In just a few days, crowds are expected to descend on Washington for an explicitly Christian event, celebrating the U.S. 250th anniversary. Later this month, many churches will swap hymns for patriotic songs and dress their sanctuary in American flags, mingling patriotism and Christianity. When do these patriotic actions cross over into Christian Nationalism?
Read MoreThe Big Idea for this podcast? The social-credits system shifted into high gear the year after China, in 2018, launched sweeping new regulations to crush religious activities that lacked formal government approval. Digital technology is at the heart of China’s efforts to control the beliefs of its citizens.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Perhaps even more importantly, the Cherokee Bible offers insight into Cherokee-specific meanings, interpretations of spiritual concepts and a benchmark for understanding how the language has changed. Though the history of the relationship between Christian missionaries and Indigenous people is complex, this historic text is supporting an impressive contemporary wave of cultural renewal.
Read More(REVIEW) A new biography explores David Bowie’s spiritual life beneath his flamboyant personas, especially Ziggy Stardust. Drawing on interviews and songs, it portrays a restless seeker shaped by diverse religious influences, whose music reflected an ongoing quest to understand God, faith and existence beyond organized religion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For centuries, stargazers of many kinds have debated the meaning of unidentified objects in the heavens and encounters with mysterious beings on earth. “Each new discovery, even every new theory, is held at first to have the most wide-reaching theological and philosophical consequences.
Read MoreMaria lives in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with her husband and four children, content with being farmers and living in the fields. But the 27-year-old woman, who did not want to be identified by her full name, has always faced persecution for being Christians. She isn’t alone. It’s the type of violence many in Africa have had to deal with for years.
Read MoreGateway Church and its disgraced founder Robert Morris have agreed to arbitration to settle their multimillion-dollar retirement dispute, rather than continue battling in court. Morris, 64, resigned as Gateway’s senior pastor in 2024, after reports surfaced that he had molested 12-year-old Cindy Clemishire in 1982 while a traveling evangelist in Oklahoma. In May 2025, Morris sued Gateway to get millions in retirement benefits.
Read MoreMid Vermont Christian School has reached a partial settlement in its legal battle against state athletic officials, securing over $500,000 in damages after being barred from competition over its stance on transgender athletes by the Vermont Principals Association. The Vermont Principals Association has agreed to pay the school to cover damages and legal fees.
Read More(REVIEW) Murdock is a real believing Catholic. It’s something the series takes seriously. This is particularly easy to see in the attention to detail toward Catholic teaching.
Read MoreWhat does a Church's size say about its health? Matthew Peterson speaks with Karl Vaters, author of "De-Sizing the Church" to find out in this week’s podcast.
Read MoreU.S. Protestant churchgoers say they’ve established several friendships with others in their church and are trying to use those relationships to grow their faith. Building relationships is one of eight areas that measure characteristics evident in believers who are progressing in spiritual maturity.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Abortion has become a defining partisan issue, with Republicans generally anti-abortion and Democrats pro-abortion rights. Yet lawmakers like Charlie Baker, Susan Collins and Bob Casey show exceptions can succeed in some states. At the same time, long-term polling reveals growing support for abortion access across most religious groups.
Read MoreEvan Roberts Locke, middle son of controversial Tennessee preacher Greg Locke, died of a drug overdose on Friday. He was 20 years old. Greg Locke announced his son’s death on social media.
Read MoreMilitant Fulani killed more Christians in Nigeria over the past year than any other aggressor, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said May 8 in naming the militants a nonstate violator of religious freedom.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Liberal democracies promise freedom and prosperity, yet they often struggle to answer a deeper question: What is this freedom for? When shared narratives and moral horizons fade, individuals may experience fragmentation and a loss of meaning. Politics shrinks into technocratic management.
Read MoreA retired Baptist pastor is the latest Christian convicted for religious activity in an abortion buffer zone in the United Kingdom, this time for holding a church service on the outskirts of a zone.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Russell Brand, the erudite Englishman, is scheduled to stand trial in the U.K. on three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty to everything. He has also, in the meantime, become a Christian, moved to Florida and now he wants you to buy his book.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Mother’s Day seems like a strange time to celebrate birth control, which, on its most basic level, is about helping people to not become mothers — or not become mothers again.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The general admonition is the same in many faith communities: Try to marry someone who shares your faith background. That’s certainly a well-established norm in Jewish communities.
Read MoreFar from isolated, this case reflects a growing wave of church thefts across France targeting religious art. Last year, the French Interior Ministry recorded about 538 thefts of religious items — an 11% increase from the year before. People usually steal things like chalices, statues, paintings, relics and other religious items from churches and other places of worship.
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