David Briggs

Social media is an effective vessel for New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow to carry his religious message. When he quotes Scripture or wishes people a good night with God's blessings, he has an audience of nearly 2 million public subscribers to his Facebook page and more than 1.5 million...

The U.S. religious landscape is shifting, and no one may be more thankful than GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney.

The 2010 U.S. Religion Census, released May 1 on the Association of Religion Data Archives, found that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gained...

They are called "clergy killers" -- congregations where a small group of members are so disruptive that no pastor is able to maintain spiritual leadership for long.

And yet ministers often endure the stresses of these dysfunctional relationships for months, or even years, before eventually being forced out or giving...

Give people in the pews some credit.

Every so often, a story pops up making light of religious illiteracy because a significant percentage of the population cannot identify facts such as the names of the four books of the Gospel. More often, researchers and media pundits attempt to classify different...

Thousands of victims of sexual abuse will never receive a personal apology from their church leaders.

Many continue suffering into adulthood from the crimes of wayward clergy and the conspiracy of silence by religious hierarchs. Now, some will be offended even more by statements made by Cardinal Edward Egan.

The...

Every congregation has them -- the husband who comes to church a few times a year with his religious spouse, the college student who attends services when she is home to please her parents, the Baby Boomers who are uneasy with services they consider too liberal or too conservative.

They...

It was early in the Little League season, but my 11-year-old son was off to a slow start. He had already struck out in this game, and was now batting with the bases loaded.

Standing along the first base line, I did something I had not done before during a...

What do Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, Hispanic Catholics in central Nebraska, megachurch evangelicals in Houston and South Asian Muslims in suburban Detroit have in common?

More than many people could ever imagine.

Forget the popular cultural images from shows such as HBO's "Big Love" that revive stereotypes linking Mormonism with...

Marriage is taking a hit lately.

The Pew Research Center recently reported that just 51 percent of U.S. adults are married, a record low, and that the number of new marriages declined 5 percent from 2009 to 2010.

But those people questioning whether the institution can still work for them...

Democrats welcomed Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith's backing in Missouri, and continued to seek his political blessing when he led the new movement to Illinois.

Then Smith decided to run for president.

It was one of the last in a series of fateful decisions about the personal power he sought that...

The nation's churches and synagogues have a weight problem.

The multiple health benefits of an active faith life tend to stop at four-course Shabbat meals and church supper tables groaning with fried meat, biscuits and gravy, new research shows.

In one study of some 5,500 women and men ages 45...

Men would rather watch Monday Night Football than go shopping. Eating too many Hardees Monster Thickburgers is linked to obesity. Texting while driving is a bad idea.

There are times when research findings are so obvious they are almost beyond questioning. So it is puzzling that growing evidence showing the...

In 1914, as the Episcopal Church wrestled with creating a pension system for clergy, Bishop William Lawrence argued that caring for aging ministers was a moral responsibility and essential to the future of the church.

The choice, he said, was often between having clergy hanging on to pastorates rather than...

Leading GOP presidential contenders invoking God in campaigns championing less government are striking a responsive chord among many of the nation's most devout believers.

Late-night talk-show hosts may ridicule candidates such as Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann for mixing faith and politics, but a major new study finds many religious...

Overthrowing an autocratic regime is just the first step.

Now the leaders of popular uprisings in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere face the challenging task of protecting hard-won freedoms in the face of diverse demands from political, regional, secular and religious constituencies.

When it comes to guaranteeing freedom of religion, the...

Secular activists have said for centuries that the more people know, the less they will believe in religion. The Catholic hierarchy and Catholic schools continue to struggle over the university's role in balancing academic freedom and propagating the faith. The tension between overt hostility and treating religion as a valid...

"Who is the rich man?" asked the New Testament professor at Yale Divinity School. David Lull was discussing the parable about a person unwilling to give up his possessions to follow a more selfless path to love and happiness.

I barely paid attention that day in 1985. I was lost...

What daily practice may help American Christians become more concerned about issues of poverty, conservation and civil liberties?

Reading the Bible.

The answer may come as a surprise to those locked into viewing religious practices in ideological boxes. However, a new study by Baylor University researcher Aaron Franzen found frequent...

A Hollywood evangelist carrying a 12-foot wooden cross led some 200 Southern Baptists down the heart of the nation's gambling capital in 1989, handing out gospel tracts during the denomination's annual meeting in Las Vegas.

The decision to meet in Sin City evoked controversy, with some Southern Baptists deciding to...

The world did not end May 21.

The calculations of the Family Radio prophet Harold Camping that believers would be taken up to heaven that day as an earthquake struck the Earth did not come to pass.

Just like it did not come to pass in the 1840s, when followers...