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BCF PROFESSOR GUEST ON NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2008
Dr. Mark Rathel, Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida talks about Christmas on National Public Radio.
Mark Rathel, Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at The Baptist College of Florida (BCF) in Graceville, participated in a live discussion about Christmas on the National Public Radio (NPR) station of Miami University in Ohio. Stephen Angell, professor of Quaker studies at Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana, also participated as a program guest.
The NPR show on December 8 allowed listeners to call-in with questions or personal stories about the celebration of Christmas. During the program, Rathel and Angell discussed the meaning of Christmas, suggestions for enhancing the spiritual celebration of Christmas, and the relationship between Christmas and other faith traditions, and Christmas in the public square. Rathel chose 2 Corinthians 8:9 to express the meaning of Christmas, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: although he was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich (HCSB)." According to Rathel, Christmas celebrates Christ leaving the glories of heaven, entering into our experience and undergoing the poverty of the cross, in order to bring people into a relationship with God. Interested persons may listen to the broadcast on the program called "Interconnect" at wmub.org.