Jean Vanier, Catholic founder of L'Arche International, allegedly had abusive sexual relationships. Religious tolerance for the veneration of male leaders may be partly to blame.
The big questions don’t get much bigger. After the Lisbon earthquake killed thousands, philosopher Voltaire took aim at Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and skewered his view that God is good.
To some, superhero films are the equivalent of fracking. But they offer audiences transcendence, mystery, a moral compass, and even the hope of salvation.
Many think that violence is central to religion, but some scholars argue it’s meaningless to single out religion rather than socio-economic factors when assessing violent acts.
Historical accounts of Martin Luther skew or ignore debates about religion and make him hardly recognizable as a pastor and preacher. But his theology changed Europe.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is first and foremost, a spiritual leader, a man of deep prayer. This motivated his participation in supporting South Africa’s liberation struggle.
Universities are so busy trying to make ends meet that there’s no time to listen to their communities’ stories. It’s crucial to develop safe spaces where tough conversations can happen.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the spiritual and political head of IS, is a clever theologian and Qur’anic artisan. We would do well to better our own interfaith theological understanding.
We need to move beyond assumptions that religion is simply about dogmatism, and should continue teaching religion within a secular educational structure.
One of the oldest assumptions about organising comes directly from the angels. In the 5th century, the mysterious theologian Pseudo-Dionysius wrote the definitive book on angelic hierarchies, Ecclesiastical…