Religious History

Possessed: Voodoo's Origins and Influence from the Blues to Britney

Debra Devi | Posted 05.16.2012

Debra Devi

This was the religion of many slaves brought from West Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean. Vodun was brutally repressed by slave-owners, yet its powerful beats, ethics and aesthetics endured. We owe our concepts of cool, soul and rock and roll to it.

Dirty Words and Gender Switching in the Blues

Debra Devi | Posted 05.22.2012

Debra Devi

Africans may have arrived here with nothing, but they enriched and vitalized American language and culture beyond measure. Africans in the Americas became masters of metaphor and euphemism.

7 Facts You're Not Supposed To Know About Religion

Daniele Bolelli | Posted 03.19.2012

Daniele Bolelli

If you feel like taking a weird, dangerous journey through world religions and running into some of the very odd characters populating them--if you have a taste for paradox and think that questioning authority should be an Olympic sport--then hop on board.

Digging For Truth: How Deep Are You Willing to Go?

Levi Ben-Shmuel | Posted 10.10.2011

Levi Ben-Shmuel

As archaeologists dig deeper into the earth to uncover new truths about the past, their findings have the potential to upend our understanding of religion and the role of God in its unfolding.

'History Centrism': A Challenge To Abrahamic Faiths

Joshua Stanton | Posted 09.13.2011

Joshua Stanton

So what of the Abrahamic emphasis on prophetic history? Is it possible to accept the teachings of a prophet (or set of prophets) without focusing on prophetic history?

July 9, 1850: The Martyrdom of the Bab

Jonathan Gandomi | Posted 09.07.2011

Jonathan Gandomi

Each year on July 9, members of the Baha'i Faith commemorate the Martyrdom of the Báb, an event which -- according to Baha'is -- witnessed the execution of one of God's divine messengers to humanity.

Three Religions, One God

Jacob Neusner | Posted 05.26.2011

Jacob Neusner

We cannot point to any three other religions that form so intimate a narrative relationship as do the successive revelations of monotheism -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

INTERNATIONAL ART: King Henri IV's Head Identified And Sent Back To Crypt, After Two Centuries

France24 | Posted 05.25.2011

AFP - He was one of France's most adored kings, a monarch known as "le bon roi Henri" (good king Henri), who promoted religious tolerance, was a hit w...

Is Western Christianity Suffering From Spiritual Amnesia?

Diana Butler Bass | Posted 05.25.2011

Diana Butler Bass

At the present juncture of history, Western Christianity is suffering from a bad case of spiritual amnesia. Even those who claim to be devout or conservative often know little about the history of their faith traditions.

Highlights in the History of a 'Christian Nation'

Kenneth C. Davis | Posted 05.25.2011

Kenneth C. Davis

Calling America a "Christian Nation" is simply another myth. History and Christianity deserve the truth -- which after all, the Bible tells us, "will set you free."