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Every year, Edge.org poses a question to a hand-picked group of the world's "most complex and sophisticated minds." Then they publish the responses. More »
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You may remember that Jesus Christ walked through Siberia to die in Japan, but did you know that Moses skipped the cross-continental jaunt and took a spacecraft instead? Also, were you aware that his tomb is now a tourist trap? More »
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Science and its supporters, asserts bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe, are in dire need of their own emblem — a "symbolic unifier" that could be to science what Ichthys is to Christianity. More »
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Scholars find a demonic drawing within a mysterious religious artifact taken as a spoil of war over five hundred years ago. At face value, the story of the Codex Gigas sounds like the script for Indiana Jones 5, but behind the gloss lie genuine questions. What exactly is this artifact? Did an evil monk create it in a deal with the devil, as some say? Or was it the work of somebody who just wanted to play mind games with readers? Let's find out what made the Codex Gigas such an enduring mystery - and what's the likely truth of its provenance. More »
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You're watching a brief but compelling excerpt from an interview with SF-giant Isaac Asimov. Originally aired in 1988, the conversation touches on such topics as the future of creativity in education, the necessity for scientific inquiry, and the vilification of intellectualism. It is absolutely incredible how many of the interview's topics, and Asimov's points, are as relevant today as they were 24 years ago. More »
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In the 2,800-person village of Shingō in Japan's Aomori prefecture, you can visit a tourist attraction that earns almost doodlysquat fanfare despite its world-shattering theological ramifications. I am, of course, talking about the grave of Jesus Christ. What, you didn't know that Jesus escaped crucifixion and emigrated to northern Japan to become a rice farmer?

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]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871071&view=rss&microfeed=true Christianity teaches that the saved will live together, and many Christians believe in the Rapture, when the chosen few will be lifted up, leaving just their clothes behind. So how should Christians feel about ideas like Transhumanism and the Singularity, which involve another way to transcend your physical form and possibly live forever? These are questions with no easy answers — which is why it's so fascinating to listen to the IEET's podcast on the topic with theologian Brent Waters, author of This Mortal Flesh: Incarnation and Bioethics and From Human to Posthuman: Christian Theology and Technology in a Postmodern World. Warning: Deep philosophical topics ahead. More »
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It turns out that atheist parents don't attempt to raise their children in an "atheist tradition" the way religious parents do with religious traditions. Rice University sociologist Elaine Ecklund surveyed over 2,000 scientists and found that half expressed "no religious identity." She pulled 275 of these atheists, and found that at least 17% had brought their children to a religious service in the past year. More »
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There's nothing better than a wild UFO conspiracy theory — unless it's a UFO theory that wraps in a debunked comet, the Catholic Church, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. More »
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The International Raelian Movement might be the world's most science-fictional religion — at the very least, they're up there with Scientology. Their founder claims he met the aliens who created the human race, and their main ritual involves sending your DNA to an alien planet. The group announced they cloned a human baby in 2002. They want to rebuild African women's clitorises in a special Pleasure Hospital. More »
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At India's Sri Angalaparameswariamman Temple, villagers hung up a sign soliciting for donations for remodeling. Incidentally, they accompanied this sign with a 15-foot-tall statute of the goddess Angalaamman tearing out a woman's organs and bandying around a miniature naked manikin. More »
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Back in August, we told you about a free course on artificial intelligence being offered by Stanford University, and co-taught by two world-renowned AI experts. The class officially started today, so if you managed to register for it on time, then good on you. More »
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From Klingon Jesus to Russian Orthodox Darth Vader — it's that kind of day. This illustration comes to us courtesy of Dmitry Dyachkov, who has stolen Patriarch Alexy II's duds and given them to a Sith Lord. The internet, everyone. More »
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What would the discovery of an alien civilization mean for the most basic tenets of Christianity? This question was explored last Saturday at the 100 Year Starship Symposium in Orlando, Florida. More »
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The nature of faith is often a thorny topic for psychology and other sciences to grapple with, but a new study indicates a powerful link between how we think and what we believe. It all goes back to intuition. More »
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Captain America: The First Avenger was a market coup for Marvel, as people are now inadvertently rewriting the Good Book in his star-spangled name. Reports The Christian Post: More »
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Homo sapiens may have had religion since the dawn of our evolution, but building vast monuments to our beliefs is a relatively recent development. And by "recent," I mean 11,600 years ago. Archaeologists believe they've found the oldest temple ever built, in southern Turkey. More »
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Over at Salon, there's a great article by Peter Finocchiaro about all those mysterious billboards and ads online about how the world is going to end on May 21 - a week from tomorrow. Apparently, they're the work of a splinter group of Christians who follow Harold Camping. Though decades ago Camping incorrectly identified 1994 as the year that the world would end, that hasn't deterred him or his followers. They are convinced now that May 21 is the day. Here's Camping's evidence, as summed up by Finocchiaro: More »
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So who are these foreboding men in hats, who seemingly control the universe? What are their jobs, their titles? Are they angels? Do they sleep at night? We brought our questions straight to the film's director, George Nolfi. More »
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The somewhat controversially-titled(?) Device to Root Out Evil is a structure in Vancouver, Canada. Dennis Oppenheim's upside down church was kicked out of New York and Stanford before it came to rest up north. [Via Unusual Architecture.] More »
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A brand new Supernatural anime trailer is out, showcasing the new cartooned cast and a whole lot of nasty boil-popping hexes, curses and demons. And it's all set to the tune of Kansas, naturally. More »
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C.S. Lewis told his attorney he needn't bother bequeathing his literary earnings in his will, because "After I've been dead five years, nobody will read anything I've written." Instead, he's become the "Elvis Presley of Christian publishing," says CNN. More »
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If cleanliness is next to godliness, then I can't help but think God must like 1980's Hugo-winning novel, The Fountains of Paradise, by Arthur C. Clarke — even if it's all about getting in His face. More »
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For centuries, a group of Native Mexicans have poisoned and harvested cavefish as part of an annual ceremony. Now the cavefish have gotten wise, as they have evolved increased resistance to the deadly toxins in order to adapt and survive. More »
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In the 1980s, the Unarius Academy of Science produced several public access films explaining their belief system, namely that aliens would visit Earth in 2001. These movies were no-budget masterworks. Gird yourself for the most superlative thing you'll see today. More »
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Just a few years ago, the Air Force Academy was considered such an evangelical hothouse that the place got sued for its alleged discrimination against non-Christians. Today, the Academy is boasting of its thriving pagan community...and its friendliness towards spell-casters. More »
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The Secret of Kells, available as video-on-demand, is a fantasy film about monks who never mention God. Is that appropriate for the piece or missing the point? More »
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The first detailed drawings are out for Park 51, aka the Ground Zero Islamic Center (or the "Ground Zero Mosque" to some.) And they look even more futuristic than we'd expected — leading to some comparisons to Superman's crash pad. More »
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Unbreakable director (and Last Airbender ruiner) M. Night Shyamalan has doomed the movie Devil by association. People even booed for the trailer featuring his name. But the Devil-in-an-elevator movie is more fun, and less contrived, than the Shyamalan name suggests. More »
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This weekend the world is readying itself for faux documentary The Last Exorcism. But what about the "real" demon possessions? We found the best of the best - judge as you will. More »
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Cain, of "Cain and Abel" Biblical fame, is just one of the many mythical origins of the vampire. And who better to star in his blockbuster biopic than The Fresh Prince? That's right, people: Will Smith is the original vampire. More »
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Designer Michæl Paukner created this gorgeous, simple depiction of what ancient Hebrews believed the cosmos looked like, based on what they recorded in the Old Testament. More »
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I've noticed an alarming trend in television finales, lately: God. More »
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Tonight we say goodbye to the fifth season of Supernatural. But before we watch the Winchesters paint the walls with the inside bits of angels, we wanted to pay tribute to the laughs we shared. Here's our video tribute. More »
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Don't you hate it when your neighbors keep you up all night, expelling demons with the power of Christ? One smart blogger has not only captured the holy event on video, but posted the perfect follow-up note. More »
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A team of Danish researchers have found that when listening to a well-spoken person who claims to have divine healing powers, the regions of the brain responsible for skepticism and vigilance become less active. More »
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SF writer Lavie Tidhar has just published the first installments of his online serial "Jesus & The Eightfold Path," which imagines what would have happened if the "three wise men" of the New Testament nativity story had actually been Buddhists. More »
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He raised the ire of readers all over the world with his sideways glance at the Catholic Church in the series "His Dark Materials." With his new novel, Philip Pullman imagines a Jesus that had, yes, an evil twin brother. More »
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Kurt Vonnegut was still alive when Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle consigned him to the sixth circle of Hell, in their 1976 novel Dante-inspired novel Inferno, which just had a follow-up, Escape From Hell. More »
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Pastor and shit-stirrer Mark Driscoll claims that Avatar is the devil's work, aimed at promoting paganism and primitive lifestyles. Sounds like somebody just needs to make "Tsaheylu." Of course, after watching the "Na'vi" on chatroulette, he's got a point. More »
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