New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been pleading with lawmakers for support and even threatening political retribution against Democrats who have criticized him in an aggressive effort to contain the political fallout from revelations that his administration had concealed the full extent of nursing home-related deaths during the Covid pandemic.
The Great Fire of Rome happened in July of 64 AD. It burned for nine days and destroyed two-thirds of the city. Emperor Nero blamed the fire on the Christians, which resulted in intermittent persecutions of the Christians for 250 years.
But then, in the year 313, co-emperors Constantine the Great (272-337) and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, which established religious toleration and stopped the persecutions. Later, Constantine became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, a turning point for Christian history.
Part of his personal motto was, “One God, one Lord, one faith, one church,” but he came to realize there were great divisions in the “one church.” So, in 325 AD, to settle the differences, he convened the First Council of Nicaea and told the estimated 300 Christian bishops and deacons they “had to come to agreement on what they believed because division in the church was worse than war.” The Council responded by establishing the Nicene Creed, which is a longer and more detailed version of the Apostle’s Creed. Both of which are now in the PC(USA) Book of Confessions, an affirmation of faith and proclamation of belief.
However, Constantine himself had issues with Christian baptism and God’s forgiveness. He and many others believed baptism gave God’s forgiveness for only those sins previously committed and that sins committed after baptism would never be forgiven. So, he thought the ideal time to be baptized was on his deathbed, when there would be very few sins left over to worry about. His timing was great, and he was baptized as he lay dying. But 100 years later, due to better understanding of Colossians 2:13-14 (“God nailed our debts to the cross and forgave all our sins”), baptism was considered a Christian sacrament that provided forgiveness for all past, present, and future sins. All thanks be to God.
This article originally ran on averyjournal.com.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.