News and Prophecy Staff

In recent years, a silver amulet or phylactery was discovered in a grave in Germany (LiveScience, December 20, 2024).

Excessive alcohol use is sadly quite normal in some European countries. For example, in Denmark, 43 percent of girls and 46 percent of boys admitted to “getting drunk repeatedly,” according to recent research (The Guardian, December 31, 2024). But something unusual is happening with British women and teen girls.

The Christian Post reports that abortion was the leading cause of death worldwide in 2024, according to the online statistical aggregator Worldometer, with just over 45,000,000 of these “procedures” performed—dwarfing the next leading cause of death (January 4, 2025).

Winter wildfires are nothing new to southern California and the Los Angeles basin. This area tends to be sunny and dry, attracting millions of people to make their homes in it—including many of the rich and famous, who have built luxurious homes in the hills. However, due in part to a very dry period and unusually high winds, this year’s fires are exceptionally destructive (BBC, January 7, 2025).

In a recent interview published by the New York Times, Jonathan Rauch—journalist, author, and fellow of the Brookings Institution—was asked for his thoughts on the impact of Christianity on American democracy (December 18, 2024). Rauch observed that the American founding fathers relied on the religious values of the people—in particular, the values the founders saw in Christianity—to help make the secular American Constitution work.