LONDON (RNS) — Oxford University researchers have been given nearly $4 million to investigate the origins of belief in God. The three-year project titled “Empirical Expansion in Cognitive Science of Religion and Theology” is designed to determine if belief in…
Some Southern Baptists decry timidity on environmental issues
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A group of Southern Baptists has launched a new initiative on the environment, saying that their denomination's past declarations on the issue have been “too timid.” “We believe our current denominational engagement with these issues have often…
Couple urges truce in war between faith and science
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) — The poster in Deborah Haarsma's office at Calvin College bears the bold title, “Long, long ago in galaxies far, far away” — appropriate Star Wars jargon for an astronomy professor. It shows photos of galaxy…
Americans fluid in their religious affiliation, Pew study reveals
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A new study of more than 35,000 adult Americans by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life captures the depth and breadth of religious America — 78.4 percent Christian, 4.7 percent members of other faiths and…
Does God protect some disaster victims but not others?
JACKSON, Tenn. (RNS) — As Kristen Fabrizio felt the vibrations preceding the tornado that ripped across the campus of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., last month, she clung to her friends, who in turn clung to their faith. “You can…
Shared meals at church take on a different flavor to meet changing needs
AKRON, Ohio (RNS) — Andrew Hamilton still can taste the homemade apple, cherry and peach pies that capped off the covered-dish church meals of his youth in Lakeville, Mass. In those days, children played on their own for hours while…
Jehovah’s Witnesses fastest growing of U.S. faiths
Jehovah's Witnesses are the fastest-growing church body in the U.S. and Canada, now with more than 1 million members, according to new figures that track church membership in the U.S. and Canada. Although Jehovah's Witnesses ranked 24th on the list…
Questions linger on ‘born again’ support for Dems
WASHINGTON — A new poll that shows Sen. Hillary Clinton drawing a large percentage of “born-again” voters is giving her campaign something to trumpet, but is also prompting questions: Did the pollster define born-again too broadly? And if so, are…
SECOND OPINION: Politics through Lenten eyes
The so-called “Christian vote” is making its quadrennial appearance in election coverage, as if “Christians” were a voting bloc that debated candidates' religious credentials and cast a unified vote for the candidate deemed most compatible with the gospel. Reality, of…
Death penalty opponents find new allies among evangelicals
CARRBORO, N.C. (RNS) — Stephen Dear has spent the past 10 years waging an uphill battle to abolish the death penalty in the American South — with virtually no help from the region's powerful evangelical ministers. But unlike in years…
Survey: Unchurched Americans say church is full of hypocrites
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Almost three-quarters of Americans who haven't darkened the door of a church in the last six months think it is “full of hypocrites,” and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than…
Study finds limits to Willow Creek’s success model
CHICAGO (RNS) — Willow Creek Community Church, the suburban Chicago megachurch that has become a model for some of the nation's largest churches, started more than a quarter-century ago by asking the question: Why don't people go to church? Now,…