Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Religion

Philadelphia's Bible Riots of 1844 reflected a strain of anti-Catholic bias and hostility that coursed through 19th-century America.

America’s True History of Religious Tolerance

The idea that the United States has always been a bastion of religious freedom is reassuring—and utterly at odds with the historical record

Cassadaga, Florida is considered the oldest active religious community in the Southeast.

Cassadaga: America’s Oldest Spiritualist Community

The mystics of the Florida village offer a connection to the spirits living among us and a portal into America’s religious past

Nearly 2.5 million people come each year to Varanasi which sits on the banks of the most sacred Indian river.

The Holy City of Varanasi

Tourists and pilgrims flock to Varanasi, a sacred Hindu city on the banks of the Ganges River

In a once strife-torn Belfast neighborhood (where murals today dramatize a message of hope), reconciliation is taking hold. Even so, says Father Aidan Troy, formerly of a Belfast parish, progress must be nurtured day by day: "Peace is a delicate plant."

In Northern Ireland, Getting Past the Troubles

A decade after Protestants and Catholics agreed on a peace treaty, both sides are adjusting to a hopeful new reality

None

Kwanzaa Just a Part of Year-Long Jubilee in Anacostia

None

Science to Religion: Can’t We All Just Get Along?

A Mormon encampment in Provo, 1858

The Brink of War

One hundred fifty years ago, the U.S. Army marched into Utah prepared to battle Brigham Young and his Mormon militia

None

Heaven Scent

A 600-year-old pharmacy started by Florentine monks is now a trendy global marketer of perfumes and medieval elixirs

None

Scott’s Cross

A huddle grows around the high priests, with one young priest bearing an ikon, or holy picture, while others hold ornate gold and silver crosses.

Keepers of the Lost Ark?

Christians in Ethiopia have long claimed to have the ark of the covenant. Our reporter investigated

Amenhotep III (a granite head from the temple complex is his best extant portrait) was succeeded by his son Akhenaten, who revolutionized Egypt's religion—temporarily.

Rebellious Son

Amenhotep III was succeeded by one of the first known monotheists

Adhering to tradition is a way of life among the Zuni Indians of northwestern New Mexico, whether it's dryland farming or wedding ceremonies. "The Zuni's complex social web seems to hold people," says Dennis Tedlock. "Their religion and language provide...ethnic identity."

The Zuni Way

Though they embrace computers and TV, the secret of the tribe’s unity lies in fealty to their past

A Hindu monk offers a morning prayer along the Ganges River.

India’s Holiest City

At Varanasi, Hindu pilgrims come to pray—and to die—along the sacred Ganges River

Vision of St Maria Magdalena di Pazzi from the Museo de Bellas Artes, Granada

Ask Smithsonian

Who Was Mary Magdalene?

From the writing of the New Testament to the filming of The Da Vinci Code, her image has been repeatedly conscripted, contorted and contradicted

Menachem Brody (shown here at Elon Moreh) leads tours to biblical sites on the West Bank.

Shifting Ground in the Holy Land

Archaeology is casting new light on the Old Testament

None

Medical Sleuth

To prosecutors, it was child abuse - an Amish baby covered in bruises, but Dr. D. Holmes Morton had other ideas

None

Our Man in Karbala

Coming to terms with Shiite beliefs

None

In Good Spirits

Lily dale, New York, is a curious little village where the still-quick commune with the once-quick

Shaker House

Living a Tradition

At a handful of sites scattered across New England, Shaker communities transport the past into the present

None

I Was a Teenage Shaker

Sprigg’s has written ten books, organized a major exhibition on Shaker design and served as curator of collections

Page 37 of 38