Momentary Transcendence in an Ancient Mausoleum

In his book With, author Skye Jethani describes the mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Italy:

Fifteen hundred years ago, the emperor of Rome built a tomb for ...

M.I.T. Professor’s Experience with Transcendence

Physicist Alan Lightman is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is known for specializing in the intersection between science, philosophy, ...

Secular Sources on Our Need For Awe

The March/April 2016 issue of Psychology Today attempted to give readers several reasons to cultivate a sense of awe and wonder with their article "It's ...

New Science of 'Culturomics' Tracks Disappearance of God

Google has digitized 30 million unique books. According to author Christian Rudder, "This body of data has created a new field of quantitative cultural ...

Famous Painting Has God Removed

In the heart of Manhattan, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hangs a famous painting by the 16th century Spanish El Greco. The painting, titled The Vision ...

Human Love Has Become Our New "God"

In the book Love: A History, Yale scholar Simon May calls human love our "new god." In his chapter "Love plays God" May writes: "Human love … is ...

Expert Says Puzzles Help Us Feel in Control

The World Puzzle Championship takes place every year at locations around the globe. In 2012 the event was held in Croatia and drew 145 contestants from ...

A Folktale about Why Bad Things Happen

There is a story about an old man who lived in a small village:

He was the poorest man in the village, but he owned the most beautiful white stallion. ...

America's Four Gods

According to the authors of the book America's Four Gods, Americans differ widely from one another on two key areas of belief about God: (1) the level ...