Christianity

The many Jesus-like figures of the ancient world

9 March 2024 9:00 am

Early Christianity positively welcomed comparisons between Jesus and Socrates, Asclepius, Emperor Vespasian and Apollonius of Tyana, according to Catherine Nixey

The English were never an overtly religious lot

24 February 2024 9:00 am

Undeterred, Peter Ackroyd takes us on a breezy tour of the nation’s religious history, from the Venerable Bede to the present

What Jesus taught us

16 December 2023 9:00 am

High life

30 September 2023 9:00 am

The perils of being pope

26 August 2023 9:00 am

The power of the medieval papacy resembled that of the Holy Roman Emperor – and like the first Roman emperors, popes attracted envy, scandal and violent retribution

Bags of charm and a gripping plot: Netflix’s The Chosen One reviewed

19 August 2023 9:00 am

Some years ago, Mark Millar (the creator of Kick-Ass, Kingsman, etc.) hit on yet another brilliant conceit for one of…

The ‘historic’ national dishes which turn out to be artful PR exercises

19 August 2023 9:00 am

Japan’s ramen ‘tradition’ was created in 1958 to use up surplus imported flour, while Pizza Margherita’s specious royal connection helped boost Naples’s tourist trade

Centuries of martyrs

29 July 2023 9:00 am

There is no redemption in this account of the birth of Latin Christendom, with ‘heretics’ suffering cruelly for the beliefs, just as Christian martyrs had under the Romans

Has the Vatican abandoned beauty?

15 July 2023 9:00 am

Has the Vatican abandoned beauty?

Why the Chester Mystery Plays are more popular than ever

1 July 2023 9:00 am

The Chester Mystery Plays date back to the 13th century – but are more popular now than ever, finds Richard Bratby

The Anglican priests charged with exorcising evil spirits

13 May 2023 9:00 am

The Anglican priests charged with exorcising evil spirits

The rise and fall of Tammy Faye

22 October 2022 9:00 am

Robert Gore-Langton explores the remarkable life of televangelist Tammy Faye, and its descent into chaos

The night the Queen refused to read my book

17 September 2022 9:00 am

‘So it is come at last, the distinguished thing!’ exclaimed Henry James on his deathbed. Such a thought is reflected…

The Queen’s life was anchored by Christianity

17 September 2022 9:00 am

The Queen’s life was anchored by Christianity

The Archbishop of Canterbury has risen to the occasion

10 September 2022 4:01 am

Archbishop Justin Welby has done a good job of relating the Queen’s virtues to her Christian faith. This is no…

What has become of the 19th-century explosion of religiosity?

30 July 2022 9:00 am

Matthew Arnold cannot have been much fun on holiday. Watching waves crash on the pebbles at Dover Beach, he heard…

Why the Bible still matters

19 June 2022 6:35 pm

If you look to our schools and universities, you will not see a serious engagement with the Bible as part…

Letters: Workshy Whitehall has its benefits

30 April 2022 9:00 am

In check Sir: Jade McGlynn (‘Conflict of opinion’, 23 April) has a point that there are many reasons for popular…

How do we celebrate Easter in the shadow of war?

16 April 2022 9:00 am

This week has been Passiontide, which means lots of wonderful plainsong in the choir of Canterbury Cathedral as my predecessors…

An inspirational teacher: Elizabeth Finch, by Julian Barnes, reviewed

9 April 2022 9:00 am

‘Whenever you see a character in a novel, let alone a biography or history book, reduced and neatened into three…

Kirill, the Patriarch in league with Putin

26 March 2022 9:00 am

The Patriarch in league with Putin

The Greek myths are always with us

19 March 2022 9:00 am

Once upon a time there was a collection of stories that everybody loved. They involved brave heroes such as Perseus…

Dostovesky and Putin’s useful idiots

11 March 2022 2:49 am

When I was 17 I heard the name Dostovesky, and was enthralled. Just the name felt so glamorously intellectual, so…

Playing until her fingers bled: the dedication of the pianist Maria Yudina

19 February 2022 9:00 am

The 20th century was an amazing time for Russian pianists, and the worse things got, politically and militarily, the more…

Bring back communion wine

12 February 2022 9:00 am

Don’t deny me my communion wine