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Religion News

2016-04-20T11:22:40-04:00

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.

A big one: Is New Testament history reliable?

Last updated on: April 20, 2016 at 11:22 am By Richard Ostling

NORMAN’S QUESTION: How can we get people informed about the results of academic biblical scholarship, work that completely undermines the ordinary popular conception of Christianity and faith? Why are Christians not interested in the truth? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: “What is truth?”, Pilate asked Jesus. Or did he? America’s “Jesus Seminar” claimed the Roman tyrant never spoke those famous words and, for that matter, much else in the New Testament never happened either. Norman worries that people aren’t “informed.” Sunday... Read more

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2016-04-06T16:47:21-04:00

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.

Was one of the New Testament apostles a woman?

Last updated on: April 6, 2016 at 4:47 pm By Richard Ostling

CLAUDE’S QUESTION: How did you come to the conclusion that Junia / Junias in Romans 16:7 is an apostle? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Paul’s weighty New Testament letter to the Romans concludes with chapter 16’s greetings to various friends. Verse 7 applies the exalted label of “apostle” to Andronicus alongside someone named either “Junias” or “Junia.” Was that name, and thus the apostle, male or female? What did the “apostle” title mean? And what does this tell us about gender... Read more

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2016-03-30T07:30:25-04:00

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.

What does Islam teach about violence?

Last updated on: March 30, 2016 at 7:30 am By Richard Ostling

DAVID’S QUESTION: Why don’t mainstream Muslims acknowledge that the Quran orders them to do just what ISIS does? MIKE’S QUESTION: Does the Quran tell Muslims to kill anyone who doesn’t become a Muslim? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: David’s full question — posted before the latest slaughter aimed at Christians in Pakistan, children included, and the bombings in Belgium — asks why Quran passages “explicitly order the killing of non-Muslims.” Mike, posting after those atrocities, wonders “why there is so much... Read more

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2016-03-19T17:36:13-04:00

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 do we know about the Jewish leader who buried Jesus?

Last updated on: March 19, 2016 at 5:36 pm By Richard Ostling

JACK’S QUESTION: What do we know about Joseph of Arimathea? Have scholars learned anything more about him than what is said in the Gospels? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The man who buried Jesus is a timely topic for Christians’ Holy Week. The quick response is that lots of stuff about Joseph of Arimathea is floating around out there. But much of it was written long centuries after the fact and is best regarded as folklore that tells us about British... Read more

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2016-03-09T08:58:18-05:00

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.

Did later Christians change what Jesus’ earliest followers believed about him?

Last updated on: March 9, 2016 at 8:58 am By Richard Ostling

NORMAN’S QUESTION: Why do an overwhelming number of Christians believe (or say they believe) things about Jesus that were not believed by his earliest followers in Jerusalem, led by his brother James? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: This important question results from the previous Q and A item, which summarized central teaching about Jesus Christ that has united most Christians since it was finalized by 5th Century ecumenical councils. It holds that the one true God exists in a Trinity of... Read more

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2016-02-26T11:10:24-05:00

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.

How are Orthodox Christians organized, and why?

Last updated on: February 26, 2016 at 11:10 am By Richard Ostling

DAVID ASKS: Most of us in the U.S. are aware of Orthodox Christians but don’t really understand their organization. Can you expand on their split around the world? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Our previous Q and A about Islam’s founding Sunni – Shi’a split mentioned divisions within Orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy, which means “correct teaching,” sees itself as preserving Christianity’s earliest and most authentic form. This faith is in the spotlight what with 1) history’s first meeting between a Catholic pope... Read more

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2016-02-17T17:25:41-05:00

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.

Sunni vs. Shi’a Muslims: What? Why? Where? How many?

Last updated on: February 17, 2016 at 5:25 pm By Richard Ostling

JIM ASKS: Muslims in the U.S.: Sunni or Shi’a? And a second reader asks about the two groups’ numbers and over-all relationship on the international level. THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: This two-sided split underlies the increasingly dangerous Mideast rivalry between a rising Shi’a axis under revolutionary Iran and a bloc led by Saudi Arabia with its strict Sunni regime. A 2012 Pew Research survey asked people in Sunni lands “do you personally consider Shi’as to be Muslims or not?” Those answering... Read more

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2016-02-09T15:06:18-05:00

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.

Bible puzzler: Did John write the Gospel of John?

Last updated on: February 9, 2016 at 3:06 pm By Richard Ostling

PATRICIA’S QUESTION: Who do you think authored the Fourth Gospel? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: This follows up on our December 10 item about whether the apostle John wrote the Bible’s Book of Revelation. The Religion Guy will report what some experts say, not what a mere journalist thinks. The full question from seminary graduate Patricia shows she’s familiar with this debate. Bottom line, there’s no simple answer. The headline sounds like a conundrum. But remember the Gospel text itself names... Read more

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2016-01-30T16:59:11-05:00

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 Jesus Movement’s impact 45 years later?

Last updated on: January 30, 2016 at 4:59 pm By Richard Ostling

JOSH’S QUERY: [Referring to “Time” magazine’s 1971 cover story on the youthful “Jesus Revolution”] A lot has happened since then — culturally, religiously, movement-wise — and I’d be fascinated to see you revisit your journalistic and theological mind. THE RELIGION GUY’S RESPONSE: This interests Josh because his parents were members of Love Inn, which typified the youth-driven “Jesus Movement” of those days. It was a combination church, commune, Christian rock venue and traveling troupe, based in a barn near the... Read more

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2016-01-19T14:16:31-05:00

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 are the ins and outs — mostly ins — of the Internet’s Bible Gateway?”

Last updated on: January 19, 2016 at 2:16 pm By Richard Ostling

HEATHER’S QUESTION: I don’t see the New Revised Standard Version in my biblegateway.com app. Do you have any idea why it’s excluded? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: This specific topic is quick and easy, so the Guy will use the space and occasion to provide broader information about the quite remarkable www.biblegateway.com (hereafter BG), billed as “the most-visited Christian Website in the world” with “more than 18 million unique visitors per month” — and a must for Religion Q and A... Read more

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