The United Methodist Church will hold its General Conference, delayed several years by the pandemic, in April 2024. The meeting comes amid a dramatic divide over LGBTQ+ rights.
There was no one type of slavery in ‘biblical’ or ‘ancient’ societies, given how varied they were. But much of what historians know about slavery during those eras is horrific.
How did commemorating the Resurrection get tangled up with rabbits and eggs?
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Like Halloween and Christmas, today’s Easter traditions are a blend of Christian and non-Christian influences.
Pentecostal televangelist Paula White, center, prays before giving a sermon in Maryland in 2017.
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The idea of virgin birth has been part of Christianity since the start, but its significance has shifted over time.
King David playing the lyre in a scene from a 15th-century manuscript of the Book of Psalms.
Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Gratitude and praise are not only some of the most common themes in Christian music, but also some of the oldest.
An 11th-century mosaic shows Epiphanius of Salamis, Clement of Rome, Gregory the Theologian, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archdeacon Stephen.
St. Sophia of Kyiv/Wikimedia Commons
Catholics, Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians recognize the authority of the ‘fathers’ to guide teaching on doctrinal issues.
A mural in Kyiv depicts the Virgin Mary cradling a U.S.-made anti-tank weapon, a Javelin, which is considered a symbol of Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Dorian Llywelyn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Many religions have been used to prop up nationalism, and Catholicism is no exception, as a Jesuit priest and scholar explains.
Attendees pray during a worship service at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California, on June 14, 2022.
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
A scholar writes about how the Southern Baptist Convention’s views on abortion changed during the 1980s, when a more conservative wing seized control of the denomination.
Protestant Christians have been debating – and more often than not, supporting – modern contraceptives since they first appeared.
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Conservative Christians have cheered restrictions on some birth control. But many decades ago, Christian leaders’ support helped contraceptives become acceptable in the first place.
Confession, circa 1460/1470. Artist unknown.
Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images
Churches’ struggles to respond to the plague and constant warfare in the 14th and 15th centuries helped shape the kinds of Christianity in the world today.
The Shrine of the Holy Nativity, Bethlehem, 1849.
David Roberts
New economic realities have raised new challenges in applying Biblical principles to economic life. But they could still provide guidance on how to help those in need and how to levy taxes.
The crosses at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France.
Jonathan Ebel
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.