Christians at the Bouldercrest Church of Christ invited the devil into their midst. This time, he went down to Georgia not for a fiddle-playing contest, as the famous Charlie Daniels Band song goes, but for an interview.That was the premise of a recent play the church hosted, “The Art of Influence: An Interview with the Devil.”
Read More(OPINION) Gambling is immoral and out of character with Biblical teaching. The very nature of the predatory gambling industry (the lottery, video coin-operated machines, sports betting, casinos and parimutuel betting) is antithetical to living a Biblical worldview.
Read MoreTerry Bollea — better known as Hulk Hogan — carried an oversized presence during a career that spanned nearly a half-century and included countless ripped shirts, bandannas and leg drops. His biggest splash came in December 2023, though, as Hogan and his wife, Sky, were baptized at Indian Rocks Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Largo, Fla.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For some Jewish college students, the Trump administration’s approach to campus antisemitism came as a relief after two years of what they perceived as weak action by universities and the federal government. Fewer are cheering after the White House signed a $221 million settlement with Columbia University.
Read More(ANALYSIS) As sociologists who research the social dynamics of religion in the United States, we conducted a nationally representative survey in 2021. Our survey posed dozens of questions to 2,000 Americans over the age of 18 on a wide range of beliefs in supernatural phenomena — everything from belief in the devil to belief in the magical power of crystals.
Read MoreWhile there are likely numerous theological differences between evangelical, Catholic and Black Protestant pastors, they share core convictions that aren’t as common among mainline pastors.
Read MoreAlmost 10 years after the Supreme Court granted national recognition to same-sex marriages, most Americans support that right, but the percentage has plateaued in recent years.
Read More(REVIEW) Stories help us sift through random events of our lives into something coherent. COVID was a seminal time in American life, and it’s more than right that we should tell stories about it. But without something coherent to say, those stories stop being useful ways to interpret the noise, and instead just add to it.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Anime and Religious Identity: Cultural Aesthetics in Japanese Spiritual Worlds helps students explore questions of meaning, ethics and belief that anime brings to life. It examines themes such as what happens when the past resurfaces? What does it mean to carry the weight of responsibility? And how can suffering become a path to transformation?
Read MoreEvan Carter helped the Texas Rangers win the World Series in 2023. But Carter — still just 22 — has faced multiple challenges over the past two seasons. He talked to Religion Unplugged about his journey as a ballplayer and, more importantly, as a person of deep Christian faith. “Baseball is what I do, but I try and not make it, as the cliché goes, who I am,” he said.
Read MoreSupreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retired in 2018, but religious-liberty activists still want to know where he hoped to draw a bright line between religious freedom and the sexual revolution. Kennedy knew that the First Amendment's declaration that government “shall make no law ... prohibiting the free exercise of religion” was creating warfare in modern American law and politics. But he didn't know how to end the strife.
Read MoreOn India’s busy streets, vehicles adorned with Hindu symbols are more than just modes of transport — they have increasingly become mobile expressions of political and religious identity. The proliferation of these Hindu stickers has transformed everyday commuting, a phenomenon deeply intertwined with rising religious tensions.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On July 8, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants of arrest for Haibatullah Akhundzada, supreme leader of the Taliban, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, chief justice of the Taliban, who have exercised de facto authority in Afghanistan at least from Aug. 15, 2021.
Read More(ANALYSIS) One hundred years ago this month, Americans were transfixed as a Tennessee courtroom hosted challenge to the state’s new law barring “the teaching of the Evolution Theory” in public schools, including colleges. The prohibition covered “any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.
Read MoreIn the heart of Nairobi’s Mukuru slum, where corrugated iron shacks gleam under the equatorial sun, Sister Mary Killeen has woven a legacy of hope. Known as the “Mother Teresa of Nairobi,” this Dublin-born Sister of Mercy has spent nearly five decades transforming lives in one of Kenya’s most impoverished areas.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Moyers died on June 26 at the age of 91, after a long and complex career in which he served as a speech writer and press secretary for President Lyndon B. Johnson, followed by decades of work with CBS, NBC and PBS. However, before that, the Rev. Bill Moyers was a Southern Baptist pastor in Texas towns like Brandon and Weir. He was proud of those roots and his convictions as a progressive Baptist.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Are Superman and Jesus headed for an American revival? For better or worse, people’s love of Superman and devotion to God have always been tightly fused. Whether this will lead to a long-term revival for both or just a short-term connection remains to be seen. For now, a lot more people are looking up to the heavens than were before.
Read MoreBill Moyers was arguably among the best reporters on the religion beat. Even if it wasn’t always the main focus of his work or what comes to mind for those familiar with his legacy, still, he was a lifelong spiritual seeker.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This is a mountainous and, until recently, remote area that is culturally and historically distinct from the rest of India. It is also the most thoroughly Baptist region in the world. For example, the church in Mon, a town of approximately 17,000 people, is the largest Baptist church in Asia. It dwarfs surrounding buildings and can seat 10,000 worshippers.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Throughout his career, you see the outlines of a man burdened by the myth he helped build. A man who stared down America’s worst tendencies and tried to warn us, only to watch them metastasize. And in that exhaustion, there’s something quietly Christlike — not in purity, but in genuine suffering.
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