An Unhealthy Obsession with Avoiding Sin
In the early 20th century, "scruples" meant a neurotic fixation on sin. It seemed to mostly affect Roman Catholics.
These Gravity-Defying Sculptures Provoked Accusations of Demonic Possession
Demons and artists, it seems, pull from the same bag of tricks. They take ordinary matter and transform it into something more wondrous, more terrifying.
How Florida Got Its Name
506 years ago, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed in what he christened "Florida." Historians still wonder where the name came from.
The Mixed Environmental Legacy of Missionaries
The recent murder of Christian missionary John Chau has drawn attention to the effects outsiders have on native tribes and ecology.
Jarena Lee, The First Woman African American Autobiographer
Jarena Lee was the first female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1836, she published her autobiography.
What Monks Can Teach us about Managing our Work Lives
Medieval monks used labor-saving innovations like the mill not to increase productivity, but to free up more time for what they wanted to do.
The Religious Experience of Antiques Roadshow
What has made this slow, quiet television show about antiques the sleeper hit of PBS? One scholar describes the show as enacting near-religious rituals.
A.K.M. Adam and Postmodern Biblical Studies
Welcome to Ask a Professor, our series that offers an insider’s view of life in academia. This month we interviewed A.K.M. Adam.
Why Martin Luther’s Body Type Mattered
Five hundred years after posting his ninety-five theses and launching the Reformation, Martin Luther remains a big man of history. Literally.