(ANALYSIS) The installation was a two-month project in religion, technology and art titled “Deus in Machina,” created at the University of Lucerne. The original Latin phrase literally means “god from the machine”; it refers to a plot device used in Greek and Roman plays, introducing a god to resolve an impossible problem or conflict facing the characters.
Read MoreFive years after a devastating fire, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will reopen this weekend, showing off its rebuilt ceilings and new stonework. The cathedral’s interior reconstruction, erasing somber memories of its 2019 fire, is a major step forward despite scaffolding and cranes still working on the damaged exterior.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The genre faces a demographic cliff. The market for faith-based films has always been driven by Christian moms. And as I wrote last year, with fewer women getting married and having kids (and single women increasingly leaving Christianity), that market is inevitably going to shrink. A big shift may actually save the long-term future of faith-based films: The rise of a more masculine American church.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Few questions have intrigued humanity more than the mystery of free will. Are we truly in control of our lives or are we following a script written by something greater? The debate over free will has raged for centuries, touching philosophy, science and religion. Which brings us to another age-old question: Can a belief in free will coexist with religious doctrine?
Read More(ANALYSIS) An estimated 18 million Americans are invested in cryptocurrency, according to the Federal Reserve. And the United States just elected a pro-crypto president. But is cryptocurrency a good ethical investment?
Read More(OPINION) Our grandson Connor made a very interesting comment when he was a little boy. His parents (our daughter and son-in-law) were praying for him when he was fighting some minor illness, asking God to heal him. When nothing happened, he said, “Jesus doesn’t have enough hands to heal everyone.”
Read More(ANALYSIS) As the star of the scathing documentary "Religulous" — "religious" plus "ridiculous" — Bill Maher has never hidden his agnostic views about faith. But that doesn't mean the stand-up comic doubts the reality of evil. Consider his blistering comment on smartphones, drawn from his “Real Time” talk show earlier this year.
Read More(ANALYSIS) I have been keeping an Artificial Intelligence folder for several weeks now, with a focus — naturally — on topics that should interest religious leaders.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Maybe churches should consider a strategic change in their worship plans, said the Rev. Russell Moore in a podcast conversation with Jonathan Haidt, author of the bestseller “The Anxious Generation” and the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University. Check out Part 1 of 2 of Terry Mattingly’s latest “On Religion” column.
Read MoreScience and faith intersect at this special place. While some may find it strange that the Vatican has an observatory, the Catholic Church has been involved with science since the Jesuit order was founded in 1540. Saint Ignatius, for example, would spend hours on his balcony gazing at the night sky.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In her campaign against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — whose 2016 victory angered her — the Harris team has used Doritos as a symbol of the feisty, combative side of the vice president’s personality.
Read MoreChristian men and women use pornography more today than in 2016 when Barna spotlighted the sin among pastors and congregants, an updated study found in calling the church to be a place of healing for those impacted by the pervasive and destructive phenomenon.
Read More(ANALYSIS) If you’ve spent time on Facebook, you may have noticed photorealistic images that are too good to be true: children holding paintings that look like the work of professional artists, or majestic log cabin interiors that are the stuff of Airbnb dreams. Others, such as renderings of Jesus made out of crustaceans, are just bizarre.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Earlier this year, “God Versus Aliens" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The documentary, directed by award-winning filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee, shines a light on the Vatican's secretive investigations into UFOs. It suggests, in no uncertain terms, that the Vatican has been quietly exploring extraterrestrial phenomena for years.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Shroud of Turin, the world’s most famous and most-examined artifact, is revered by devotees as the actual burial cloth that covered Jesus Christ’s body after his crucifixion. Many will consider that inconceivable, but is there reason to accept the claim? Or is this celebrated cloth merely a pious artwork, or a clever fraud, that originated in medieval times?
Read MoreOver the last five years, a growing number of single Muslim women in their mid-30s in Islamic countries — including the UAE, Qatar and Egypt, among others — have been choosing to freeze their eggs to ensure motherhood later in life. It was previously not seen as an option in these countries — owing primarily to cultural beliefs and religious restrictions.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Religion and biohacking, at first glance, may seem worlds apart — one rooted in ancient traditions and spiritual beliefs; the other in cutting-edge science and technology. Look again and you'll recognize the fact that both grapple with fundamental questions about the nature of life, death and the human quest for transcendence.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In my “On Religion” column — “Jonathan Haidt: It's time for clergy to start worrying about smartphone culture” — I focused on what the author of “The Anxious Generation” had to say about the decisions faced by religious believers in the age of digital-screens culture.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Italian teenager Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 of a rare form of leukemia at age 15, will soon become the Catholic Church’s first “millennial saint.” Acutis’ upcoming canonization reflects the Vatican’s interest in making a more modern church that appeals to a new generation of faithful.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Preaching to teenagers has always been a challenge. In the smartphone age, clergy need to realize that the odds of making a spiritual connection have changed — radically. Young people who spend as many as 10 or more hours a day focusing on digital screens will find it all but impossible to listen to an adult talk about anything, especially in a religious sanctuary.
Read More
