(ANALYSIS) Two scholars decided to make a pilgrimage along the Kumano Kodō trail — an ancient route in Japan connecting Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples — guided by an artificial intelligence assistant. The two — Wayne E. Arnold and John A. Shultz — trained an AI companion to suit their travel needs. They were also curious to see how AI would shape their pilgrimage experience.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Whenever you think about the very largest churches in the United States, what denominations come to mind? I think that most of you, if you’ve been following along with this newsletter for any amount of time, would think of non-denominationalism. Maybe a Southern Baptist church. And the data says that this is largely the case.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The war between Auburn and Alabama has verged on a crusade, with fans so devoted some seem possessed. In the most infamous moment on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” “Al from Dadeville” offered this explanation, quoting former Alabama football player Tommy Lewis, for his poisonous attack that killed Auburn's Toomer's Corner oak trees: “I just have too much ‘Bama in me.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) A team of researchers from Sivas Cumhuriyet University in Turkey is investigating a long-standing claim: That a boat-shaped geological formation in the country’s east contains the remains of Noah’s Ark. In the Book of Genesis, God decides to destroy the world with a flood. Following God’s instructions, Noah builds an ark to save himself, his family and animals of every kind.
Read MoreThe Netflix documentary series “Death of the Pastor’s Wife” has garnered over 40 million views in just over a month. But is a Netflix show the best way to tell this story? Why does clergy abuse happen so frequently? On this week’s podcast, Christian investigative reporter Julie Roys explains.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Timothy Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, may represent a strategic successor to Billy Graham’s evangelical influence. His posthumous book, co-written with his son Michael, examines seven cultural myths involving identity, power, freedom, morality, science, happiness and progress, arguing that Christianity offers more satisfying answers.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Bible was such an integral part of my upbringing that it’s hard to describe. We did Bible quizzing drills and scripture verse memorization. By the time I got my driver’s license, I had a pretty good grasp on the meta-narrative laid out in the 66 books that make up the Old and New Testaments. I had Bibles from all kinds of translations, too.
Read MoreToday’s urgent questions about artificial intelligence, consciousness and morality are all the rage. This week, we examine Anthropic’s efforts to teach Claude virtue, the theological implications of AI “souls,” and humanity’s growing struggle to define — and control — machine choices.
Read More(REVIEW) “Silo” skillfully weaves all of these dystopian tropes into the background of something quite new. The hints were there from the show’s start. The series skillfully weaves all of these dystopian tropes into the background of something quite new. The hints were there in the opening titles we streamers learn to skip. The closing shot is an animation of the show’s citizens going up and down and up and down the endless steps.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When millions of users comment “Amen” beneath his posts, they are not consuming religious content. They are participating in religious practice itself. In that sense, prosperity preachers should not be seen as odd figures operating with premodern beliefs. Rather, they reveal what becomes possible when charismatic Christianity fully commits to the digital age.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Shortly before her “Para(site)dise” exhibition at the William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, Virginia, artist Jocelyn Mathewes used a pillowcase and 30 pieces of fabric to create a 7-by-9-foot floating sculpture called “The Bed (Horizontal Time).” This experience touches minds and souls, as well as bodies.
Read More(ANALYSIS) A visit by BAPS Hindu monks to the Eiffel Tower sparked a worker strike and broader debate over religious accommodation in public spaces. The controversy centers on brahmacharya, a Hindu discipline emphasizing control of the senses, which monks practice through strict celibacy and spiritual discipline.
Read MoreOn this week’s episode, the “60 Minutes” interview featuring Patrick Clancy — ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy — where he talked about the children’s killings in his first televised interview.
Read More(ANALYSIS) New religious movements often form around charismatic sources of authority offering new answers to enduring human questions. What makes AI historically unusual is that the charismatic figure no longer needs to stand on a stage. It no longer needs to establish a church or gather disciples around itself.
Read MoreANALYSIS) What do we do with the time that we have? That’s one of the most important questions we face, in my estimation. It’s certainly something I struggle with on a day-to-day basis. I have a really hard time taking a vacation that lasts more than four or five days because I feel a deep sense of guilt that I’m not doing enough with my life.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In Narnia, Aslan is the Christ figure, repeatedly described by Lewis — an Oxford don and Christian apologist — as the “King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. ... The Lion, the great Lion.” In “The Magician's Nephew,” Narnia's creation story, Aslan is first described as “a Lion. Huge, shaggy and bright," with a basso profundo voice "deep enough to be the voice of the earth.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) There is a massive gap in the training of Christian journalists in a Christian environment. And the first step in closing that gap would be to create accredited undergraduate and graduate programs (including Ph.D. programs) in journalism at distinctively evangelical Christian colleges.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Long considered politically marginal, mainline protestantism is unexpectedly prominent in 2026 Democratic campaigns. Clergy candidates James Talarico in Texas, Adam Hamilton in Kansas and Sarah Trone Garriott and Lindsay James in Iowa are competing in closely watched races, reviving questions about mainline Christianity’s enduring political influence.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Remaining believers, committed atheists and the totally indifferent still share the same treacherous roads. They complain about the exact same potholes. So, yes, the Granite State holds the crown for the highest share of atheists in the nation. Yet God still manages to retain a surprisingly active local fan base. In other words, don’t draft the Almighty’s obituary just yet.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As a scholar of “Buddhist medicine,” I have studied the connections between Buddhism and well-being since the late 1990s. During the course of that research, I would periodically run into sources claiming that meditation could sometimes have unexpected or adverse health effects. When I discovered in 2020 that psychologists were beginning to document the same thing, I began to examine more systematically how Buddhist texts address this issue.
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