Religious History

Mother Teresa stands with children at her Calcutta mission.

Mother Teresa Will Become an Official Saint

The champion of India's poorest has sprinted to sainthood since her 1997 death

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Bethsaida was a day’s walk from Nazareth. When Jesus returned to his boyhood hometown to preach, the Gospels say he was rejected by a mob.

Unearthing the World of Jesus

Surprising archaeological finds are breaking new ground in our understanding of Jesus’s time—and the revolution he launched 2,000 years ago

How many curls can you count?

A Buddha in Japan Is Missing Half of Its Curls

What happened to the Buddha of Nara's famous 'do?

A page of the original King James Bible

The Origins of the King James Bible

A handwritten draft of the world's most famous bible has been discovered in England

A statue of Junipero Serra, Catholicism's newest saint, stands in front of San Gabriel Arcángel, the California mission he founded in 1771.

Why Are Native Groups Protesting Catholicism's Newest Saint?

Nearly 250 years after Junipero Serra founded California's first missions, questions linger about his legacy

New Proof That Ancient Egyptians Bred Birds of Prey

A recent 3-D scan of a mummified falcon shows it was force fed sparrows and mice

The fragments comprise two parchment leaves, written in Hijazi script on sheep or goat skin.

Carbon Dating Reveals One of the Oldest Known Copies of the Quran

Manuscript fragments found in U.K. library were written between 568 and 645

A Playmobil Figure of Martin Luther Has Become the Fastest-Selling of All Time

The first edition of 34,000 figurines sold out in 72 hours

In an eerie green hue, this upside-down Medusa head threatens to turn onlookers to stone. The color seems to come partly from a slick covering of algae.

Two Eerie Medusa Heads Watch Over Turkey’s Waterways

Why the Greek monster stares out from an ancient cistern in Istanbul

Sculptures in St. Anthony's Chapel in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Has a Huge Collection of Relics

St. Anthony’s Chapel contains the largest number of relics outside of the Vatican

The Science of the Red Sea's Parting

It is physically and scientifically possible for a body of water to part

Living in Tough Environments Makes People More Prone to Belief in God

People living in harsh natural environments are more likely to believe in a tough, moralizing god

Participants in costume process with an effigy of Guy Fawkes, to be burned, as they take part in one of a series of processions during Bonfire night celebrations in Lewes, southern England.

Guy Fawkes May Be the Root of the Word “Guys”

The word's meaning has changed a lot throughout the centuries

The installation, "A Room of Her Own: An Altar for My Mother," is on view through January 2015.

An Awe-Inspiring Altar Remembers One Latino Artist's Guiding Spirit

At the American History Museum, an installation reimagines the life story of a Latina artist and writer

The Pope Would Like You to Accept Evolution and the Big Bang

The Roman Catholic Church is pro-evolution and Big Bang, but with a twist

These mana potions won't actually let you cast fireballs.

How Did "Mana," An Austronesian Religious Idea, Become a Gaming Staple?

Anthropologist Alex Golub tracks the path of mana, from ancient Taiwan to fantasy gaming culture

The papyrus is just a few inches wide.

The "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" Is Most Likely Not a Modern Fake

Chemical analyses show the text was written thousands of years ago

The Shroud of Turin's image is more consistent with this idea of crucifixion.

Some Visions of the Crucifixion Aren't T-Shaped

Jesus and others who were crucified didn’t necessarily die with their arms pinned straight out, the way we often imagine them

Carcinogenic material was used as a finish coating in this painting.

Byzantine Monks Built Walls With Asbestos, Too

In millennia past, asbestos has also been used to make stronger pottery and flame-proof napkins

A fragment of the known Dead Sea Scrolls.

Archaeologists Had Forgotten About Nine of the Dead Sea Scrolls

For the past 60 years, these Dead Sea Scrolls had just been sitting around in a storeroom

Page 19 of 20