20+ min ago (881+ words) Reading 1 Daniel 2:31-45 Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: "In your vision, O king, you saw a statue, very large and exceedingly bright, terrifying in appearance as it stood before you. The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron, its feet partly iron and partly tile. While you looked at the statue, a stone which was hewn from a mountain without a hand being put to it, struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces. The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once, fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer, and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. "This was the dream; the…...

55+ min ago (971+ words) If there's one concept humanity has collectively obsessed over, feared, shaped, reshaped, and used as moral leverage for thousands of years, it's hell. Fire. Darkness. Punishment. Eternal regret. But here's the catch: for a place described in such vivid detail across time, hell doesn't have a birth certificate. There's no single ancient philosopher who stood up and said, "Alright, folks, I've invented eternal damnation." Instead, the idea grew slowly and passed through different cultures. So, who actually invented hell? The short answer is: nobody and everybody. The long answer? That's what this article is for. Long before anyone imagined lakes of fire or horned demons, ancient cultures were already working through the idea of an afterlife destination. But, what's fascinating is that these early underworlds weren't really places of "eternal torment." They were just" places. Dark, quiet, confusing, sometimes dull,…...

57+ min ago (496+ words) This article is part of a Women and Leadership special report highlighting women who have forged new paths. The Rev. Winnie Varghese was appointed the 12th dean of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Upper Manhattan in April, making her the first woman to hold this position at the Gothic cathedral, one of the world's largest. She now leads the cathedral's operations in a role comparable to that of a company's chief executive. This interview, conducted by email, has been edited and condensed. What gifts do you as a woman bring to the ministry? How will you use your bullhorn? We have a very big pulpit! I want us to grow that ministry in terms of who is in it, how we share what happens here. I want us to be a place for the vital conversations of…...

1+ hour, 17+ min ago (428+ words) While the Mercedarians may be one of the lesser known religious orders in the world, they have a remarkable story featuring heroic tales of redemption that have inspired poets and singers for centuries. The order was founded in 1218 by St. Peter Nolasco, and is officially known as the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy. Our Lady in this title has many names: Our Lady of Mercy, Our Lady of Merced, Our Lady of Ransom, etc. In 13th-century Spain, Christians were frequently captured by the Moors, leading to various kings and religious trying to discern the best course of action to get them back. After fervently praying,St. Peter Nolasco had the idea of establishing a religious order in which the members would take the corporal work of mercy to "ransom the captive" quite literally, freeing Christians from the…...

1+ hour, 20+ min ago (812+ words) Vatican City, Nov 25, 2025 / 06:00 am A new Vatican document defends marriage as a monogamous relationship amid the growing popularity of polyamory, and addresses the pastoral challenges caused by conversion to Catholicism of people in polygamous situations. "One Flesh: In Praise of Monogamy" was published in Italian by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on Nov. 25. "Polygamy, adultery, or polyamory are based on the illusion that the intensity of the relationship can be found in the succession of partners," the Vatican says. To illustrate this metaphorically, the text cites the myth of Don Juan, an unbridled seducer whose womanizing leads him to hell, which demonstrates that "multiplying partners in a supposed total union means fragmenting the meaning of marital love." The text also draws on the writing of poets Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda, Rabindranath Tagore, and Emily Dickinson, as well…...

1+ hour, 20+ min ago (266+ words) Save 50% through 12/1. Join Now Beth Felker Jones's book charitably holds up its merits against other traditions. introduction by Kevin J. VanHoozer While Jones demonstrates charity, she also writes with clarity and intellectual rigor. One problematic trend in some of the 20th century's ecumenical movements was abandoning clarity in favor of unity, underplaying or dismissing doctrinal differences. Jones refuses to look past core doctrinal disagreements between Christian traditions. Elisabeth Rain Kincaid is director of the Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University, where she also serves as associate professor for ethics, faith, and culture at George W. Truett Theological Seminary. She is the author of Law from Below. A new national survey co-sponsored by Leadership. Reported by Helen Lee Reviewed by Ryan T. Anderson Yonat Shimron in Coleshill, England " Religion News Service After years of planning and fundraising, the roadside landmark shaped like a…...

1+ hour, 20+ min ago (499+ words) Save 50% through 12/1. Join Now Following Jesus doesn't require rejecting my family's culture. God loves my latinidad. My'abuela'is the saintliest person I know. I spent a large portion of my early childhood in her care, and if I remember anything from that time, it's her prayers.' There's a family legend about a time my grandpa sabotaged the car to keep her from going to church with the kids. My grandma prayed, got in the car,'started it,'and went anyway. She was'and is'a woman of faith. From my earliest years, she taught me about Jesus and demonstrated what it meant to follow him even when it was hard. Our family isn't perfect, of course, but my grandma remains my model of godliness.' Interview by Kelsey Kramer McGinnis But as I watched, I heard more and more people say something like,'Christianity…...

1+ hour, 35+ min ago (289+ words) Religion plays a defining role in American culture and politics, but the degree of religiosity varies dramatically by state. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, maps out the share of adults who are highly religious based on survey data from the Pew Research Center. The survey was of 36,908 adults, conducted July 2023 to March 2024, with religiousness based on prayer frequency, attendance at religious services, belief in God, and the importance of religion in life. Mississippi leads as America's most religious state, with 50% of adults surveyed categorized as highly religious. The table below shows the share of residents in each U.S. state who are considered highly religious: South Carolina follows Mississippi with 46% of adults highly religious, with South Dakota and Louisiana tied next at 45%. The data highlights a strong concentration of religious adherence in the American South. States like Tennessee (44%), North Carolina…...

1+ hour, 50+ min ago (479+ words) An outstanding response to gender ideology by His Excellency Daniel Thomas, Bishop of Toledo, suggests that individual bishops are more equipped to produce quality work than the Roman Curia or the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It would be wonderful if something as clear and comprehensive as The Body Reveals the Person could have been produced by one of those bureaucracies. In the vein of Popes Francis and Leo XIV, Bishop Thomas begins with the words of a shepherd: "Those who experience confusion about their sexual identities'suffer greatly. To those who struggle with gender confusion, I want you to know that you are not alone. Christ loves you. The Church loves you. And I love you." We don't have to look far to see how many young people are yearning to hear such words. Just days before his horrific…...

1+ hour, 55+ min ago (455+ words) The geography of life is marked by mountains and valleys. From new life and new love to the sorrow of loss and disappointment, our journey through this vale of tears always seems to find us ascending or descending. The same pattern is mirrored in our relationships; anyone married for a long time will attest that struggle and strife often go hand in hand with laughter and joy. Marriage itself teaches this. In its hardest seasons, the glossy finish that covers our faults is stripped away, and what remains is the elemental material of love. In those valleys, we are deprived of sentiment so that we may learn fidelity. When the consolations vanish, a new kind of intimacy becomes possible'a love that is not reactive to pleasure but rooted in willing the good. It is precisely that intimacy that God invites…...