THE QUESTION: After 176 years, does the Southern Baptist Convention need a new name? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: This question has simmered over the years within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which is by far America’s largest Protestant body. Discussions heated up a decade ago and are now more pertinent than ever. Some Baptists hope this step toward a fresh new image might help overcome public relations disasters over SBC mishandling of sexual abuse cases, misogyny, racial insensitivity and partisan... Read more

THE QUESTION: Should 21st Century Christians still give 10% of their income to the church? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: A bad pun says that the week of a church’s annual budget pledge drive the pastor preaches the Sermon on the Amount. Many churches are fretting about amounts these days, hoping attendance and offering-plate receipts will recover from the COVID crisis. How much should modern-day Christians donate to support their churches? The oft-cited standard is the “tithe,” a biblical term for... Read more

THE QUESTION: Would proof that intelligent life exists on distant planets overturn the Christian religion? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Religious skeptics say very likely yes. Why? They argue that given the unimaginably vast number of planets throughout space, there seem to be heavy odds that life would have evolved on some or many of them. If so, we earthlings no longer stand at the center of God’s plan for the cosmos, and that overturns the biblical viewpoint. No, according to... Read more

THE QUESTION: Did Winston Churchill believe in God? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Sorta. Maybe. Depends what you mean. The question and that answer are raised in the new book “Duty & Destiny: The Life and Faith of Winston Churchill” (Eerdmans) by Grove City College historian Gary Scott Smith, whose prior works include “Faith and the Presidency from George Washington to George W. Bush.” It’s fair to say that during World War Two Churchill saved the United Kingdom and with that... Read more

THE QUESTION: Where in the world is Christianity still growing, and why? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: This page often addresses topics that have been in the air for months, even years. But this one is raised by a brand-new article this week at ChristianityToday.com and a more academic version posted by the journal Sociology of Religion. There’s further timeliness in the Gallup Poll’s March bombshell that less than half of Americans now claim religious affiliations, the lowest mark since it... Read more

THE QUESTIONS: Was Jesus Christ totally without sin? Does it matter? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Christian tradition says yes, and yes. This month, related discussions with weighty implications popped up online, so The Religion Guy takes a look at this belief, which dates from the very earliest days of church history. But we begin with the fact, perhaps surprising to Christians, that Jesus’ sinlessness is also taught by Islam. These two faiths combined engage upwards of 4 billion people. In... Read more

THE QUESTION (raised by The New York Times): What can we know about long-ago biblical figures, for instance Joshua? How do we know what we know, or think we know, or can know, or might know? “Epistemology” is the branch of philosophy that ponders such matters. It may seem odd, but philosophers even ponder if there’s any basis for believing that anything we remember from before one second ago actually happened! Back to earth, how do we assess what can... Read more

THE QUESTION: Does Christianity believe in the “immortality of the soul”? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: No. Not exactly. And before anyone has a heart attack reading that, The Guy hastens to explain that Christianity has always vigorously affirmed the Easter message that earthly death is followed by everlasting life. But the oft-used phrase about a mere “immortality of the soul,” which stems from ancient Greek philosophy, could suggest  bodily life is problematic and mistakenly suppose that our soul exists through... Read more

THE QUESTION: How do the three main categories differ among America’s rising non-religious “nones”?      THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:       Political scientist Ryan Burge of Eastern Illinois University has lately emerged as the most prolific analyst of the religion factor in U.S. politics, The Religion Guy contends. He’s now out with a book examining the biggest trend of our times within U.S. religion: “The Nones: Where Thy Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going” (see... Read more

THE QUESTION: What is religion? THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Oddly, “Religion Q & A” entered its ninth year online before getting around to this question. It’s not an easy one.             During the tax season, we may not feel particularly fond toward the IRS but can pity the staffers who spent years on a long-running dispute that ended in 1993 when the godless Scientology system was finally defined as a “religion” and thus eligible for the tax exemption benefit. Then... Read more