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Religion News

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.

Was Jesus married?

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

JANET ASKS: What is your opinion on the historicity of the ancient text mentioning Jesus’ wife? What are the implications for the Christian faith? THE GUY ANSWERS: To decide what to make of this text, which has one word that apparently says Jesus was married, it’s all-important to know when it was written. So www.christianitytoday.com takes the prize for funniest religious pun of the month if not the year with its headline: “How to Date Jesus’ Wife” The quick journalistic summary for Janet ... 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.

Did Jesus only become God at Easter?

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

ARTHUR ASKS: Christians observe that the Son of God died to atone for human sins. But St. Paul says (Romans 1:4) that Jesus was “declared … to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.” So apparently Jesus wasn’t divine when he died (or before). How then does atonement work? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: A timely inquiry as Christians reflect on Jesus’ death and resurrection, and also due to the clash between two new scholarly books, “How Jesus Became... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:09-04:00

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.

Does the Pope have to go to confession?

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

RACHAEL ASKS: Who does the Pope go to if he has to go to confession — or is he exempt because he’s the Pope? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: The Pope gets no pass because he’s the Pope. Pope Francis, who has shown a flair for the dramatic his first year in office, demonstrated this in highly unusual fashion during this Lenten season, which puts special emphasis on contrition for sin. On March 28, to the surprise of worshippers in St.... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:09-04:00

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.

World Vision’s gay furor and A.D. 2064

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

PAUL ASKS: (Regarding the World Vision relief agency deciding U.S. employees can live in same-sex marriages): What does the Religion Guy think? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: This question was prompted by that dramatic policy change by a prominent Christian organization, but a mere two days later World Vision restored its limit of employees’ relationships to male-female marriage. A news reporter’s job isn’t to tell agencies what to do but to analyze what’s going on, and The Guy thinks these neck-snapping events say much... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:09-04:00

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.

Why did some ancient religions fall and others rise?

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

MADDIE ASKS: What caused ancient religions to become less prevalent? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Our previous Q and A item treated ancient Confucianism, Jainism, Shinto, and Taoism, which have survived into the 21st Century but with radically diminished status. Maddie wonders why ancient Babylonian, Greek, and Roman mythologies died out and Zoroastrianism has nearly disappeared while Judaism and Hinduism didn’t vanish like other ancient creeds. She asks, did the younger proselytizing faiths of Christianity and Islam simply “push out” the... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:09-04:00

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.

“Help!!” on five venerable religions

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

JAEDE ASKS: I need to know the founder, area of the world it’s in, what their holy book is called, and their holidays, for Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Jaede headlined this item “Help!!” and was probably sweating over some school exam or term paper so this comes too late. Nonetheless, a sketch of these five Asian creeds might be informative since they’re lesser-known than the much larger Hinduism and Buddhism. The Guy is grateful that... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:10-04:00

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.

Could the pope ever be Jewish?

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

ELIZABETH ASKS: Isn’t it possible for the Pope to be Jewish? And if the Catholic Church someday elected a Jewish pope would that most likely help or harm Catholic-Jewish relations? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Timely topic one year after the breakthrough election of the first Western Hemisphere pope, Francis of Argentina, who succeeded the first two non-Italian popes in centuries. The questioner notes a bit by Jay Leno, late of “The Tonight Show,” who told passersby the new pope was... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:10-04:00

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 latest Bible ruckus: Camels!

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

KENNETH ASKS: With new research questioning the Bible’s report that domesticated camels existed as early as Genesis, the efforts to knock this down appear defensive rather than empirical. But Rebekah was certainly watering something. Thoughts? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: Some breathless online news headlines from recent weeks: “Camel Bones Suggest Error in Bible” (Fox News) “Camels Don’t Belong in Old Testament” (Forbes magazine) “Camels Had No Business in Genesis” (New York Times) “The Mystery of the Bible’s Phantom Camels” (Time... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:10-04:00

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.

Lent: Not once a year but four times

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

TERRY ASKS: Whatever happened to the Lenten disciplines that used to be part of Advent – Nativity? THE RELIGION GUY ANSWERS: As Christendom nears the annual season of Lent, this refers to the Orthodox Church’s little-known practice of not just one but four seasons each year of Lenten-type fasting. “Great Lent” leading up to Easter is familiar. But traditionally, Orthodoxy also observes a Nativity Fast from mid-November (or later) through Christmas Eve, and two other seasons of abstinence from specified food and... Read more

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2015-03-13T22:08:10-04:00

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.

America’s church slide II: What to do?

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

GENE ASKS: What one factor more than any other would draw more people into the church? THE GUY ANSWERS: In the previous Religion Q and A, Gene asked “what one factor accounts for the indifference so many Americans harbor toward the church?” The Guy nominated “fading cultural respect,” scanned what observers think about causes, and covered mostly hard church trends, not soft “spiritual but not religious” sentiments. (A timely aside on religious identity: To coincide with the winter Olympics, Pew... Read more

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