“Beating the Bounds”
How did people find out where their local boundaries were before there were reliable maps?
When Monks Went Undercover to Steal Relics
Because relics were understood to be capable of working miracles, any relic that was stolen must have wanted to be.
Ancient Monks Got That Quarantine Feeling, Too
Listlessness, boredom, torpor, that "noonday demon" that tempts you away from spiritual connections—that's what was called acedia.
The Protestant Astrology of Early American Almanacs
The wildly popular books helped people understand farming and health through the movement of the planets, in a way compatible with Protestantism.
The Undercover Abolitionists of the 18th Century
Since many people considered them an off-putting radical sect, some Quaker abolitionists worked behind the scenes to eradicate slavery.
AITA for Being Obsessed with Ethics in Pop Culture?
Reddit's popular AITA forum lets readers post and weigh in on everyday ethical questions. But it isn't the first public venue for those discussions.
Are Insects Capable of Moral Behavior?
Some 19th-century naturalists believed that bugs could think and should therefore definitely know that biting is out of line.
The Gospel According to Kanye West
On the making of gospel music, from Gospel Pearls to Jesus Is King.
How Comparative Religion Took Root in the 19th Century
Many Americans considered faiths outside Christianity and Judaism to be "pagan." Unitarian minister James Freeman Clarke argued otherwise.
Ok papist
England faced a generational divide almost 500 years ago, as the Protestant Reformation split the nation apart.