The Christian emperor Constantine was ever pragmatic; he could only push his pagan subjects so far. One act of his, in the end, ensured the position of Christianity: the establishment of a new capital that would be known as Constantinople. […]
Moses Maimonides, the great 12th-century philosopher and legalist, lived at the pinnacle of Jewish culture in the Islamic world. What is amazing about Maimonides is that, despite making his living as a physician and having an active medical career, he was also a prolific writer. And “prolific” doesn’t do justice to describing the extraordinary output of his writing. […]
Official Egyptian religious culture was centered on temple worship, and temple worship was always carried out in the name of the Egyptian Pharaohs. The concerns of official Egyptian religious culture were expressed in “cult”—that is, in actions of ritual worship. […]
In most religious traditions the central and most important fundamental idea that binds the religion together as a set of beliefs, practices, and institutions is the idea of “god” or “gods.” […]
In October of 1097, after a horrendous four-month march across Asia Minor, which only half of the original army survived, the main force of Crusaders converged on Antioch. Laying the ground work to eventually take Jerusalem. […]
For many Westerners, the Arab cluster feels less familiar than any other cluster. We see images on the news that portray facts about Arab culture […]
It’s pretty difficult to talk about what it means to be an Arab without also talking about Islam, the second largest religion in the world. The question is are the terms Arab and Muslim synonymous? The quick answer is no. In fairness Arabs are overwhelmingly Muslim, but not all of them. […]
What does it mean to be part of the Arab cluster? First of all, to be an Arab is not so much an ethnic heritage as it is a cultural identity. Although it’s similar to what it means to be a North American, that doesn’t entirely capture it either. Let me explain. […]
Martin Luther debated many foes in his lifetime, but none troubled him as much as his nightly debates with Satan himself. […]
In this episode of The Torch, we gain insight into early Christianity, Jesus, and his apostles by examining the fascinating texts known as the Christian Apocrypha. […]
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