What a 16th-Century Abortion Ban Revealed
In 1588, Pope Sixtus V issued a papal bull officially classifying abortion, regardless of the stage of fetal development, as homicide.
The Shaker Formula for Gender Equality
Shaker communities seem to have appealed to a lot of women because they offered a respite where their work was honored and respected.
How Anti-Catholicism Created an American Saint
Elizabeth Ann Seton is known today as the first American Roman Catholic saint. Her road to canonization was no easy path.
The Godless Sex Radicals of the Kansas Plains
One of the biggest trends in American religious beliefs today is the rise of the “nones." In the 1880s, they might have called themselves freethinkers.
The Uncertain Future of the Religious Left
The aftermath of the 2016 U.S. election has renewed calls for an empowered coalition of religious liberals. Is there a place for the religious left?
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.
What Good Is Knowing the Bible?
Despite the high rates of religious adherence in the United States, fewer Americans are reading the Bible than at any point in history.
Eroticism and Religion in Utopia
Some 19th-century utopian idealists took up deeply unconventional sexual arrangements based specifically on their religious beliefs.