The Bible remains the most important collection of books in Western civilisation. Regardless of our religious beliefs, it has shaped all of us. But who wrote it? The answer is complicated.
‘The Nativity,’ circa 1406-10, by Lorenzo Monaco.
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The idea of virgin birth has been part of Christianity since the start, but its significance has shifted over time.
The harmful belief that Christianity ‘replaced’ Judaism is partly rooted in the erroneous view that
Jesus told his followers that rules regarding ritual purity were outdated.
(Wikimedia)
Easter and Passover begin on the same weekend this year. This is an opportunity to revisit misconceptions about Jesus’s ministry and to address anti-Jewish uses of Christian scripture.
Resurrection of Christ depicted in 14th-century fresco in Chora Church, Istanbul, Turkey.
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Some among the Baptist movement interpret the Resurrection as God’s response and commitment to liberating the poor and the oppressed.
Sixth-century mosaic depicting Jesus before Roman governor Pontius Pilate washing his hands, at Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy.
(Nick Thompson/Flickr)
The expression to “wash one’s hands of responsibility” comes from Christian scripture and has been part of a toxic legacy of blaming Jews for Jesus’s death.
Trump recently suggested that a vote for Biden would hurt God. Religion scholars explain what, in Christian theology, it would take to injure the creator.
US president, Donald Trump, brandishing a Bible outside St John’s Episcopal Church in Washington DC on June 1, 2020.
EPA-EFE/Shawn Thew
‘Life of Brian’ is a perfect introduction to how a seemingly-irreverent parody of films about the historical Jesus can offer stronger historical insights than more earnest fare.
Sessions ignored the many gospel teaching about love, and used a passagethat has been used historically to justify all manner of immoral behavior, including imperialism, slavery, Nazism and apartheid.