
in Syria suspend activities
Al-Mayadeen: The last attempt to revive pro-Assad media
Iran's
Ahmadinejad to leave politics in 2013
Stark
choice for Egypt in presidential poll
Report:
Syria Allegedly Moving Scud Missiles to Hizbullah
Syrian
opposition warns of looming Homs massacre
Syrian
former opposition chief calls for UN peacekeepers
Critical
juncture” in Syria as US seeks next steps
Iraq car
bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims kill at least 27
Maronite Bishops Back Baabda
Declaration as Means to Stability
Bkirki elects five new bishops for
Lebanon, Cairo, Jerusalem
Lebanon mourns death of Saudi crown prince
Protesters
block roads in Beirut, south Lebanon over electricity cuts
Nasrallah: Hezbollah can hit all essential targets in
Israel
Lebanon mourns death of Saudi crown prince
Lebanon must end rifts to withstand Syria turmoil
Lebanon's
Arabic press digest - June 16, 2012
Aoun: Lebanon must implement Dialogue's terms
March
14 slams Cabinet’s overspending decision
'Raise
Your Voice' Hacks Two Government Websites
Suleiman:
Army Measures at Nahr al-Bared Stem from Keenness on
Safety of Residents
Jumblat Says Neither March 8 nor March 14 Can Make Changes
in Syria
Residents
of Arsal Criticize U.N. Agencies over 'Insufficient'
Aid to Syrian Refugees
Condemned
U.S.-Lebanese Man Ruled Incompetent for Execution
No escape from Taif
Michael Young, June 16, 2012
Now Lebanon/The National Dialogue sessions are to resume later this month, and
the March 14 coalition hopes to bring to the table the matter of Hezbollah’s
weapons. Will that undermine the ongoing discussions? Probably not, as there
seems to be widespread support in
Moreover, an open forum on
constitutional reform could be proposed to raise a wide variety of additional
outstanding issues between the communities. This would include addressing
Christian worries about deconfessionalization, establishment
of a Senate, formulation of a fairer parliamentary election law and more.
March 14 understandably hesitates when
it comes to such proposals. In early June, Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan
Nasrallah, called for the convening of a constituent
assembly that would be tasked with studying ways to build “a true state”
capable of providing its citizens with security and economic stability. Whenever
Hezbollah talks about security, you know that its overriding objective is to
impose a means to legitimize the party’s retention of its weapons.
There are two other fears that March 14 has, and they are equally reasonable. When
Nasrallah mentions a constituent assembly, he is, plainly,
talking about constitutional changes outside the parameters of the Taif Accord. What would that entail? Most likely, some
suggest, a three-way division of seats in parliament between Shia, Sunnis, and Christians (with adjustments for the
smaller communities), an idea that has also been floated by Michel Aoun. March 14 believes that Nasrallah
and Aoun regard this as a means of installing a
structural two-thirds to one-third majority over the Sunni community.
A second worry is that if one begins to
talk about integrating Hezbollah’s weapons into the Lebanese state, this will
not mean very much if the party comes to control the army and the state. Indeed,
Hezbollah’s ambition is to do precisely that, as its strategy today is focused
on winning parliamentary elections next year, and following that a year later
with the election of a president it favors. However, Nasrallah
is facing a more complicated situation than he imagines. Let us examine the
three-way division of power idea. The reality is that a majority of Christians
will never endorse such a mad scheme, because it would only formalize their
numerical decline by overhauling the current 50-50 ratio of Christians to
Muslims in parliament, while handing them nothing tangible in return. The
notion that Christians view their long-term salvation in an alliance with Shia is also absurd—or, for that matter, with the Sunnis. Communal
politics is about shifting alliances and interests, not about ganging up on a
single community. As ludicrous is the assumption that Aoun
influences most Christians in making such choices. Maronites
in particular are divided over the fundamental challenges of Lebanese political
life, so that prospects for a consensus over a three-way division of parliament
seem remote.
But if Christians aren’t willing to see their parliamentary representation cut
down in a three-way scheme, some might respond, why would they go along with Taif, which mandates the abolition of sectarian quotas
entirely? That’s not an easy question to answer, but Taif
has two things going for it: First, it outlines the creation of a Senate, in
which the 50-50 communal ratio is preserved, reassuring the Christians; and
second, the deconfessionalization of parliament would
apply to all communities, meaning Christians would be part of a larger process
that offers advantages and disadvantages to all.
In other words, officializing a three-way communal
split in parliament introduces rigidity into the system: Christians could never
aspire to more than a third of seats, and may find themselves hopelessly
outvoted if Sunnis and Shia unite. In contrast, Taif has a sectarian safety net, through a Senate, while
imposing no caps on communal representation. And it is not a momentary pastime,
the product of a short-term interpretation of political circumstances today as
defined by Nasrallah and Aoun.
What of the argument that if Hezbollah controls the state and the army, any
plan to place the party’s weapons under the authority of the state and army
becomes meaningless? In fact, the state and army are houses of many mansions, mirroring
the impossible complexities and contradictions of Lebanese society. It would be
hubris on the part of Hezbollah to assume that it could put an indefinite lock
on state institutions, especially on an army that has substantial numbers of
Sunnis in its ranks. If the party were to accept any measure of state control
over its weapons, this would be a valuable wedge to exploit.
March 14 should direct an arms-versus-expanded-political-representation
proposition at Shia in general, not just at Hezbollah.
This may seem unimportant, even counterproductive, since Hezbollah remains so
influential among its coreligionists. However, it is necessary to underline that, ultimately, any negotiations over reform should
transcend specific politicians and organizations, and aim toward a broader
social contract within and between communities. There is no reason to restrict
participation in a national reform project to the major representatives of the
communities.
We shouldn’t expect breakthroughs when it comes to Hezbollah’s arms. But March 14
must reaffirm the importance of Taif as the framework
for any future negotiations over power-sharing. If that means
tying Taif into a debate over weapons, all the better.
Nasrallah and Aoun are
trying to run away from Taif. We mustn’t let them.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of The Daily Star newspaper in
Report:
Naharnet/16 June 2012/..
Maronite Bishops Back Baabda
Declaration as Means to Stability
Naharnet/16 June 2012/The Maronite bishops synod backed on Saturday the Baabda
Declaration made following the national dialogue held last week, saying it
guarantees security stability in
The bishops also urged authorities to implement a development plan for the industry,
agriculture and tourism sectors and called for providing job opportunities for
the Lebanese. The statement said the
bishops were looking forward for Pope Benedict XVI’s
visit to
I.MEDIA, an agency specializing in Vatican news, had said Wednesday that the
unrest in
Bkirki elects five new bishops for
June 16, 2012 02/The Daily Star /
Nasrallah: Hezbollah can hit all essential targets in
June 16, 2012/The Daily Star /
US military intervention in Syria –
“Not if but when”
http://www.debka.com/article/22088/US-military-intervention-in-Syria-–-“Not-if-but-when”
DEBKAfile Special Report June 16, 2012/ As the
violence in Syria continued to go from bad to worse in scope and intensity, US
official sources had this to say Saturday, June 16, about planned US military operations in the
war-torn country: “The intervention will happen. It is not a question of ‘if’
but ‘when.’” A Syrian Free Army rebel delegation is now in
Following reports of approaching
Saudi Crown Prince Nayef,
next in line to throne, dies
By The Associated Press | Jun.16,
Hard-line interior minister spearheaded Saudi Arabia's fierce crackdown
crushing al-Qaida's branch in the country; in 2002 interview, he accused the
Jews of being behind 9/11. Crown Prince Nayef, the
hard-line interior minister who spearheaded
His elevation to crown prince in November 2011, after the death of his brother
Sultan, had raised worries among liberals in the kingdom that, if he ever
became king, he would halt or even roll back reforms that Abdullah had enacted.
Soon after becoming crown prince, Nayef vowed at a
conference of clerics that
Nayef, who was interior minister in charge of
internal security forces since 1975, built up his power in the kingdom though
his fierce crackdown against al-Qaida's branch in the country following the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and a broader campaign to prevent
the growth of Islamic militancy among Saudis.
The 9/11 attacks at first strained ties between the two allies. For months, the
kingdom refused to acknowledge any of its citizens were involved in the suicide
airline bombings, until finally Nayef became the
first Saudi official to publicly confirm that 15 of the 19 hijackers were
Saudis, in a February 2002 interview with The Associated Press.
In November 2002, Nayef told the Arabic-language
Kuwaiti daily Assyasah that Jews were behind the Sept.
11 attacks because they have benefited from subsequent criticism of Islam and
Arabs. Nayef came under heavy criticism in the
In mid-2003, Islamic militants struck inside the kingdom, targeting three
residential expatriate compounds … the first of a string of assaults that later hit government buildings, the
The anti-militant campaign also boosted Nayef's ties
to the religious establishment, which he saw as a major tool in keeping
stability and preventing the spread of violent al-Qaida-style "jihadi" theology. The Wahhabi
ideology that is the official law in
Nayef's Interior Ministry allied with clerics in a "rehabilitation"
program for detained militants, who went through intensive courses with clerics
in "correct" Islam to sway them away from violence. The program
brought praise from the
UN observers in Syria suspend
activities
Reuters Latest Update: 06.16.12/Ynetnews
Chief of UN observers says mission suspended over escalating violence; at least
12 killed Saturday as Assad's troops step-up offensive against rebel forces in
Damascus suburbs. Syrian government troops shelled suburbs of the capital
Observers suspend mission
The chief of UN observers in
U.S. says weighing 'next steps' with
partners on Syria
By Reuters | Jun.16, 2012/Following the suspension of operations by UN
observers,
By DPA | Jun.16, 2012/Iranian president tells German magazine he wants to
return to academia when his second term expires early next year. Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
wants to leave politics after his second term expires in early 2013, he told
German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in comments to be published Sunday. "Eight
years are enough," Ahmadinejad told the
newspaper, which released highlights of the interview Saturday. "I plan to
go back into academia." Ahmadinejad, 55, is an hydraulic construction engineer who was awarded a
doctorate in 1997 for his research into transport systems. "Maybe I'll get
involved politically at the university, but I'm not going to found any
political party or grouping."
Stark choice for
With neither a parliament nor a new constitution in place to define the
president's powers, voting on Saturday and Sunday will not settle the matter, leaving
82 million Egyptians, foreign investors and allies in the United States and
Europe unsure what kind of state the most populous Arab nation will be.For those who preferred the secular centrists, leftists
and moderate Islamists who lost in the first round, the two-man run-off leaves
an unpalatable choice from the extremes.
Some of Egypt's 50 million eligible voters say they will despoil their ballots
rather than back Ahmed Shafik, 70, a former air force
commander who was Mubarak's last prime minister, or Mohammed Morsy, 60, of the Brotherhood, the clandestine enemy of
army rule for six decades. But many were determined to make their voice heard. Queues
formed early at some polling stations as they opened at 8 a.m. (02.00 a.m. EDT)
for the first of two days of voting. A result could be known as early Sunday
night, after the second day's vote. "I am going to vote for Shafik. He is a military man, ex-pilot and war commander. He
has exactly what need in a leader. A strong military man to have a strong grip
on the state and bring back security," said Hamdy
Saif, 22, a student who like many Egyptians are desperate for order after Mubarak's overthrow. There are
signs of exasperation with the Brotherhood's push for power on the back of a
revolt driven in its early stages by the secular, urban middle class may limit Morsy's ability to widen his appeal beyond the Brotherhood's
disciplined ranks.
The Brotherhood had secure the biggest bloc in parliament that was elected in a
vote that ended in January, and initially said they would not field a
presidential candidate but then changed tack at the last minute. The court
ruling to dissolve parliament reverses those gain, and could help win some more
sympathizers for the group. "I was going to vote for Shafik
but after parliament was dissolved, I changed my mind and will vote Morsy. There is no more fear of the Islamists dominating
everything," said Ahmed Attiya, 35, a IT technician in
EUPHORIA THEN FRUSTRATION
Critics denounced the parliament ruling as a coup and compared it to the start
of the Algerian civil war, when the military cancelled an election won by
Islamists 20 years ago. But the Brotherhood renounced violence as a means to
achieve political change in
Hardline Islamist violence this month in Tunis, where
the first Arab Spring uprising inspired Egyptians to emulate their North
African neighbors, has also hardened fears of
political Islam, notably among those dependent on tourism for a living, secular
activists, women and the Egypt's Christians, who make up a tenth of the nation.
Both candidates have sought the center ground, promising to rule in the spirit
of the revolution: "It is not correct that the military council wants to
rule through me," Shafik said. Morsy, a last-minute choice for the Brotherhood after their
preferred candidate was barred, has played down talk of a crackdown on
beachwear and alcohol that would hurt tourism and steered away from
confrontation with Israel after three decades of cool peace maintained during
Mubarak's military-backed rule.
But both candidates are also defined by those who promoted them. The
Brotherhood candidate says he is running because God expects him to offer his
sacrifice for the nation. Shafik's air force career
shadowed that of Mubarak, his elder by 13 years. "We are back to the
political dynamic of secular versus Islamist, of a civil state versus an
Islamist state," said Mona Makram Ebeid, a political scientist and member of a body that
advises SCAF, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. "That is what we as
political forces are confronted with today, causing almost a gridlock," she
said, referring to months of wrangling between the army, Islamists, liberals
and other parties seeking to carve a new course for the nation.
During Mubarak's era, his presidency was mainly endorsed in single-candidate
referendums but in 2005, under pressure from his
Will there be a "jihad" in
By Mshari al-Zaydi/Asharq Alwsat
The British Foreign Secretary was right to compare the current situation in
The Balkans crisis is still worthy of interpretation and contemplation: why did
the Serbs suddenly crack down on their Bosnian Muslim neighbors,
despite the fact that they had been neighbors for
hundreds of years? At the time of the war,
However, for more than a year rational people warned that if the international
and regional community failed to embrace the Syrian opposition and deal with it
in the same welcoming manner that it dealt with the revolutions in Libya, Egypt
and Yemen, then the revolutionaries would be forced to carry weapons and resort
to guerrilla warfare. This was said clearly on more than one occasion, but such
rationalism seems to have fallen on deaf ears. It is therefore ironic that
everyone is expressing false amazement at the possibility of a civil war
erupting in
Are the Syrian people simply expected to accept these killings, rapes and
bombardment until Obama and Putin become convinced of a solution?
Apart from being a humanitarian disgrace, this is also political stupidity. If
the international community opened its eyes and saw the real situation on the
ground, it would seize the initiative and lead the Syrian opposition, unifying
and protecting it from the infiltration of religious extremists by blocking out
any sectarian interpretation of the Syrian crisis, something that it has so far
failed to do. Aside from this failure, the international community seems
astonished that the Syrian victims are now protecting themselves and carrying
weapons.
The latest example of this immoral political approach came from Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that he wants to
prevent the eruption of a civil and sectarian war in
Can you believe his audacity?
To summarize, this incompetent international handling of the Syrian file has
been compounded by the fact that everybody – from Washington to London, as well
as Moscow – say they want to prevent Syria sliding towards chaos and a civil
war; meaning a war between the Sunnis and the Shiites. Yet, their actions are
actually leading to this outcome! Perhaps
what I will say now will upset the Free Syrian Army [FSA], the Syrian
opposition and whoever champions them, but nevertheless…
Last week, FSA leader Riad al-Asaad
dismissed an incorrect news item reporting that Kuwaiti nationals are now
fighting alongside the FSA on Syrian soil. The Kuwaiti "al-Qabas" newspaper reported – in its Sunday issue – the
news that Kuwaitis had entered Syrian territory to join the FSA in its fight
against government troops. Yet according to the Kuwaiti al-Watan
newspaper, Colonel al-Asaad stressed that reports of
other Arab nationalities fighting with the FSA were incorrect. He said "the
Syrian regime is seeking to spread this news in order to mislead the world."
Personally, I understand the logic of Riad al-Asaad, whose aim is to react to Bashar
al-Assad media propaganda and its trumpets, which is highly adept at telling
lies and providing camouflage. This is all well and good; however this is one
thing whereas I mean to comment on something else. I think now that the
massacres which the al-Assad regime is committing against Sunni civilians and
non-Sunni revolutionaries have escalated - as was evident in the town of
Bashar al-Assad has made himself an ideal target for
the Jihadists, for he meets all the conditions and criteria of pure evil in
their eyes: he is bloodthirsty to the extreme, hostile to the Sunnis, and
serves as an agent of
Everyone knows that Bashar al-Assad and his apparatus
has previously tried to benefit from such wild
Jihadist energy in
The crux of the matter, as I mentioned previously on several occasions, is that
the revolution in
By Tariq Alhomayed/ Asharq
Al-Awsat
Anybody looking at the bigger picture in
Today, the delusions have been dispelled, and there are many such delusions in
If the Egyptian people accept the Supreme Constitutional Court’s ruling to
dissolve parliament and move forward in their participation of the presidential
run-off, distinguishing between the choices of a civil state and a religious
state, in addition to the fragmented political forces – particularly the youth
–organizing their ranks in preparations for the forthcoming parliamentary
elections, and prior to this, the battle over drafting the constitution, this
would mean that Egypt is facing a large and important corrective movement, and
everybody will benefit from this. The most important thing is for
Islamic Terror vs.
by Raymond Ibrahim/Jihad Watch
June 14, 2012
http://www.meforum.org/3263/islamic-terror-norway-massacre
Ever since last year's Norway massacre, when Anders Breivik
killed some 70 people, the relativists and Muslim apologists of the world felt
exonerated: for here at last, thought they, was proof positive that terrorism
had nothing to do with Islamic teachings per se. If Christianity cannot be
blamed for Breivik, why blame Islam for al-Qaeda?
This question was restated in a recent email to me from Gehan
D. Sabry, editor of Cross Cultures, a website
dedicated to "Promoting Harmony Through Knowledge
and Better Understanding." Regarding my recent article, "A Tale of Two
American Martyrs," where I discussed the slayings of two American
Christians in the Muslim world due to allegations of proselytizing, she wrote:
[…] I know enough fellow Christians who agree with me that the majority of
Muslims and Christians, in fact the moderates of ALL religions ... get along
just fine, and only the radicals of each are the ones who make the news, and
cause turmoil and tragedy in this world ... when I read this article of yours,
I immediately remembered the psycho from Norway who killed over 70 youth
recently ... why don't you try to explain that away for me? My explanation,
which may be of general interest—this question of moral equivalency plagues the
many who think on superficial terms—follows:
First, the two murdered American teachers were killed by Muslims under
accusations of proselytism. As it happens, according
to mainstream Islamic interpretations of Sharia,
proselytizing Muslims is a capital offence. In fact, it is mentioned as far
back as the so-called Pact of Omar, which Muslim doctrinaires still quote from,
and which delineates what non-Muslims (it was first made with Christians in
Syria) must—and must not—do to safeguard their blood.
One of the stipulations they had to agree to was, "We shall not manifest
our religion publicly nor convert anyone to it." At the very end of the
pact, they had to agree that "If we in any way violate these undertakings
for which we ourselves stand surety, we forfeit our covenant, and we become
liable to the penalties for contumacy and sedition," which is death.
Thus the Muslims who killed the American teachers accused of Christian proselytism had doctrinal backing from Islam—one that, by
the way, has manifested itself regularly throughout the course of Muslim
history. On the other hand, Anders Breivik had
absolutely no Christian support—doctrinal or scriptural—for his shooting spree.
Nor did he articulate his terror in the name of religion, the way Koran-waving
Islamic terrorists do daily. The importance of this contrast should be clear to
objective thinkers.
Also, as earlier explained, the terror campaign of Breivik—who openly confessed that al-Qaeda was his
"inspiration" to the point that he tried to emulate its tactics by
beheading and videotaping his victims—was influenced, consciously or subconsciously,
by Islamic-style jihad and terror.
Finally, let us not overlook the fact that the American teachers who were
killed by Muslims, and the 70 Norwegians who were killed by Breivik,
were all killed in response to Islam—the former directly, the latter
indirectly. Along with the countless non-Muslims daily persecuted under Islam,
the Americans were slain in direct accordance with Islam's anti-infidel laws.
Conversely, though only Breivik is directly
responsible for his murderous spree, it was, nonetheless, indirectly prompted
by his conviction (shared among many Europeans) that Islam—from mass and
illegal immigration, to calls for Sharia and death
for cartoon publishers—is making cataclysmic inroads in Europe. Without
removing the sole responsibility from Breivik, the
question is: Would there have been a
**Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the
Question: "What are the essentials of the Christian faith?"
GotQuestions.org?
Answer: The Bible itself reveals what is important and essential to the
Christian faith. These essentials are the deity of Christ, salvation by God’s
grace and not by works, salvation through Jesus Christ alone, the resurrection
of Christ, the Gospel, monotheism and the Holy Trinity. These are the main
“essentials” that we should understand and believe if we are followers of Jesus
Christ. Let’s look at all of these in a little more detail.
The deity of Christ. Quite simply, Jesus is God. While
Jesus never directly says, “I am God” in the Scriptures, He makes it very clear
to those around Him, especially the Pharisees and Sadducees,
that He is God. John 10:30 says, “I and the Father are one.” Jesus was
claiming deity, and, interestingly enough, He did not deny that He was God.
Another example is John 20:28, when Thomas says, “My Lord and my God!” Again,
Jesus does not correct Him by saying that He is not God. There are many other
examples one can find in the Scriptures regarding Jesus’ rightful place in
heaven.
Salvation by grace. We are all sinners separated from
God and deserving of eternal punishment for our sin. Jesus’ death on the cross
paid for the sins of mankind, giving us access to heaven and an eternal
relationship with God. God did not have to do this for us, but He loves us so
much that He sacrificed His only Son. This is grace, and it is most definitely
undeserved favor. Scripture tells us, “For it is by
grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is
the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor or
gain access to heaven apart from His grace.
Salvation through Jesus Christ alone. A truly
provocative question to ask someone might be “Do all roads lead to God?” The
truth is that all roads do lead to God. Eventually, we are all going to stand
before God when we die, no matter what faith we are. It is there that we will
be judged for what we have or have not done while we were alive and whether
Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives. For the majority of people, this will be a
terrible occasion, as most will not know Him or be known by Him. For these
people, hell will be the final destination. But God in His mercy has provided
all of us the only means for salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12
tells us that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” This passage speaks of
the name of Jesus and His saving power. Another example is found in the book of
John. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me” (John 14:6). No one gets into heaven except by
faith in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ on his or her behalf.
The resurrection of Christ. Perhaps no other event in
the Bible, aside from Jesus’ appearance here on earth and subsequent death on
the cross, is as significant to the Christian faith as that of the
resurrection. Why is this event significant? The answer lies in the fact that
Jesus died and then after three days came back to life and rose again to
reappear to His followers in bodily form. Jesus had already demonstrated His
ability to resurrect others such as His friend Lazarus. But now God the Father
had resurrected Him to display His awesome power and glory. This amazing fact
is what separates the Christian faith from all others. All other religions are
based on works or a powerless deity or person. The leaders of all other
religions die and remain dead. The Christian faith is based on Christ crucified
and resurrected to life. “And if Christ has not been raised,
then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
Lastly, to deny Christ’s bodily resurrection (John 2:19-21) is to deny that
Jesus’ work here on earth was a satisfactory offering to God for the sins of
mankind.
The gospel. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul spells out
what the gospel is and how important it is to embrace it and share it with
others. He reminds the Corinthians of the gospel he preached among them: “That
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” This is
the essence of the gospel. Paul also warns us to be wary of the many “false
gospels” that are being offered to the unsuspecting: “But even if we or an
angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached
to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If
anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him
be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9). The pure gospel of Jesus Christ—His death on
the cross for sinners and His resurrection to everlasting life—is central to
the Christian faith.
Monotheism. Quite simply, there is only one God.
Exodus 20:3 states very powerfully, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one God to be worshipped and
served. “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant whom I have
chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me
no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me’”
(Isaiah 43:10). Here we see that we are to “believe” and “understand” that God
lives and is one. A Christian will know that there is only one God, the God of
the Bible. All other “gods” are false and are no gods at all. “For even if
there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are
many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), yet for us there is but one God, the Father,
from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord,
Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (1
Corinthians 8:5-6).
The Holy Trinity. While the concept of a “three-in-one
God” is not represented by a single verse or passage, it is described
frequently throughout Scripture. If we look at Matthew 28:19, we see the verse
calling out the Trinity: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.” While this verse mentions all three Persons of the triune God, it does
not call them the Trinity. So to understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity,
we must look at the “totality” of Scripture and glean from it the definition.
In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, we see how this comes together: “Now there are
varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but
the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God
who empowers them all in everyone.” Again, we see all three Persons being
represented but not titled the Holy Trinity.
Finally, the essentials of Christianity would not be complete without the
ingredient that binds everything together—faith. “Now faith is the assurance of
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). As
Christians we live by this verse with the understanding that we believe in a
God we cannot see. But we see His work in our lives and all around us in His
creation. We do all of this through faith because we know that faith pleases
God. “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw
near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him”
(Hebrews 11:6).
Recommended Resource: The Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul Enns.
The Man Who Would Be King
Simon Henderson /ForeignPolicy.com
April 10, 2012/Washington Institute
The senior members of the Saudi royal family are looking increasingly frail, and
the buzz in the Gulf is that there will be not just one, but two, changes in
the kingdom's leadership during the course of the next year. Although there is
no fixed succession plan if that comes to pass, the newly minted defense minister, Prince Salman, looks
well placed to ascend to the throne.
The evidence suggests that
Within a day or so, the Saudi heir to the throne, the 79-year-old Crown Prince Nayef, is due to return home after more than a month away
from the kingdom. He initially went to
As a former long-serving governor of the kingdom's giant
Even if Salman soon becomes king, he is no spring
chicken himself -- there is no certainty that he will reign for long. Salman himself has had at least one stroke -- photographs
suggest that despite physiotherapy his left arm does not work as well as his
right. And his line of the family has a history of health problems: his two
oldest sons, Fahd and Ahmad, have already died as a result of heart problems.
In the interim, it is easy to predict an increasingly open rivalry between the
sons of Abdullah, Nayef, and Salman.
The king's most prominent but not eldest son, Mitab, is
the head of the national guard; a younger son, Abdul
Aziz, is deputy minister of foreign affairs. Crown Prince Nayef's
son Mohammed is the assistant minister of the interior, and well respected for
his counterterrorism prowess. Salman's son, Abdul
Aziz, is assistant minister of oil. The machinery of government, however, remains
largely in the hands of long-serving functionaries. During an interregnum, they
can be relied on to at least -- to choose an appropriate metaphor -- keep the
oil tanker on course. At King Abdullah's side is Khalid al-Tuwaijri,
the son of the late Abdul Aziz al-Tuwaijri, one of
Abdullah's closest associates. Each day, Khalid -- dubbed the "uncrowned
king" -- receives or discerns instructions from his monarch. Another such
figure is Musaid al-Aiban, a
minister of state with a Harvard doctorate who now looks after the
**Simon Henderson is the Baker fellow and director of the Gulf and Energy
Policy Program at The Washington Institute.
Condemned U.S.-Lebanese Man Ruled
Incompetent for Execution
Naharnet/16 June 2012
A Lebanese-born inmate is too mentally ill to be executed for the killings of
his wife and brother-in-law, a
"Awkal changed his story on the eve of execution
and blamed the CIA for executing him, after admitting that he had lied to
psychiatrists and has now successfully manipulated the court," Mason said
in a statement. "Delays like this are what is
wrong with the death penalty." A brother of the victims, Ali Abdul-Aziz, said
the ruling means killers can avoid the death penalty by faking insanity. "Where
is the justice," he asked in an email. "All the court has done is set
a precedent for all criminals, telling them: All you must do is act insane, and
then you will live." The ruling concluded several days of testimony from
both sides who argued whether the 53-year-old Awkal
was mentally ill when he killed his estranged wife, Latife
Awkal, and brother-in-law, Mahmoud
Abdul-Aziz, in a
"When he's on anti-psychotics (medication), he does get better. They do
indicate that often times the delusions will either be tamped down or will go
away. So it could be a case that he will be restored," he said. But, he
said, Awkal gets severe side-effects from such medications,
sometimes shaking from head to foot.Dr. Stephen Noffsinger, a psychiatrist for the state, testified during
a hearing Wednesday that Awkal is mentally competent.
"Mr. Awkal had a motive to distort information. Here's
a man fighting for his life," Noffsinger said. Prosecutors
said in the months before the shooting that Awkal
bought a pistol and threatened to kill his wife and her family if they didn't
dismiss the divorce proceedings. They also said Awkal
changed his address and wrote his brother a check for most of his assets before
he went to court on the day of the shooting.
But Awkal's attorneys had argued he is so mentally
ill he believes he lives in a fantasy world where he is crucial to the country's