In a fraught and complex situation the Catholic Church sought to mediate the conflict where it could, but drew much ire and criticism for not doing enough.
Evergreens have long served as symbols of life during the bleakness of winter. But Queen Victoria spurred the tradition that has become a global phenomenon.
Churches have moved online. But to be able to properly connect with people, they need to find a way to build community, says a scholar who studies digital religion.
At least six states have permitted the study of the Bible in classrooms, which could reignite a 19th-century debate that split US Protestants into liberal and conservative camps.
Evangelicals who were taught as children that Christians abstain from sex until marriage are coming out and revealing the dark side of the so-called ‘purity movement.’
When the US entered World War I in 1917, military chaplains catered to majority white and Christian soldiers. Today the armed forces recognize over 200 denominations and religious groups.
Pete Buttigieg has said that Christianity teaches ‘skepticism of the wealthy and the powerful and the established.’ These ideals are similar to those espoused by a Midwestern Social Gospel movement.
Martin Luther is credited with initiating the split in Christianity that came to be called the Protestant Reformation. But don’t count out Erasmus, an early proponent of similarly radical ideas.
Many practicing U.S. Christians do not believe that human activities are warming the Earth, but they hold diverse views about the environment. Effective climate conversations recognize those nuances.
Suicide bombers struck Sri Lanka’s churches and hotels on Easter Sunday, killing and injuring hundreds of people. Seven percent of Sri Lanka’s population is Christian – most of them Roman Catholics.
On Good Friday, Christians give thanks for their salvation, which they believe was made possible by the suffering of Jesus. But for Jews, it was common in the Middle Ages to be attacked with stones.
Lisa Bitel, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Behind today’s mythical Santa Claus from the North Pole, is a real saint – St. Nicholas. How he came to be today’s gift-giving jolly figure from the North Pole is a fascinating story by itself.
In their zeal to evangelize the world, at the end of 19th century, young families were sent overseas with little to no training in anything beyond the Bible and no promise of funding.