The Last Temptation

How evangelicals became an anxious minority seeking political protection from a not traditionally religious president.

Kneeling for Hollywood

How Hollywood portrays religious prayer.

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker: A Scandal of the Self

The long historical roots and continuing relevance of the disgraced preacher's story.
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Billy Graham, ‘America’s Pastor’?

He became known as an apolitical preacher. But Graham started out as an ardent conservative.
Billy Graham

Billy Graham Was On the Wrong Side of History

Racial tensions are rising, the earth is warming, and evangelicals are doing little to help. That may be Graham’s most significant legacy.

Why Billy Graham Was Determined to Globalize Evangelicalism

Recognizing that Americans are not the future of his religion, the late preacher embraced a global world.
A painting of George Whitefield preaching to a crowd.

Darkness Falls on the Land of Light

Divisions in society and religion that still exist today resulted from the "Great Awakenings" of the 18th Century.
Thomas Jefferson's two-volume personal copy of George Sale's 1734 translation of the Qur'an. Library of Congress.

Why Thomas Jefferson Owned a Qur’an

Islam in America dates to the founding fathers, says Smithsonian’s religion curator Peter Manseau.

Are White Evangelicals Sacrificing The Future In Search Of The Past?

The religious profile of young adults today differs dramatically from that of older Americans.
Protestor outside the Supreme Court, with a Bible and a sign denouncing bigotry.
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Discriminating in the Name of Religion? Segregationists and Slaveholders Did It, Too.

If religious freedom trumps equality under the law, it provides a “cover” that actually encourages discrimination.

5 Questions with Ronit Stahl

A Q&A with the author of "Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chaplaincy Shaped Religion and State in Modern America."

Cancer and Captivity: Reflections on Affliction in Puritan and Modern Times

It seemed to me that the conditions of cancer and captivity shared physical, emotional, and spiritual correspondences.
"Liberty Leading the People," an 1830 painting by Eugene Delacroix.

Religion and the Republic

Looking to the French Revolution and the writings of Tocqueville for insight into Trump’s America.
Seal of the County of Lehigh, Pennsylvania

Lehigh County, Pa., Fights the Courts to Keep the Cross in Its Seal

The case hinges on whether its display is to honor local history or Christianity.
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America @ Worship

How social media is – and isn't – changing American religion.
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500 Years Ago Christianity Changed. It Changed Again in the 1960s.

That the 500th anniversary of Luther’s act has been noted without éclat may be something to celebrate.
Virginia Woolf and others dressed in blackface and Ethiopian clothing.

The Time Virginia Woolf Wore Blackface

Why did future members of the modernist literary movement darken their skin, speak fake Swahili, and board a British battleship?

Why did James Comey Name His Secret Twitter Account ‘Reinhold Niebuhr’?

Niebuhr is a theological hero to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain.
Basketball team listening to coach Don McClanen.

The Role of Sports Ministries in the NFL Protests

A number of black athletes are fueling their activism with Christian faith.

How to Balance Competing Claims of Religious Freedom?

Peyote use has been defended with religious liberty arguments. So has Bible reading in public schools.
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A Group of Catholics Has Charged Pope Francis with Heresy. Here’s Why That Matters

It's not that they're attacking him. It's what they're attacking him for.
1870 cartoon of people going camping

The Religious Roots of America's Love for Camping

How a minister's accidental bestseller launched the country's first outdoor craze.

The Complexities of Racial and Religious Identities

Judith Weisenfeld’s book, New World A-Coming, reinterprets the various religious movements among African Americans in the early twentieth century.
Trump walking out of the Capitol building to be inaugurated.

Losing Our Civil Religion

Trump's unbridled rhetorical rampage has stripped the presidency of its moral ambition and authority. 
Trump speaking at Liberty University.

Is the Term 'Evangelical' Redeemable?

One historian, who also happens to be an evangelical Christian, says no.
A 1902 football game mid-play, with men from both sides rushing at each other

God and the Gridiron Game

America's obsession with football is nearly as old as the game itself.
Demonstrators protesting new history curriculum
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How The Culture Wars Destroyed Public Education

The left's Pyrrhic victory in the culture wars.

The Complex Marriage Complex

A descendant of the Oneida Community reflects on the famous 19th century experiment in managing sexual freedom.
Woman with a flower.

The Summer of Love Ended 50 Years Ago. It Reshaped American Conservatism.

The Jesus People, born on Haight Ashbury, had a profound influence on the Religious Right.

Talking God in the United States

What are Americans really talking about when they talk about religious freedom?