Many Australians believe in the existence of the soul. Here is a brief guide to how the five major world religions imagine the soul’s origin and journey.
Magic fascinated and troubled early Christians as much as it does some people today.
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Although many modern people tend to see ‘magic’ and ‘religion’ as separate, magic was actually integral to the development of Christianity.
Andalusi communal dining bowls known as ‘ataifores’ in El Legado Andalusí, Museum of the Alhambra, Granada.
Practicing Islam was banned in Spain after the Catholic conquest but recent discoveries prove that Muslims continued eating traditions in secret.
Giant old trees in the rainforest at Campement de Kloto, Missahoe, Agomé in Togo, West Africa.
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A stable ecosystem of organic matter is the key to improving agricultural yields in the surrounding farmland and fighting climate change.
Peace and tranquility? Depends who you ask.
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It’s the ‘religion of peace’, with a long history of warlike behaviour.
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At least one in 10 LGBTQA+ Australians are still vulnerable to religion-based practices to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity.
Some evangelical leaders are trying to counter Christian nationalist misinformation over vaccines.
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Christian nationalists are far less likely to be vaccinated than other groups, research has found. Some evangelical leaders are trying to counter vaccine misinformation.
Holy cards are highly collectible but also very, very numerous.
Ryan O'Grady, The Marian Library, University of Dayton
The mass production of religious items such as rosaries and holy cards poses a problem for the curators of religious artifacts at libraries and museums. How do you dispose of unwanted donations?
A Jewish family gathers in person and over video conferencing for Passover celebrations in 2020.
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As Jewish families gather this Passover, many might find solace in the history of the celebrations and how it offers hope for the future.
Although a product of the current cultural environment, QAnon also reproduces trends and dynamics from the earliest history of Christianity.
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A revisionist reading of reality, in which social and political events are only understood by a chosen few, is the basis of the QAnon gospel.
John White Alexander’s ‘Repose’ (1895).
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The ethics of idleness have been debated for thousands of years.
Israel Antiquities Authority conservator Tanya Bitler shows newly discovered Dead Sea Scroll fragments at the Dead Sea Scrolls conservation lab in Jerusalem.
AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner
What’s fascinating about the latest Dead Sea Scrolls discovery is how it reflects the stories of those who wrote the ancient texts, those who kept them safe and the archaeologists who found them.
Ganesh.
Nehaniks/Shutterstock
Hindu gods are not attractive images to be worn thoughtlessly.
Michel Corneille the Younger: Aspasia surrounded by Greek philosophers.
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When we think about ancient philosophers we tend to imagine old men as deep thinkers. Women too have helped shape modern thought.
The concern is about more than one shot vs. two.
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Religious opposition over a link to abortions performed decades ago and misunderstandings about effectiveness could lead to a nightmare of angry patients and wasted vaccine.
A statue of Bishop Richard Allen outside the historic Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
A history of how African American congregations in Philadelphia weathered crises over 200 years.
Rihanna at the Met Gala in 2018 in a gender-bending pope outfit.
Justin Lane/EPA
Did Pope Joan exist? Probably not. But the legend had important resonances for the Catholic Church.
Nigeria’s religious leaders should play greater roles in climate change
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Nigeria’s religious leaders can shape the environmental worldviews and behaviour of their congregations
Could God travel faster than the speed of light?
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If God could break the laws of physics, why haven’t we seen any evidence of the laws ever being broken in the universe?
The Hasidic community comprises several communities that take their names from the cities of Eastern and Central Europe where they originated. In Montréal, the Belz and the Satmar are the best known.
(Philippe Montbazet)
Some Jewish prayers are not only about an individual connection with God. They have a community dimension that is essential to their conduct.