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Politics and Religion

2015-03-20T17:08:49-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What’s the difference between pastors and laypeople?

Last updated on: March 20, 2015 at 5:08 pm By Gene Veith

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Rev. Adam Roe, in his series on vocation at Mission: Work, observes that Philip Melanchthon, author of the Augsburg Confession and other key texts in the Book of Concord, was a layman. Pastor Roe uses this fact as an example of “the priesthood of all believers,” going on to show how the doctrine of vocation shows how God is graciously active and present in all of life. Now Rev. Roe is a pastor in the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for... Read more

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Philipp Melanchthon

2015-03-19T20:25:30-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The unchurched and non-religious still pray

Last updated on: March 19, 2015 at 8:25 pm By Gene Veith

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Church attendance and other marks of religious observance are in decline, but a new study has found that people–including the non-religious–are still praying. In fact, 57% of Americans say they pray every day, and 75% pray once a week or more. This would seem to indicate a shift away from corporate religion to privatized religion. See details after the jump. Question: From a Christian perspective, is the persistence of prayer, even as church attendance declines, a good thing, in the... Read more

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2015-03-19T20:11:25-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Diversity and Empire

Last updated on: March 19, 2015 at 8:11 pm By Gene Veith

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Which is better? A society characterized by cultural diversity? Or a society in which its many different kinds of people are assimilated into a single nation characterized by cultural unity? Today, the former view dominates, but the goal through most of history throughout the world has been the latter. More to the point, cultural diversity has always been the characteristic of an empire. Republics have always been built around national unity. The Claremont Review of Books discusses a new book... Read more

2015-03-19T13:56:19-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Family, country, God–in that order

Last updated on: March 19, 2015 at 1:56 pm By Gene Veith

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The Barna pollsters have released a study of what factors tie into Americans’ self-identity. The biggest factor by far is “family.” Then comes “country.” Then comes religion. Other elements, such as career and ethnicity, play a lesser but still significant role. The mix is different according to different demographics. After the jump, an excerpt and a link to the report, for more details. (more…) Read more

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2015-03-18T20:47:04-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“We loathe this worthless food”

Last updated on: March 18, 2015 at 8:47 pm By Gene Veith

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Last Sunday one of our Scripture readings was about the children of Israel complaining in the wilderness, whereupon they were attacked by fiery serpents until Moses healed them by lifting up a bronze serpent on a pole, which Jesus would later apply to Himself (Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-21). I was struck by one of the Israelite’s whines: “We loathe this worthless food” (Numbers 21:5). They were talking about Manna! The miraculous food that God supplied them day by day without... Read more

Rev. James Douthwaite

2015-03-18T19:59:25-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mandatory voting?

Last updated on: March 18, 2015 at 7:59 pm By Gene Veith

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President Obama appeared to endorse mandatory voting as a way to get money out of politics. In countries that have mandatory voting laws, if you don’t cast a ballot, you have to have to pay fines or other penalties. American polls show that most people who don’t vote support Democrats, which, of course, doesn’t do Democrats much good. I’ve read that in Australia, which punishes non-voters, the effect is a kind of stasis, since so many of those who cast... Read more

2015-03-18T20:18:50-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Presbyterians (USA) give strong endorsement for gay marriage

Last updated on: March 18, 2015 at 8:18 pm By Gene Veith

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The Presbyterian Church (USA) has formally expanded its definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. It becomes the largest denomination to affirm gay marriage in the strongest possible terms, upholding same sex marriage even in states where it is not legal and applying to all congregations (though pastors will be allowed to decline to participate). After the jump, an account of the change and a summary of the position of other mainline liberal Protestant denominations and how they are different. ... Read more

Presbyterian Church (USA)

2015-03-17T21:50:42-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Super-Christians & vows against vocation

Last updated on: March 17, 2015 at 9:50 pm By Gene Veith

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In the second in Mission Work’s series on a Lutheran perspective on faith & work, Rev. Adam Roe offers a post entitled No super-Christians. He discusses Luther’s reaction against the view that those who want to be particularly spiritual–“super-Christians”–would become monks, nuns, or priests. These were considered callings from God–“vocations”–while lay occupations were not. I would add that the specific way that a person became a “super-Christian” contributed to the problem: A person who sought to become “religious” took–and still... Read more

2015-03-17T20:55:08-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Male abortions & the end of “women’s issues”?

Last updated on: March 17, 2015 at 8:55 pm By Gene Veith

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Feminism and gender politics in general may be coming apart, since gender identity is being parsed into ever-smaller mutually offended units. To so much as speak of “women’s issues” is now considered in some of these circles to be oppressive to transexuals, an act of “cissexism,” defined as “transphobia.” To the point that some pro-abortion groups are eliminating references to women, since non-women (such as transexuals who used to be women but now identify as men, as well as “gender... Read more

2015-03-17T20:56:22-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The actual war against Christianity

Last updated on: March 17, 2015 at 8:56 pm By Gene Veith

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As Christians are preoccupied with the thought that the culture is carrying on a war against them, an actual war is being waged in the Middle East that exterminating whole populations of Christians. And yet, not the American government nor even American churches are doing or even saying much about it. An article in Foreign Policy, excerpted and linked after the jump, tries to understand why. It would seem that Democrats are concentrating on improving relations with Muslims and Republicans... Read more

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