Faith 2.0: May PULP

Faith 2.0

What’s the difference between religion and theology?

There are two different definitions for religion, with one focusing on the belief in a supernatural deity or deities, and the other referring to an institution used to express this shared belief by a community. Theology, however, is a rational process based in systematic thought that sets about analyzing religion and its many facets. There are many different types of theological inquiry, but the root words come from Greek meaning “to study God.”

Why are there so many years of Jesus’ life unaccounted for in the New Testament?

It is true that Christian scriptures only record Jesus’ life from birth until he was about twelve, and the picks up again at around age thirty. Though no one knows for sure what went on during those “missing years” there are lots of theories. Some believe Jesus went east and studied the great eastern philosophies, whose influence arguably can be seen in his adult teaching. Another myth is that he traveled with Joseph of Arimathea, the wealthy man who provided Jesus’ tomb at upon his death, to England. There are also theories that he spent time in Alexandria, Egypt, with which he seemed to be familiar as suggested by the gospel texts.