The discovery of the signature of Christianity’s favourite prophet has caused a stir, but what does it mean?
Worshipers pray during an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, on March 6, 2019.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
Churches started to use ashes early as the ninth century as a symbol of repentance. In 1091, Pope Urban II ritualized their use to mark the beginning of Lent. Today, churches provide ‘ashes to go.’
Relics of St. Valentine of Terni at the basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin.
Dnalor 01 (Own work)
Lisa Bitel, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Valentine’s Day originated as a feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr, or perhaps two. It took a gruesome path to becoming a romantic holiday.
Family is not a clearly defined structure in the story: It isn’t biological or reflective of some ‘norm.’ It is instead a choice to stick together, come what may.
A worshipper receives Communion.
Amr Nabil/AP Photo
Christian sexuality websites present evangelicalism as a sex-positive religious tradition. At the same time, they also reinforce conservative ideas about same-sex marriages.
Jehovah’s Witnesses pray during a regional congress of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Minsk, Belarus in 2015.
Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters
There are over eight million Jehovah’s Witnesses in 240 countries worldwide. They have no political affiliations and they renounce violence. However, they have been easy targets for many governments.
In the Western world, the U.S. is one of only one of two countries with capital punishment, and support remains strongest in the ‘Bible Belt’. Here’s a look at the historic arguments within Christian communities over the death penalty.
An Egyptian Muslim woman holds candles in front of the Coptic Christian Cathedral in tribute to the victims of a bomb attack in Cairo on Dec. 17, 2016.
Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters
Jonathan Ebel, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Writings at the time of WWI aimed to construct a religiously diverse and conflicted America into a virtuous, Christian nation. This narrative continued in the cemeteries for the war heroes.