Introduction If God is loving, why has religion so often become a reason to divide, condemn, and kill?Across centuries, human beings have built temples, mosques, and churches in search of the divine. Yet the walls raised to honor God have sometimes become barriers separating one community from another. Sacred names meant to guide people toward mercy have … [Read more...] about If God Is One, Why Do Religions Divide Us?
Christianity
Stand With Jesus: What If People Tried to Stop the Crucifixion?
Introduction What would you have done if you had been standing on that road?It is easy to answer from two thousand years away.We know the name Jesus Christ. We know what happened at Golgotha. We know that the crucifixion became one of the defining events in human history.But the people standing along the streets of Jerusalem did not possess our view of … [Read more...] about Stand With Jesus: What If People Tried to Stop the Crucifixion?
Convenience Store Woman: Is the New Normal Really Normal?
Introduction Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman begins with a woman who does not fit the conventional picture of adulthood.Keiko Furukura is unmarried.She has no children.She has spent eighteen years working in the same convenience store.Her family worries.People around her assume she should want something different.Part One asked whether Keiko should … [Read more...] about Convenience Store Woman: Is the New Normal Really Normal?
Could Japanese Culture Succeed Where Religion Has Failed?
Introduction Japan presents a fascinating contradiction to many visitors.It is a country where relatively few people organize their daily lives around exclusive religious belief, yet visitors frequently encounter behaviors traditionally associated with moral teaching: honesty, consideration, cleanliness, respect for shared spaces, social responsibility, and … [Read more...] about Could Japanese Culture Succeed Where Religion Has Failed?
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ Explained Through Its Characters
Introduction What if Jesus knew how much suffering would later occur in his name? José Saramago’s The Gospel According to Jesus Christ is not a conventional retelling of the life of Jesus.It is a moral confrontation.Saramago takes figures familiar to billions of people—Jesus, Joseph, Mary Magdalene, God, and the Devil—and places them inside questions … [Read more...] about The Gospel According to Jesus Christ Explained Through Its Characters
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ Explained by Top Scholars
Introduction by José Saramago Did Saramago reject Christianity, or challenge Christianity to examine its relationship with authority and suffering? I wrote a book about Jesus, and many people assumed that meant I intended to write a book against Jesus.I did not.The Jesus who interested me was precisely the opposite: a human being caught between what he … [Read more...] about The Gospel According to Jesus Christ Explained by Top Scholars
Can You Judge Donald Trump by His Enemies?
What if the people who oppose a leader reveal as much about the system as they do about the leader? For nearly a decade, Donald Trump has stood at the center of one of the most extraordinary political battles in modern American history.Few presidents have attracted such sustained opposition from so many different directions. Foreign governments, legacy media … [Read more...] about Can You Judge Donald Trump by His Enemies?