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Religion News

2015-03-13T22:08:05-04:00

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.

Where does anti-Hitler hero Dietrich Bonhoeffer fit?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

JOHN ASKS: [Dietrich Bonhoeffer] was a hero and martyr for the faith, but is it possible evangelical Christians in America have lionized someone whose theology is not actually in sync with theirs? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Books by and about Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) sell without letup, including no less than seven biographies since 2010, plus novels, plays, films, unending articles, even an opera. The German Lutheran pastor is one of the past century’s most revered authors with must-read titles... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:06-04:00

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 track record when atheists wield political power?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

DUANE’S QUESTION: He’d like to know what The Religion Guy was talking about in this from “Religion Q and A” on June 8: “When atheists seized governments in the 20th Century they fused their belief in unbelief with state power and enforced it with a cruel vengeance unmatched by the worst cross-and-crown tyrannies during Christendom’s bygone centuries.” THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The Guy was thinking of hard facts about Communists holding political power. To explain the comment (which compared Communism with... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:06-04:00

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.

Do religions influence China’s atheistic rulers?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

MADDIE ASKS: How much of … eastern and western religions have had an influence on the [atheistic Chinese Communist] Party’s ideology? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Not much, on the surface, but there’s obvious affinity with Confucianism that the Communist authorities don’t admit. However — Is Confucianism a “religion” or a mere humanistic philosophy, since it lacks defined gods and supernaturalism? Dr. G. Wright Doyle, director of the scholarly Global China Center (www.globalchinacenter.org), is currently in China researching Maddie’s issue and has... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:06-04:00

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.

Which religions favor separation of church and state?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

LISA ASKS: Do all religions teach separation between church and state? If not, which ones, and why? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Separation of church and state (the usual phrasing though “of religion and state” is often more accurate) is an achievement of modern politics and by no means a universal one. Among world religions, after long struggle Christianity helped create the concept and broadly favors aspects of it in most countries. Islam stands at the opposite end of the spectrum, often considering it alien... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:06-04:00

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.

Can Christian unity help a troubled Ukraine?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

SANDRA ASKS: Can common ground be found to unite the Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine [and could the harmony across church lines] during the Maidan protests point the way? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Possibly. But this troubled nation with a declining population of 45 million has excruciating religious and political history to overcome. It is blessed and cursed by geography, with rich farmlands and mineral resources yet perennially caught between East and West. Now that Russia has seized power... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:07-04:00

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.

Near death: Is “Heaven Is For Real” for real?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

MICHAEL-ANN ASKS: How well do you think [the current “Heaven Is For Real” movie] addresses communicating out-of-body spiritual experiences? AND ART ASKS: [Regarding the “countless books” on near-death experiences such as “Heaven Is For Real”]: Is there any legitimate connection between these and Christian views of the next life? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Since maybe a few folks out there haven’t bought this best-selling book, or seen the movie, or read about the book or the movie, here’s a summary: In... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:07-04:00

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.

How “make sense” of a Muslim “atrocity”?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

MICHAEL’S QUESTION: As a “religious pluralist,” Michael needs to “somehow make sense of the seemingly (in many other instances) peace-loving and merciful Muhammad simultaneously being involved in what in all honesty appears quite atrocious.” He refers to Muslims killing 400 to 1,000 Arabian Jews after winning the pivotal Battle of the Trench in 627 (C.E.). THE RELIGION GUY RESPONDS: April’s mass kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram has alarmed multitudes. These insurgents claim to champion true Islam, but leaders of... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:07-04:00

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.

Should town council prayers have been legalized?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

BRAD ASKS: [Regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s new Greece v. Galloway ruling that allows prayers before town council meetings]: Is the door being nudged open for an ugly discourse on separation of church and state? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Brad fears this pro-prayer decision might stir up ugliness, but The Guy thinks there’s be more of it if the Court had instead barred invocations like those in Greece, New York. Americans generally like prayers to solemnize civic occasions from inauguration of... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:08-04:00

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.

Pope Francis on economics: How innovative? How savvy?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

JIM ASKS: Conservative commentators ridiculed [Pope Francis’s decree Evangelii Gaudium] for its criticism of the free market system. But how different, really, is Francis’s thinking from his predecessors? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: The Catholic Church is experiencing Hurricane Francis, the early phase of what may become the most liberal pontificate in a half-century. The new pope’s eyebrow-raisers including his words on economics. An April 28 Twitter feed from Francis (or his handlers) said “iniquitas radix malorum,” (“inequality is the root... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:08-04:00

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.

A flood of reactions to Hollywood’s “Noah”

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:08 pm By Richard Ostling

DAVID SAYS: (Regarding the feature film “Noah”) I would love to read your personal reaction. THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Personally? The Guy is no fan of science fiction or slam-bang special effects. Those hulking stone monsters with flashing light bulbs for eyes didn’t thrill and otherwise Hollywood’s puzzling ark-aeology seemed, so to speak, all wet. But who cares about The Guy’s taste in movies? “Noah” is a conversation-starter so let’s survey the conversation. Preliminaries: There are well-known literary parallels between... Read more

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