A scholar of early Christian literature writes that religious theories around celestial events are part of a larger human pattern to find meaning. And they go back thousands of years.
A mosaic of the Resurrection in the Basilica of St. Paul in Harissa, Lebanon.
FredSeiller/Wikimedia Commons
In recent years, the relationship between antisemitism and anti-Zionism has taken on renewed importance and competing definitions of antisemitism have emerged. What is antisemitism?
Charlton Heston as Moses in the biblical epic The Ten Commandments.
Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The Bible remains the most important collection of books in Western civilisation. Regardless of our religious beliefs, it has shaped all of us. But who wrote it? The answer is complicated.
Rastafarians drum and sing during a special prayer and worship meeting at Menengai forest in Kenya.
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The first Rastafarian communities emerged around 1931 in eastern Jamaica. Today, there are over 700,000 Rastafarian communities located on almost every continent.
A view of the destruction in Antakya, Turkey, caused by the recent earthquake.
AP Photo/Hussein Malla
A historian of the late Roman world, who visited earthquake-devastated Antakya several times, writes about the city’s rich history and recovery after being devastated in the past.
The idea of virgin birth has been part of Christianity since the start, but its significance has shifted over time.
Infowars founder Alex Jones in court during his Sandy Hook defamation damages trial in Waterbury, Conn., Sept. 22, 2022.
Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool, File
Shame and guilt seem equally foreign to many politicians and public figures these days. Rather than cover their bad behavior with a veneer of hypocrisy, they revel in it, a classics scholar says.
Samaritans celebrate Shavuot atop Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank.
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Samaritans still live in Israel, where they are often caught between Israeli and Palestinian identities.
Activist Jason Hershey reads from a Bible as he protests in front of the U.S. Supreme Court with the anti-abortion group Bound for Life in 2005 in Washington, D.C.
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Faith can inform opinions about abortion on both sides of the political debate, but the Bible itself says nothing directly about the topic, a biblical scholar explains.
Many people are using Bible verses to justify their stance against vaccines.
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A historian of the Bible in American life explains how Bible verses are being picked out of context to make a case for the anti-vaxxer movement.
Several celebrities have been seen wearing coats designed by Brenda Equihua, with an image of Mary displayed at the back.
Screen grab from Shelley FKA DRAM - Exposure (Official Music Video)
Mary has acquired popularity among celebrities of late. A religion scholar writes about how for nearly 2,000 years, the mother of Jesus has been viewed as an exemplar by different Christian groups.
Many prominent Christians believe in inerrancy, or that the Bible is without error.
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The doctrine of inerrancy likely took shape during the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States, in response to the rise of liberalism within Christianity.
Like their ancient ancestors, contemporary Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and consider baptism the most important of their religious rituals.
Hadi Mizban/AP
Mandaeans are followers of ancient Gnostic religion, whose traditional homeland was the region of Iraq and Iran. Today, this small minority lives in many parts of the world, including the US.
The Bible contains many stories of migration, including that of Joseph, Mary and Jesus.
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Many within the political left and right draw on the Bible to inform their views on immigration, but neglect to take into account how foreigners were treated under the Roman Empire during the time of Jesus.
A doll representing the infant Jesus in St. Catherine’s, the Franciscan church in the town of Bethlehem.
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The differences in the Gospels are hard to reconcile. That’s because, says a scholar, they offer an important insight into the Greco-Roman views of ethnic identity.
Scripture strongly and unequivocally affirms the obligation to treat strangers with dignity and hospitality, says a Christian scholar who turns to the Bible for guidance on Trump’s immigration policy.
A painting showing Saint Francis Borgia, a 16th century saint,, performing an exorcism.
Francisco Goya
Forty-five years ago, ‘The Exorcist’ terrified viewers with its portrayal of a practice that goes back several centuries and continues today in Christianity.