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Religion News

2024-01-04T23:15:05-05:00

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.

Why does the Catholic Church spurn Masonic lodges?

Last updated on: January 4, 2024 at 11:15 pm By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER It probably perplexed some people, Catholics included, when the Vatican declared November 13 that Masonic lodge membership by a church member is “forbidden because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry.” The announcement reaffirmed Rome’s 1983 declaration that a Catholic who joins the group is “in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.” That earlier statement was issued to clarify this penalty because the new revision of the Code of Canon... Read more

Catholic

History and Religion

2023-12-07T21:57:27-05:00

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.

Should people who’ve shed Christian beliefs celebrate Christmas anyway?

Last updated on: December 7, 2023 at 9:57 pm By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S RESPONSE: The quandary above is not posed by The Guy himself but by Keith Giles in a December 5 piece titled “Deconstructing Christmas,” one of his Progressive Christian columns for the multi-faith site patheos.com. Giles departed from his career as the pastor of a conventional church and now participates in an anonymous “house church” with no salaried staff. For purposes of this article, what’s pertinent about the writer is his vocation of encouraging people in the process... Read more

General Christian

Religious Events

Uncategorized

2023-11-16T22:24:33-05:00

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.

Is Religious Faith Compatible with Scientific Thinking?

Last updated on: November 16, 2023 at 10:24 pm By Richard Ostling

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Mirrors with telescope: counting stars vs. the cells in one brain. / Pixabay.com THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The question above was the headline with a November 14 psychologytoday.com article by Joseph Pierre, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco – the latest of so many that address this perennial issue. His answer was yes or no, depending. Atheists may say no, period. As we’ll see, prominent scientists have replied with a yes. Pierre... Read more

New Visions

General Christian

Education and Religion

2023-11-03T19:43:26-04:00

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.

Question for Diwali: Why does Hinduism extol vegetarian diets?

Last updated on: November 3, 2023 at 7:43 pm By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: In the leadup to Diwali, the Festival of Light on November 12, an article by Richa Karmarkar, the Hinduism specialist with Religion News Service, brings the faith’s vegetarianism up to date. First, it observes that Hindus can make good use of the increasing availability and variety of plant-based mock “meat” under such brand names as Beyond Meat and Impossible. Second, the article reports on an interesting futuristic issue that faces Hindu authorities: Will meat be permissible... Read more

Hindu

Food and Religion

2023-10-19T19:02:02-04:00

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.

Questions: Does secrecy help the church? Does it work?

Last updated on: October 19, 2023 at 7:02 pm By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWERS: In almost every case, No, and No. This issue erupted in the news with the surprise decision by Pope Francis to clamp unusual strict secrecy upon the Synod of Bishops he has summoned to the Vatican this month. (The Synod’s second and concluding session will occur a year from now). This indicates that church leaders the extent to which bishops are facing internal difficulties. The media typically portray Francis as a relatively liberal pontiff. But it... Read more

General Christian

Catholic

Religious Events

2023-10-03T08:40:19-04:00

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.

Question: How many members do major U.S. religious groups have?

Last updated on: October 3, 2023 at 8:40 am By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Well, that’s impossible to say with any accuracy since there’s no one agreed-upon statistical source and some groups do not collect or issue good numbers. We do know two things for sure about the U.S. 1) It remains predominantly Christian despite a recent decline, and 2) There’s been notable growth in non-Christian religions through immigration and conversion. Recently, some noteworthy new numbers about U.S. Christianity became available. We’ll review those below, but let’s begin with complexities... Read more

More Voices

History and Religion

U.S. religion statistics

2023-09-23T15:56:09-04:00

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.

Question: Is Ukraine a “Just War”?

Last updated on: September 23, 2023 at 3:56 pm By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The good news for Russia’s Vladimir Putin: A significant national leader announces that his invasion of Ukraine is a “just fight” that will end with “a great victory in the sacred struggle.” The bad news: The speaker is North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, so what’s “just” is defined by probably the most despised despot on the planet and what’s “sacred” by an atheist who works to exterminate all religion. Each international conflict raises the matter of... Read more

General Christian

2023-09-08T11:39:06-04:00

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.

Question: Why Did the Bible Accept Slavery?

Last updated on: September 8, 2023 at 11:39 am By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: There’s been intense discussion of this never-ending issue in 2023, as we’ll see. In essence, defenders of the Bible explain that slave-holding was a fundamental aspect of society as far back as the earliest written annals we have, well before biblical times. Due to the existence of that powerful reality, the Bible did not and could not attempt to overthrow the sinful system but worked against its evils. Fact is, slavery was so ingrained that it... Read more

Jewish

General Christian

History and Religion

2023-08-20T08:45:42-04:00

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.

Question: Why Did Early Christians Choose Only Four Gospels?

Last updated on: August 20, 2023 at 8:45 am By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: During the formative first centuries of Christian history there were some 40 texts in circulation that could be considered “gospels,” according to one scholar, while another counted as many as 70. Marvin Meyer of Chapman University decided a dozen such non-biblical gospels merited inclusion in an 2005 anthology, while others have proposed different listings. Early Christians dismissed what they judged to be “apocryphal” texts, meaning of doubtful authenticity, and recognized only the familiar quartet of Matthew,... Read more

General Christian

History and Religion

2023-08-08T12:54:25-04:00

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.

Question: What do Jews believe about the death penalty?

Last updated on: August 8, 2023 at 12:54 pm By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: There was relief last week when a unanimous Pittsburgh jury approved the death penalty for the man (not to be dignified here with a name) who in 2018 massacred eleven worshipers at the Tree of Life Congregation, in the deadliest act of anti-Jewish violence in U.S. history. There’s a strong aversion to capital punishment in the teaching across the branches of Judaism but, as we’ll see, this is not absolute, and Judaism’s biblical and textual tradition... Read more

Jewish

History and Religion

Tree of Life massacre

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