Christianity

New research finds that fused identity apparently produces a predisposition toward authoritarianism and support for punitive punishments.

• By Tom Jacobs

Americans' divergent conceptions of the supreme being's face reflect our egocentrism, and reveal our emotional needs.

• By Tom Jacobs

Based on recent actions by the president, it appears Trump's idea of creating opportunities for religious values in America involves turning religion into an arm of the state.

• By Chayenne Polimédio

PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.

• By Max Ufberg
• Member Exclusive

New research finds that, when evangelical organizations raise their profile by sponsoring a high-profile political campaign, a backlash ensues.

• By Tom Jacobs

The Jedi religion—inspired by the Star Wars franchise—has already earned tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. But can it prove its spiritual legitimacy to a skeptical public?

• By Ben Rowen

For me, Christmas Carols evoke hope in a way that Christmas itself never can.

• By Hanif Abdurraqib

The roots of the holiday, traced from its origins with pagan Celts through its various modern iterations around the world today.

• By Regina Hansen

Donald Trump has been courting conservative Christians hard since his campaign, but they don't appear to have influenced much policy.

• By Elizabeth King

Perry's proactive work in the intersection of gayness, religiousness, and blackness won her an Encore Purpose Prize fellowship, a competitive award for seniors.

• By Avital Andrews

In God Mocks, Terry Lindvall traces the long arc of Christian satire. Laughter really is the best corrective.

• By Laura Turner

Despite the Arab Spring's secular influence, the Middle East is still one of the most dangerous places on Earth to be an atheist.

• By Hunter Stuart

As the presidential campaign is showing us, the moral values of Christians are far from monolithic.

• By Tom Jacobs

There's a reason his cheek is turned.

• By Tom Jacobs

Inside the growing evangelical movement to acknowledge the reality—and the victims—of climate change.

• By Laura Turner

In this country, we celebrate the First Amendment, which prevents the government from interfering with religious beliefs and practices. But what if those beliefs and practices make children suffer?

• By Julia Scheeres

From ISIS to the Christian right, three new books explore the modern urge to go back to an original, uncorrupted version of faith.

• By Alex Strick van Linschoten

A new poll shows that a well-trodden legal argument against same-sex marriage isn’t as popular as it seems.

• By Jared Keller

Maybe 2768 A.U.C.

• By Rick Paulas

According to the latest Pew data, the number of adults who do not identify with a religious group grew from 36 million in 2007 to 56 million today. But past research indicates that many of these non-affiliated individuals have some form of belief system.

• By Casey N. Cep

The went-to-heaven-and-back genre is more popular than ever, but Biblical scholar N.T. Wright's recent book argues that this cultural conception of heaven has little basis in scripture.

• By Casey N. Cep

What does it mean for churches that water, such an important religious symbol, is disappearing before our eyes?

• By Laura Turner

Despite two decades of preaching, self-identified Christians are hardly acting as stewards of the Earth.

• By Tom Jacobs

A history lesson for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and other conservatives worried about "a secular clown posse" set on destroying Judeo-Christian traditions.

• By Daniel Luzer