Religion

St. Mary's church in Norfolk

How Churches Are Improving Wi-Fi Access in Rural England

A new program is outfitting places of worship with wireless transmitters and fiber cables

Greek Orthodox priests taking part in a procession inside the Katholikon, or Catholicon Chapel, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

A Crusader-Era High Altar Resurfaces in Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulcher

This reminder of centuries-old history was sitting in plain sight all along

Relics of St. Valentine of Terni at the basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin

The Gory Origins of Valentine's Day

The holiday began as a feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr, or perhaps two. So how did it become all about love?

A photo of David Koresh rests beside a wooden cross as part of a monument erected in Waco, Texas, by supporters of the Branch Davidian leader and founder, Friday, April 30, 1993.

The True Story of ‘Waco’ Is Still One of Contention

A new mini-series hopes to humanize those in and outside the doomed compound

Thomas Jefferson's two-volume personal copy of George Sale's 1734 translation of the Qur'an is now in the collections of the Library of Congress.

Why Thomas Jefferson Owned a Qur’an

Islam in America dates to the founding fathers, says Smithsonian’s religion curator Peter Manseau

Scholars Decipher One of the Last Encrypted Dead Sea Scrolls

The text sheds light on an unusual Jewish calendar

The "pyramid" of Keros

Researchers Uncover Ancient Greek Island's Complex Plumbing System

Excavations show the settlement of Dhaskalio at the pilgrimage site Keros was a sophisticated urban center

World's Largest Underwater Cave System Discovered in Mexico

The 215-mile sunken freshwater labyrinth is a trove of ancient Maya artifacts

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. chats with African-Americans during a door-to-door campaign in 1964.

This Theologian Helped MLK See the Value of Nonviolence

Minister, theologian and mystic Howard Thurman had a profound influence on Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

York Minister's Massive Medieval Stained-Glass Window Restored to Its Former Glory

Conservators spent some 92,400 hours cleaning and protecting the great east window's 311 panels

Our Lady of the Airways Chapel, Logan Airport, Boston

A Brief History of Airport Chapels

Our Lady of the Airways can still be visited in Logan

A YMCA gym in 1910.

The YMCA First Opened Gyms to Train Stronger Christians

Physical fitness was a secondary goal for the movement

The 2007 midwinter solstice illumination of the main altar tabernacle of Old Mission San Juan Bautista, California.

How the Sun Illuminates Spanish Missions On the Winter Solstice

Today, the rising sun shines on altars and other religious objects at many Spanish churches in the U.S. and Latin America

An illustrated Greek medical text was found beneath the oldest Arabic translation of the Gospels.

Archaeologists Are Only Just Beginning to Reveal the Secrets Hidden in These Ancient Manuscripts

A project to scan documents found in the walls of a remote monastery is reshaping our view of the connections between East and West

Is This St. Nicolas' Pelvis Bone?

Oxford researchers have determined that a bone fragment purportedly from St. Nicholas comes from the same century in which he died

Lanterns in Medellín, Colombia.

Colombia Begins the Christmas Season With These Beautiful Light Displays

Día de las Velitas is celebrated on the day before the celebration of the Immaculate Conception

A vintage Thanksgiving postcard featuring pardoned turkeys.

Presidents From Lincoln to FDR Kept the Thanksgiving Tradition Going

Lincoln started the process of making it a federal holiday in 1863, crystallizing something that had been around since the days of the Pilgrims

The museum has more than 600 Bibles in different languages and dialects in its collection.

Can the Museum of the Bible Deliver on Its Promise?

The highly anticipated museum hopes to offer something for visitors of all faiths, but on a topic as fraught as religion, that may not be possible

Martin Luther makes his case before the Diet of Worms

From Escaped Nuns to a Knight in Disguise, 10 Facts About the Life and Legacy of Martin Luther

On the 500th anniversary of his 95 Theses, look back at some of the surprising aspects of the man who changed Christianity and the world

One of the excavated burials in Drawsko, Poland showed a skeleton with a sickle placed over its neck, likely to prevent the dead from rising again as the undead.

Burials Unearthed in Poland Open the Casket on The Secret Lives of Vampires

What people actually did to prevent the dead from rising again was very different than what Hollywood would have you think

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