With the number of declared 'non-believers' growing worldwide, researchers sought to discover what beliefs the irreligious turn to when times are tough.
Ruins of the Tower of St Roch, or Tower of the Patriarch, following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake by Jacques-Philippe Le Bas.
Wikimedia Commons
The big questions don't get much bigger. After the Lisbon earthquake killed thousands, philosopher Voltaire took aim at Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and skewered his view that God is good.
Indonesian religious leaders have a big role to play in times of crisis.
The Indonesian Communications and Information Ministry
As a nation with a strong religious sentiment, Indonesia could rely on its religious leaders to be more involved in communicating messages about the crisis.
Can prayers bring rain to drought-stricken parts of the country? Our prime mInister hopes so.
Sam Mooy/AAP
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has asked Australians to pray for rain, but can God answer prayers? And if He can, should He?
A survey conducted in Jauary 2018 by the Pew Research Centre showed 84 percent of US Catholics had a ‘favourable’ opinion of Pope Francis. Six out of ten people also said he represented a ‘major change for the better’.
Vatican Media/AAP
Pope Francis continues to champion the importance of science in our world. Having the head of the Catholic Church support various scientific movements is a win for us all.
Research suggests people intuitively draw a distinction between what is known and what is believed. Recognizing the difference can help in ideological disagreements.
Doubting Thomas needed the proof, just like a scientist, and now is a cautionary Biblical example.
Caravaggio/Wikimedia Commons
An evolutionary biologist makes the case that there's no reconciling science and religion. In the search for truth, one tests hypotheses while the other relies on faith.
Arguments over religion miss the point that we have religious urges, whether or not we think they are justified.
A detail from William Blake’s God answers Job (c. 1804). The Gods of Moses in the Old Testament, Jesus in the New Testament and Muhammad in the Quran have a similarly complex and ambivalent character.
Wikimedia images
The founder of Islam, Muhammad, saw himself as the last in a line of prophets that reached back through Jesus to Moses, Abraham and Noah. But while the three religions worship the same God, he divides as much as he unites.
Contraceptives lie at the heart of proper family planning but in Nigeria uptake has been slow.
Shutterstock
Nigeria must reduce its population growth to increase the quality of life for people in the country. A better knowledge of contraceptives can help achieve this.
Four stories on belief: from the allure of cults and conspiracy theories, to the effect of trauma on faith, to the way dogma has influenced science – and if technology can actually shift our beliefs.
Coining a phrase. Muslim philosopher al-Fabri depicted on Kazakh currency.
Vladimir Wrangel/Flickr