Why Is There a Roman Temple Under This German Shopping Mall?
Under a shopping mall in Mainz, Germany lies the Roman Empire’s only known joint sanctuary of Isis and Magna Mater. The curse tablets found inside blur the line between ancient…
Believing in God is Hard
Believing God and spirits exist and experiencing them as present are two different things. Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann calls the work of bridging that gap real-making: the prayers, offerings, and habits…
Why Evangelicals Started Looking for 666 in Barcodes
Revelation 13 describes a mark, 666, branded on people so that no one can buy or sell without it. How did American evangelicals come to read that as a barcode,…
Did Jesus Have Brothers and Sisters?
Did Jesus have brothers and sisters? The Gospel of Mark names four: James, Joses, Judas, Simon, plus unnamed sisters. Paul met James, the brother of Jesus. So why did later…
What is Sikhism?
Religion for Breakfast
Cult of Mithras Explained
The Cult of Mithras was a thriving religion in the Roman Empire. But by the 5th century....it was gone. What do we know about the Cult of Mithras? And what…
What is Atheism?
Religion for Breakfast
Biblically-Accurate Angels Explained
You may have seen the memes about "biblically-accurate angels." These memes often emphasize the weird, visionary creatures mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Technically, though, 'biblically-accurate' angels also just look like…
Who were the Sea Peoples?
The Bronze Age Collapse