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One of the most popular Christian holy days is Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Less well known, at least in the Western world, may be the Hindu festival of Ramnavmi, the celebration of the birth of Lord Rama. The central text of Christmas is Luke 2, which narrates the birth of Jesus while placing him in a certain context. The great text of Ramnavmi is the Ramcaritmanas, from which many verses are read during the ceremonies. The Ramcaritmanas is a Hindi version of the Sanskrit Ramayana epic and includes the birth story of Rama and his brothers. This article presents English translations of the texts narrating the births of Jesus and Rama, analyses these texts and compares their contents and finally draw some conclusions regarding the concept of incarnation found in these texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article starts with a short introduction to the history of films about Jesus Christ. These were already produced in 1897, within two years of the first ever showing of any film. At first the churches seemed to react positively, but later their attitude reversed. Later yet the churches changed their minds again. Since 1979 the concept of translating the gospel into film language gained an increasing adherence. The theological portraits of Jesus in the two films most used in missions and missionary work are analysed. Furthermore the impact of these films is dealt with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several reports published within the issue including one on world Christianity and multiculturalism by Professor Martha Frederiks, and one on the development on Nigerian Pentecostalism by Peter Uche Uzochukwu.

Offers information on the periodical "Exchange," which deals with issues concerning Christianity.