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May 2023

May 08, 2023

The Origins of Dragons

What are the origins of dragons? It isn't clear when and where dragons first appeared...

May 03, 2023

Saint George of England

Saint George is the patron saint of England, and he is famous for slaying a...

May 02, 2023

Coronations in Westminster Abbey: A History

King Charles's coronation on May 6 will be a really fancy Anglican Church service, and...

April 2023

April 29, 2023

The Deeper Meaning of Agnosticism

Agnosticism is a word coined in 1869 by the English biologist T. H. Huxley. And...

April 27, 2023

How a Bronze Statue by Michelangelo Became a Cannon

Even geniuses can have rough patches. One of Michelangelo's major works, a huge bronze statue...

April 22, 2023

Do the Ten Commandments Belong in Public School Classrooms?

The Texas Senate has passed a bill that mandates posting the Ten Commandments in every...

April 19, 2023

The True Story of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Michelangelo's frescos on the Sistine Chapel ceiling represent the peak of the High Renaissance. Even...

April 13, 2023

How the Renaissance Popes Made Rome

The Renaissance popes made Rome what it is today. In spite of its previous existence...

April 09, 2023

How the Italian Renaissance Began

The Italian Renaissance was one of the shining jewels of human history. The Renaissance itself...

April 05, 2023

The Controversial History of Michelangelo’s David

The fallout from the recent Michelangelo's David controversy continues. If you've spent the past month...

March 2023

March 31, 2023

The Story of Michelangelo’s Pietà

Of all the great works of art associated with the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ,...

March 29, 2023

The Surprising History of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper has a surprising history. Even being asked to paint...

February 2023

February 26, 2023

13th Century Mystics and the Beguines

Christian mysticism flourished in 13th century Europe. Many of the 13th century mystics were Beguines,...

February 24, 2023

The Beguines: Independent Holy Women of the Middle Ages

Beguines were women of medieval Europe -- and later -- who dedicated themselves to charity,...

February 19, 2023

The Mirror of Simple Souls

The Mirror of Simple Souls is a classic work of medieval Christian mysticism that was...

January 2023

January 21, 2023

When U.S. Christian Denominations Split Over Slavery

In the years before the U.S. Civil War, three major Christian denominations split over slavery....

January 20, 2023

Christianity and the Abolitionist Movement in the U.S.

Misunderstanding abounds about the role of Christianity and the abolitionist movement, the 19th century movement...

January 03, 2023

Why Pope Gregory XII Resigned

Newspaper obituaries of the late Pope Emertus Benedict XVI (1927-2022) mention that he was the...

December 2022

December 28, 2022

Hildegard of Bingen, Medieval Christian Mystic

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179; also called Hildegard von Bingen) was a nun, an author, a...

December 23, 2022

The Christmas Truce of 1914

Even if you are not into World War I history, you may have heard of...

November 2022

November 28, 2022

The Surprising History of Handel’s Messiah

There are a number of dubious stories about George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah. (The formal...

November 23, 2022

Arguments Against the Wall of Separation Between Church and State

I've written a number of columns looking at issues involving religion and the U.S. Constitution....

November 21, 2022

Jefferson’s Wall of Separation Between Church and State

There is no more controversial phrase in U.S. history than Thomas Jefferson's "wall of separation...

November 12, 2022

The Problem With Bible Readings in U.S. Public Schools

In 1956, a student in a public high school near Philadelphia protested his school's daily...

November 10, 2022

When the U.S. Supreme Court Didn’t Ban School Prayer

It has been sixty years since a U.S. Supreme Court decision ended class recitations of...

November 05, 2022

Piety and Peril: Life in Medieval Irish Monasteries

The 6th to 8th centuries were a golden age for Irish monasteries. The hand copying...

November 02, 2022

Monastic Book Production in the Middle Ages

Monastic book production in the Middle Ages began in Ireland. This is recorded in the...

October 2022

October 29, 2022

A Brief History of Christian Nationalism: Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority

This is a continuation of A Brief History of Christian Nationalism that will look at...

October 27, 2022

Christian Nationalism: Power, Politics, & a Distorted Gospel

Christian nationalism is much in the news these days, at least in the United States....

October 08, 2022

The Printing Press and the Reformation

This is the second part of a series on how printing technology changed the course...

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