From the crusades of the medieval period to racial violence today, mankind has sought ways to ‘sanctify’ harmful actions, explains a scholar of religion.
Marx, Madison or God? Who said it first…or at all?
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Luc Bovens, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
At the height of Reaganism, close to half of Americans believed a phrase popularized by Karl Marx actually derived from the US Constitution. It doesn’t, but scholars have traced it to the Bible.
God creating night and day.
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Trump recently suggested that a vote for Biden would hurt God. Religion scholars explain what, in Christian theology, it would take to injure the creator.
New scientific research reveals how Thomas Cromwell’s Machiavellian manoeuvring influenced his own depiction on the front of The Great Bible.
Christian fundamentalists like Ken Ham, CEO of the evangelical group that owns the Creation Museum, believe dinosaurs were among the animals rescued on Noah’s Ark.
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A Kentucky museum tells the history of the universe according to the Bible in an effort to debunk evolution. Its owner, the Christian group Answers in Genesis, promotes right-wing political causes.
Mosaic in San Vitale Basilica, Ravenna, Italy.
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Millions step into cathedrals and chapels on a regular basis. The history of these places of worship offers important insights into Christianity.
Painting depicting transfiguration of Jesus, a story in the New Testament when Jesus becomes radiant upon a mountain.
Artist Raphael /Collections Hallwyl Museum
Recent protests on racial justice have also questioned the portrayal of Jesus as a white man. An art historian explains how this image appeared and came to be marketed worldwide.
Donald Trump poses with Bible at a moment of national crisis.
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In appearing with Bible in hand at the time of crisis, Trump is signaling his position as defender of traditional values, while ‘othering’ detractors. Russia’s Putin and India’s Modi have done similar things.
US president, Donald Trump, brandishing a Bible outside St John’s Episcopal Church in Washington DC on June 1, 2020.
EPA-EFE/Shawn Thew
Had Trump read the text he held, he would have found a story of liberation for slaves, a divine preference for the poor, and a damning critique of any empire that oppressed its people.
Woodcut from 1665 depicting the Black Death.
Wikimedia
From the Black Death to COVID-19, there have always been those who think good Christian practice will save them from death.
In the movie based on William Paul Young’s ‘The Shack,’ Mack (Sam Worthington), second from the left, meets the Trinity. From left to right: Jesus, the Son (Avraham Aviv Alush), Papa, God the Father (Octavia Spencer) and Sarayu, the Holy Spirit (Sumire Matsubara).
(Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate)
The problems of suffering and evil emerging in the coronavirus pandemic occupy popular evangelical fiction. In ‘The Shack,’ proliferating divine beings harken to a long-standing solution.
Preparation for the Seder: A 14th century miniature showing the master of the house distributing the matzot (unleavened bread) and sweetmeat during passover. From Haggadah for Passover (the ‘Sister Haggadah’).
(British Library)
People have always searched for meaning in their misfortunes. It can be comforting to believe that things happen for a reason and something can be learned in chaotic situations.
As workers make matzo for Passover, many families will not be able to get together this year.
Guy Prives/Getty Images)
Some of the Passover Seder traditions are occurring through Zoom this year. A historian of the Bible explains how ancient Israelites changed the ways of their worship.
In the German town Winterbach, Catholic Church services are being streamed through YouTube.
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Faith communities are changing many traditional practices to deal with coronavirus restrictions. A historian of the Bible argues how innovation has long been part of religious practice.
The pope can order religious investigations that can allow the Vatican to swiftly take action.
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Early Christians were urged to ‘supervise’ one another. In the present times, that theology is often used by the Vatican for a religious investigation a known as the apostolic visitation.
Documents released by Church of England reinforce their teaching that ‘homosexuality is incompatible with scripture’.
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By practising double standards, Conservative Christians are missing the point of the scriptures.
Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the Freedom March on Washington in 1963.
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At least six states have permitted the study of the Bible in classrooms, which could reignite a 19th-century debate that split US Protestants into liberal and conservative camps.
Deaf worshippers sign a hymn while following sign language interpreter Diely Martinez at Holyrood Episcopal Church-Iglesia Santa Cruz in New York City, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019.
AP Photo/Emily Leshner
Deaf Christians can often feel excluded in churches. But the Christian contemplative tradition that celebrates silence and considers it a form of prayer can bring a new understanding of faith.
Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity