Few books in the medieval world made a splash like Bernard of Clairvaux's "On Loving God." In it the Cistercian monk unravels the intricate nature of loving God. The degree to which he, as the author of such a book, could also become a co-opted preacher for the miserable Second...

Rich white males issuing edicts on women's health -- while dismissing the medical details -- was not the only comparison to contemporary issues I noticed on Downton Abbey this season. As a cord-cutter, I could not help but see Lord Grantham and his resistance to modernization as a metaphor for...

Bad things happen to good people; this is a tragic truth in life. How religious individuals explain the "why" can be very different from faith to faith. When people turn to God for solace it is never shocking, but when they turn to God to blame the victim, the rest...

According to a recent Pew Research Center report, there is an increase of intolerance toward the religious globally. "The share of countries with high or very high restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose from 31% in the year ending in mid-2009 to 37% in the year ending...

England's historic Sudeley Castle is observing the quincentenary of Queen Catherine Parr (1512-2012) this year. The highlight of the six-month celebration at Sudeley, which was once Parr's home, is the Sept. 9 reenactment of her 1548 funeral -- the first Royal Protestant funeral in England.

By commemorating her...

The big announcement in artificial intelligence at the end of June was that Google's computers taught themselves to recognize cats. I'm really hoping this won't lead to more animated gifs of cats in various stages of things wacky and madcap.

Google's been experimenting with artificial intelligence and the ability...

This last week I went to Amazon to look for a book. Did you know they sell those too?

Their home page directed me to an IndieReader.com article (also published here at The Huffington Post) by Jessica Park ("How Amazon Saved My Life"), author of several...

C. S. Lewis is known by most for his work of fiction, particularly "The Chronicles of Narnia." Others are more aware of his theological accomplishments, such as "Mere Christianity" or essays like "Myth Became Fact."

Did you know that Lewis, a professor in medieval and renaissance...

May 17 is known as Ascension Thursday (the 40th day of Easter). It is the day many Christians observe Christ's ascension into heaven, though some will do it on the following Sunday. The day means many things to Christians, including the idea that Christ will also one day...

A new study at Northwestern University shows that left-handedness is the product of cooperation and competition in evolution (see ScienceDaily, "Shedding Light On Southpaws: Sports Data Help Confirm Theory Explaining Left-Handed Minority in General Population").

Being left-handed, I am among the minority of the population (10 percent),...

I'm on to you, Colbert.

The Colbert Report is your way of accomplishing your over-the-top bucket list, isn't it? You just have a bigger budget than the rest of us.

To justify my conspiracy theory, let me point out that just this last week he interviewed and sang with...

For centuries, portraits of Jesus have provided not only a good look into the history of art, but also the chemistry produced when theology meets culture. Depictions of Jesus' humanity pull from a cross-section of society, including every race, ethnicity, and culture, and a variety of ideological and theological positions.

In a recent study at The Ohio State University, facts alone were not enough for one to accept the theory of evolution (read press release). Researchers studying pre-service biology teachers at two South Korean universities, all with an adequate understanding of the science behind evolution, discovered that facts...

In a new survey of American Protestant pastors by Lifeway, 73 percent of ministers disagree with the statement "I believe God used evolution to create people." Of that large number, 64 percent strongly disagreed. As you might expect, the numbers were close to the same for the question,...

"Coming out" now may be a clichéd term, but as the "We Are Atheism" project has shown, it hasn't entirely lost its currency. The new organization encourages others to be open about their atheism, an act that is more than a confession; it holds the real risk of...

Christopher Hitchens, a lion of atheism, passed away at 62 on Thursday after a struggle with esophageal cancer. It is hard to miss the story. Depending on who you are, you might see Hitchens as brilliant, bully, or both. For many Christians, Hitchens was a messenger of the devil and...

It doesn't take long before one discovers the religious boundary lines of students. They are not always aware of them. It takes a little prodding and poking with questions to get at those sacred, forbidden or sheltered subjects.

Like losing one's keys in the mud and fingering around uncertainly,...

If your house is on fire, do you ask the firefighter if he or she is an atheist before you accept his or her help? I doubt it.

Similarly, I'm wondering about the real reasons The American Cancer Society will not work with the atheist charity organization,...

Last August, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry remarked that evolution is a theory with "gaps" in it, immediately generating up millions of Google search results.His perspective is not his alone; polls continue to show that while evangelicals are not entirely closed-off to the idea, evolution is...

I admit it. I want Westboro Baptist Church to protest my funeral. I have no plans to die anytime soon and I'm not inviting anyone to make my dream a reality just yet. When that day does arrive, however, I want Westboro near the closest news camera.

There are...