Are Jehovah’s Witnesses “Christian”?
June 14, 2013 By Richard Ostling 3 Comments
JOSEPH IN MARYLAND ASKS: Since Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is God, are they truly a Christian denomination? THE GUY ANSWERS: As an old-school journalist, The Guy's role is not to answer such questions but to explain the dispute. Jehovah's Witnesses assert that across the centuries all other groups claiming to be "Christian" have been grievously in error about Jesus Christ and related beliefs, and that Jehovah God commissioned Charles Taze Russell, a self-educated Bible … [Read More...]
How do Muslims interpret the Quran?
June 8, 2013 By Richard Ostling 3 Comments
JAY (no location listed) ASKS: Who / What do Muslims look to to understand what the Quran teaches? THE GUY ANSWERS: Jay's full posting says that when questions or confusions about the Bible arise his fellow Catholics can refer to ample, officially sanctioned explanations, including those in the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church. He wonders whether a Muslim has such standardized resources on the Quran, in addition to guidance from a local imam. Actually there are varied Bible … [Read More...]
A popular Christian creed’s confusing word
June 1, 2013 By Richard Ostling 1 Comment
LOU (no location posted) ASKS: What does the word "again" mean in the Apostles' Creed when we say "he rose again from the dead"? THE GUY ANSWERS: Lou isn't alone in head-scratching over this word in a creed regularly recited by untold millions of English-speaking Christians. Catholicdoors.com lists this under "frequently asked questions." Does "again" mean Jesus Christ had risen once before and then rose "again," as though Easter celebrates a second resurrection? A Californian who … [Read More...]
Unitarian Universalists’ Jesus puzzlement
May 27, 2013 By Richard Ostling 7 Comments
EYTAN IN MARYLAND ASKS: What do Unitarian Universalists believe about Jesus? THE GUY ANSWERS: All sorts of things. Jesus is a perennial puzzlement for the 221,000-member Unitarian Univeralist Association (www.uua.org), which was formed by a 1961 merger of two liberal denominations. The 19th Century forebears unhesitatingly identified as Christians, though they rejected orthodox belief in Jesus Christ worshipped as the one savior from sin and God the Son in the Trinity. By today's … [Read More...]
Is Allah the Father of Jesus?
May 20, 2013 By Richard Ostling 6 Comments
ROBERT IN NEW JERSEY ASKS: Is Allah the Father of Jesus? THE GUY RESPONDS: The Christian-Muslim confrontation is one of our era's major global themes, and the theological discussion is as central as the politics. In 1964, the world's Catholic bishops at the Second Vatican Council answered Robert with a yes, stating that the plan of salvation "includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place among these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, … [Read More...]
U.S. Muslims: Where? How many?
May 14, 2013 By Richard Ostling Leave a Comment
TYLER IN MARYLAND ASKS: Where are the largest Muslim populations in the U.S. located? Is there a reason Muslim-Americans tend to flock to one area over another? THE GUY RESPONDS: We have good current information thanks to "The American Mosque 2011" survey and head researcher Ihsan Bagby of the University of Kentucky (a Muslim and onetime United Methodist). Not all ethnic Muslims join, but mosque locations provide our best indicator of population dispersal since the U.S. Census does not … [Read More...]
Why would Muslims revere Jesus?
May 7, 2013 By Richard Ostling 1 Comment
JOSEPH IN MARYLAND ASKS: Why do most Muslims view Jesus as a prophet of Islam when he is the cornerstone for an opposing religion (Christianity)? THE GUY ANSWERS: In Islam, high reverence for Jesus as a great prophet is required by God in the holy Quran revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, therefore not only for "most Muslims" but for all. Further, the Quran assesses other world religions by stating that Christians are "the closest in affection" to Muslims (Quran 5:82). Admittedly, such … [Read More...]
Defining “Evangelicals” — important & complicated
May 1, 2013 By Richard Ostling 10 Comments
PAUL IN VIRGINIA ASKS: Many people refer to themselves as "Evangelical Christians" to distinguish them from others. What is The Guy's definition? THE GUY ANSWERS: In Latin America and Europe, "Evangelical" usually means simply "Protestant" of all types. Thus the following pertains only to the U.S., where Evangelicalism is an important, potent, and distinctive force within Protestantism, united by conservative belief but complicated in organization. This network or movement consists of … [Read More...]
Are big “megachurches” a big deal?
April 24, 2013 By Richard Ostling 12 Comments
JOSHUA IN ILLINOIS ASKS: (Regarding this 1988 Forbes magazine quote from management expert Peter Drucker): "The pastoral megachurches that have been growing so very fast in the U.S. since 1980... are surely the most important phenomenon in American society in the last 30 years." Do you agree? THE GUY ANSWERS: No, not if Drucker really thought they were the single most important U.S. phenomenon since 1958. The Guy would immediately note, for instance, the personal and societal gains in … [Read More...]
Did Jesus have a “theology”?
April 17, 2013 By Richard Ostling Leave a Comment
BRAD IN NEW YORK ASKS: Did Jesus have a personal theology? When did he change from Jew to Christian (if indeed he was a Christian)? THE GUY SAYS: Thanks a heap, Brad. Just kidding. Religion Q and A loves to get mind-boggling -- or should we say mind-blogging -- puzzlers. A few points on a highly complex topic: The Guy posed this query to a relatively liberal Catholic, John P. Meier at the University of Notre Dame, author of A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus (4-volume … [Read More...]
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