December 2, 2021 By Bob Smietana (RNS) — To help people avoid sin, pastors often advise prayer, going to church and reading the Bible or other religious books. They might also want to get a few umbrellas. A forthcoming study from the Review of Economics and Statistics found that the more it rains on

Evangelicals’ feeling about porn may well be influencing public policy as mostly red states have increasingly sought to declare pornography a ‘public health crisis.’

Can belief in Hell, envisioned by many as a place of eternal torment, be considered a pathological fear? A study taking a systematic look at Hell anxiety found in general that individual belief in Hell was not in itself connected to any neuroses, and that most people did not display an unhealthy focus on the possibility of eternal damnation. The results suggested belief in hell “is perhaps a rational response to personal theological” beliefs.

Many clergy worry that being honest about their own limitations may be seen as a sign of weakness. Yet new research suggests that not only do congregation members value pastors who are approachable, and share their humanity, but that feeling compelled to live up to unrealistic standards of spiritual perfection can take a debilitating toll on the mental health of pastors.

Faith may play a powerful role in relation to the continuing widespread acceptance of body shaming in America, according to new research. People who consider their body, in the words of Psalm 139, “fearfully and wonderfully made,” were significantly more likely to report feeling good about their bodies, one study found. However, believers who consider the body to be basically sinful were more likely to be ashamed of their body.

How can believers buffer the negative effects of an unhealthy preoccupation with transgressions while benefiting from sin’s appeal to humility in being able to accurately assess one’s own strengths and weaknesses? Forgiveness may be one good place to start, according to a new study. Americans who reported experiencing being frequently forgiven by God were far less likely to show symptoms of depression and other mental health ills associated with strong beliefs in the fallen nature of humankind.