Student activists are losing faith in the legacies of anti-apartheid heroes like Nelson Mandela. Perhaps all South Africans should do the same. It may just be what the country needs for its future.
Religious teachers can feel uncomfortable explaining the science of evolution to their pupils.
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Many South African teachers don’t accept the theory of evolution. They feel deeply conflicted when they have to teach it to their pupils as part of the life sciences curriculum.
Science explains how people are changing our natural systems, but we need to recognize the importance – and power – of emotions and the spiritual world in charting a course to the future.
The prosperity gospel – a uniquely American strand of Christian theology – creates a dilemma for its adherents.
The virgin birth at the heart of Christianity has many corresponding versions in other ancient traditions.
Detail from a panel by Conrad von Soest, 1403. Wikimedia Commons
Biblical scholars and theologians have long discussed, debated and disputed the virgin birth of Jesus, with some arguing that there is no imperative to link it to the doctrine of the Incarnation.
Religion is always in the background.
Treye Rice/Photography and Web Design via flickr.com
Kepler-452b’s discovery last week has raised the perennial question: are we alone in the universe? While the find’s scientific import is huge, it also poses questions that go to the heart of religion.
The earliest sources, including Paul’s letters, show very little interest in the mythological details of heavenly existence.
Wikimedia Commons/ Probably Valentin de Boulogne: Saint Paul Writing His Epistles.
Interpretations of Paul the apostle’s texts provided the basic fund of imagery that continues to inform popular opinion about what Christians mean when they talk about “heaven”, or “hell”.
The extraordinary synod of bishops on family is meeting for two weeks at the Vatican.
EPA/L'Osservatore Romano
A report of debate from the first half of the extraordinary synod of Catholic bishops meeting in Rome has been described as a “pastoral earthquake” and a “seismic shift in Rome” for praising gay relationships…
Today a state memorial service was held at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne to remember those who died in the MH17 catastrophe and those who grieve for them. The purpose of the service was to provide a…
The promotion of religious freedom is ubiquitous, and there is great excitement in the air all round the world as governments rush to feature it prominently in their foreign affairs portfolios. The US…
Pope Francis is yet to walk among, and embrace, the victims who have suffered at the hands of his brother priests.
Tiziana Fabi/EPA
A year ago this week, the ageing, doctrinaire and aristocratic Pope, Benedict XVI, shocked keen Vatican watchers and the public alike by his sudden resignation. Few were prepared for the shockwaves that…
An unprecedented 22% of Australians have declared themselves to be of “no religion”.
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Recently the Prime Minister called upon the Labor Party to “repent” of its introduction of the carbon tax. His comments were ridiculed by some critics, not for the substance of what he said, but for the…
There were disturbances in Sydney over the weekend in response to a movie portraying Muhammad.
AAP/Louis Allen
News of the movie “Innocence of Muslims” and the dissemination of its clips on YouTube have inflamed emotions across the Muslim world. It triggered a spate of violent demonstrations, including an attack…
Just as acquiring a perfunctory understanding of the AFL is inevitable in southern Australia, living in New England Patriots’ heartland has forced me to pay a little attention to America’s NFL. Despite…
Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity
Professor of Management & Organizations; Professor of Environment & Sustainability; Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan