Seeing the World Through Missionaries’ Eyes
One way Americans got a look into life in distant parts of the world in the 1930s and ’40s was through films made by Protestant missionary groups.
Nice Guy Spinoza Finishes…First?
The Dutch Jewish philosopher Spinoza died in 1677, which is when the battle to define his life—and work—began.
Bundling: An Old Tradition on New Ground
Common in colonial New England, bundling allowed a suitor to spend a night in bed with his sweetheart—while her parents slept in the next room.
Mark Twain’s Obsession with Joan of Arc
Despite being famous for his witty analyses of the American South, Twain was proudest of the historical fiction he wrote about France’s legendary martyr.
Jain Ascetics in a Material World
The Jain Śvētāmbara Terāpanth sect began as an ascetic discipline, but it has increasingly emphasized physical health over renunciation of the body.
Reading “The Book of Nature”
Beginning in the Middle Ages, the natural world was viewed as a Christian parable, helping humans to give divine meaning to plants, animals, and the heavens.
Come Let Us Argue: Faith and Intellectual Humility
Can belief in the divine endure in an individual who possesses an openness to being wrong? How do doubt and faith co-exist among the religious?
Himmelsbriefe: Heaven-Sent Chain Letters
For more than a thousand years, people have used letters allegedly written by Christ as both doctrinal evidence and magical charms.
When Enslaved Virginians Demanded the Right to Read
In 1723, a group of enslaved African Americans petitioned the Bishop of London to ensure that their children could attend school and learn to read the Bible.
Autopsy of a Saint
In the late thirteenth century, followers of the Italian abbess Clare of Montefalco dissected her heart in search of a crucifix.