Religion Unplugged

At Religion Unplugged, we talk a lot about how faith shows up in modern movies and tv shows. And, more and more, we are noticing a positive shift. Movies about religion are getting better funding, booking high profile actors and holding their own at the box office. One of the projects, that fits this category is Amazon’s House of David.  “House of David” follows the Biblical epic that is the life...

Categorizing those who do violence is a messy business. What one writer might call the actions of a terrorist, another might refer to as the work of a freedom fighter. The very individuals who are called heroes, warriors and revolutionaries by some, can be categorized as villains, murderers, and radicals by another. But when the morality of a violent person is highly controversial or just ambiguou...

When you picture an American church building, what do you think of?  Is it a gothic, palatial cathedral that dwarfs its neighboring buildings and carries with it an air of ancient mystery? Is it a small, white chapel with a sharp steeple and a quiet humility about its presence? Or does an American church conjure up a visual that isn’t all that glorious and isn’t all that quaint—something like a st...

It’s been 3 weeks since the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. And, for 3 weeks, rockets have flown across the Middle East in all directions. The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iraq have kept their guard up as different assets are targeted. As these oil-rich nations are thrown into turmoil, gas prices in the U.S. have gone up by nearly a dollar in the last m...

Many of the most enduring displays of human artistic greatness have been, in some way, religious. The Egyptian pyramids were constructed to accommodate the needs of a king’s soul after his death. The oldest architectural structures still standing today are almost exclusively temples, and archaeologists hypothesize that many ancient cave paintings depict religious scenes and images. As history prog...

2025 was a big year for film. Theaters drew people in for a wide variety of stories. Moviegoers saw thrillers like Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” and Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme.” They saw the returns of beloved characters with James Gunn’s “Superman” and James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire & Ash.” They embraced the strange with “Bugonia,” the romantic with “Materialists” and the...

On January 3rd of this year, in the middle of the night, U.S. special forces broke into the Home of Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro, and abducted him and his wife. U.S. military presence in Venezuela had been creeping up for months—with much of it being attributed to cartel suppression. But, when President Trump posted an image on Truth Social depicting Maduro in a Nike Sweatsuit and a blind...

Christian movies have a pretty negative reputation. They are criticized for being cheesy, preachy, poorly acted, poorly written, and generally prioritizing lesson-teaching over entertainment or artistic excellence. But, in recent years, their Rotten Tomatoes scores have been on a steady uptick. The critical reviews contain more of the nuance given to secular films, and, en masse, viewers seem to b...

This year’s Winter Olympic Games are filled with Jewish athletes. They can be found in hockey goals, cross country slopes, bobsleds, and skating competitions. But, despite a robust representation in Milan and an even more significant representation in the Paris games of 2024, the stereotype that Jews are bad at sports has not fully vanished. The stereotype is a very old one, but it was probably ma...

In the Apostle Paul’s 1st Biblical letter to Timothy, Paul writes that Christ came into the world to save sinners. He follows that up by stating that he is the foremost sinner. This is sometimes translated as Paul being “chief of sinners” and even as him being, plainly, “the worst.” It’s this idea that Christian actor, writer, and podcaster Nathan Clarkson uses to justify the title of his new book...

South Africa has a sexual abuse crisis. And while many of these attacks occur on the streets or in the home, every month, several cases of rape take place in churches and are perpetrated by pastors. The assaulted individuals come from every ethnic group, age, social class, and even gender. For over a decade, tens of thousands of South Africans have been violated in their communities. To better und...

In 2025, the whole world watched as Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope.  Again, everyone watched as Conservative Christian Apologist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University. But while religious news events like these were known world round, other important stories are being covered all the time by journalists like Bobby Ross...

Religion sociologist and Religion Unplugged contributor Ryan Burge sits down with culture critic Joseph Holmes to discuss Ryan's book "The Vanishing Church" and why the church has lost its ability to bring Americans together. 

The cargo shipping industry is vital to the sustenance of the modern world. However, the millions of mariners who make the system possible often go unnoticed by the masses. For nearly 200 years, The Seamen's Church Institute has worked hard to ensure that seafarers do not feel invisible. Matthew Peterson speaks with members of the organization to understand how they serve mariners and why the...

How does one balance faithfulness to religious tradition with artistic expression? Culture critic Joseph Holmes interviews director Lotfy Nathan on this very topic. Lotfy was raised in the Coptic Christian tradition and grew up to make a horror film about the childhood of Jesus based on the Infancy Gospel of Thomas--starring Nicholas Cage! 

Christians have many terms for those who came before them. They are called saints, heroes of the faith, and church fathers. But rarely are they referred to simply as ancestors. William H. Lamar IV pastors one of the oldest black churches in Washington, DC. He speaks with Matthew Peterson about his recent book, “Ancestors: Those Who Bless Us, Curse Us, and Hold Us.” He also talks about why it is im...

Few Christians will deny that Jesus and his disciples did miracles 2000 years ago. But does supernatural healing still occur in 2025? On this issue, there is much more debate. But, for New York Times Bestselling Author Lee Strobel, the answer is clear. Culture Critic Joseph Holmes interviews Strobel about his new documentary, The Case for Miracles. The Case For Miracles:  https://thecaseformiracle...

Catechesis is almost as old as Christianity itself. And while many catechisms have evolved over the years, the age of catechisms is rarely seen as a drawback — if anything, knowing that a catechism is tried and true can be what makes people trust it. But Trevin Wax and Thomas West believe it is worth developing a new catechism. Trevin speaks with Matthew Peterson about why churches and traditions...

American Evangelicalism has major influence over the culture and politics of the U.S. But, where did it all begin? In his recent book, “Jesus Springs,” William Schultz argues that the center of evangelicalism is in Colorado Springs. William and Matthew Peterson talk about how the Western city helped build the evangelical movement into what it is today. Jesus Springs: https://uncpress.org/978146968...

Many writers have been credited with the authorship of the Bible. Some Biblical books list their writers explicitly, others are more ambiguous. But is writing the same as narrating? Raffi Magarik’s recent book “Fictions of God” investigates the question of the Bible’s narratology and its effects on both the protestant reformation and epic literature. Fictions of God:  https://press.uchicago.edu/uc...

Pope Francis was undeniably controversial in Catholic and non-Catholic circles alike. So far, his predecessor has been less polarizing, but are the two popes really as different as they appear? Joseph Holmes interviews reporter and writer Christopher White about his recent book “Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.” Pope Leo XIV:  https://store.loyolapress.com/pope-leo-x...

How did a formerly homeless high school dropout end up with a doctorate in public policy and a poverty relief organization? Matthew Peterson interviews Dr. Terence Lester about his recent book “From Dropout to Doctorate.” Lester explains how education changed his life, how he is fighting poverty in Atlanta, Georgia, and how poverty and education can be deeply intertwined. From Dropout to Doctorate...

“How has christianity changed by the means of transmission?” This is one of the core questions Professor David N. Hempton asks with his book “Christianity at the Crossroads,” in which he recounts the way Christianity has developed from the print revolution to the digital age due to the methods in which it is shared and experienced. Matthew Peterson speaks with Hempton about how these communication...

Is it possible for faith-based film audiences and horror film audiences to converge? Despite the seeming chasm between the two genres, some of 2025’s biggest horror films have much to say about faith. Culture Writers Joseph Holmes and Jillian Cheney discuss the role of religion and spirituality in The Conjuring: Last Rites, Sinners and Black Phone 2.

Over 100 years ago, Muhammad ‘Abduh grappled with the ways in which Islam and Christianity can coexist. He also explored the ways in which the two faiths have either contributed or restricted philosophical and scientific advancement. Now, due to the book’s ongoing cultural relevance, Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour and Umran Khan have translated ‘Abduh’s “Science and Civilization between Islam and Christ...