Page 536 - Devotion News Today

>> it is a historical place revered for centuries by the faithful. it is the place where it is celebrated jesus was born. thats enough for me in my devotion. its not enough for me as a scientist. >> and what of the other great tradition of the first christmas? the star in the east? was it a myth? or did it really exist? astronomer michael molnar may have found the answer on a 2,000-year-old coin he bought 50 years ago for $50. on one side he noticed the as logical skin for aries, on the other th...

They told him this meant that it was the cross of christ that would allow him to be victorious. and so he arranged to have the image of the cross painted on the shields of all of his warriors. >> constantine vowed to convert to christianity if he won the battle. and for centuries, his victory was seen as a turning point for christianity. but did constantine really convert to the faith his empire had tried to destroy? >> some historians have doubted whether constantine actually converted in the y...

The virgin mary also gave three secrets to the children. the first, a vision of hell. the second, the need to defeat communism in russia. and the third, a prediction too terrible to reveal. then, in the year 2000, pope john paul revealed the secret. >> it was about a figure in white being wounded. it wasnt a precise prophecy of what happened to the pope in 1981 but it was kind of a vague picture that fitted that occasion and there was nothing very startling about it. and i am very glad they came...

Thing. this is actually much more about the fact of jesus, is going to draw people from east and west and north and south. the nativity scene as we envision it today is largely a result of the devotion of saint francis of -- who had life size nativity scenes with live animals there are some elements of the way christmas is celebrated which go beyond what we find in the gospel text. >> so many reenactments of the nativity show this drama about making it to bethlehem and how difficult it was, woul...

Its 20 generations after adam and eve that he first meets abraham. >> when we first meet abraham in the book of genesis, were told that he had settled with his father and his wife, sarah, in a town called herron. a place where people were known to worship many different gods. and then out of the blue, this lowly shepherd received a call from the god of the hebrew bible, summoning him to leave his home for a new life at once. >> god says to abraham, go to this land that i will show you and i will...

More about the fact of jesus is going to draw people from east and west and north and south. >> the nativity scene as we envision it today was not largely the result of a devotion of saint frances who has life size nativity scenes with live animals. there are elements of the way christmas is celebrated that go beyond the gospel. >> so many krreenactments of th nativity show this drama about making it to bethlehem and how difficult it was would he travel 90 miles with a pregnant wife. >> when i t...

Oil? >> but abraham did not question gods promise, and this one mans unflinching devotion to only one god reverberates throughout the bible. it is the foundation of three great monotheistics faiths. >> obeying gods call, abraham quickly left behind the trappings of city life and set off with his family on a journey toward the promise land. >> its a decision to leave everything thats familiar to you. lets getting go of everything and embracing the unknown. its life-changing. >> here in southern t...

>> it is a historical place, revered for centuries by the faithful. it is the place where it is celebrated jesus was born. thats enough for me in my devotion. its not enough for me as a scientist. >> and what of the other great tradition of the first christmas, the star in the east? was it a myth? or did it really exist? astronomer michael mulnar may have found the answer on a 2,000-year-old coin he bought a few years ago for $50. on one side, mulnar noticed the astrological sign for aries, whic...

>> reporter: akhenaten was the pharaoh who built this city and his revolutionary ideas about just one god shook ancient egypt to its core. >> how are you? im christiane. >> im rahwiya. >> thats a nice name. what does it mean? >> its a classic arabic name. it means storyteller. >> youre aptly named for us. >> an egyptologist from cairo who spent years studying the ruins of amana. she says when akhenaten gave up the comfort of his palaces along the fertile nile delta and moved to this desolate pla...

Churches fathers to put women in their place. so by dividing women into madonnas and whores. >> one, as the mother of the son of god, and the other, some scholars say, as the messiahs favorite apostle. today theyre taking on new identities. while traditional devotion to the virgin mary, there is a new focus on mary of nazareth as a first century feminist, not the icon so familiar to generations. >> the icon highlights the spiritual angle of a person. but know that that icon is rooted in a histor...