Traumatic events can make people question assumptions about their lives, including their spiritual beliefs. By Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio HansenAssistant Professor of Pastoral Theology & Director of Field EducationSeminary of the Southwest Introduction Organized religion has been on the decline for decades in the United States. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found that online searches for[…]
They wanted to cleanse the body politic of content and behavior deemed offensive and “damaging”. By Dr. Christopher SchelinAssistant Professor of Practical and Political TheologiesStarr King School for the Ministry Church Discipline Extensive debate has swirled around the purpose, effectiveness and even the very existence of what has been called “cancel culture.” The phrase itself may[…]
Time and again, climate convulsions have been understood in religious terms. By Dr. Philip JenkinsDistinguished Professor of HistoryCo-Director, Program on Historical Studies of ReligionBaylor University In July 1741, Congregational minister Jonathan Edwards delivered one of the most influential sermons in American history. He warned his alarmed listeners of their utterly sinful state, of how that[…]
While millenarian prophecy dominated in the 1640s and 1650s, apocalyptic prophecy in general dwindled after the 1660s. Apocalyptic prophecies such as those of Anne Wentworth were not anomalous in seventeenth-century England. In fact, when Wentworth predicted the date of the arrival of the Apocalypse, she participated in a tradition that stretched back at least into[…]
JPL manages NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, which tracks comets and asteroids that drift close to Earth’s orbital neighborhood. Introduction A Near-Earth Object (NEO) is generally defined as an asteroid or comet that approaches our planet less than 1.3 times the distance from Earth to the Sun (the Earth-Sun distance is about 93 million[…]
Comets’ influence on cultures is not limited simply to tales of myth and legend. By Noah GoldmanCollege Park ScholarsUniversity of Maryland Comets have inspired dread, fear, and awe in many different cultures and societies around the world and throughout time. They have been branded with such titles as “the Harbinger of Doom” and “the Menace[…]
Waiting for summer often seems to take a lifetime. Once the winter holiday season is over, you’re left with the slow months of January to April to get through before the warmer weather rolls around. Once summer does arrive, you deserve to spend some time decompressing. Here are some ideas for how to do that.[…]