news

AI and chemistry break with tradition and reveal surprising early dates for the world's oldest biblical manuscripts; the Dead Sea Scrolls Since their discovery in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have been central to our understanding of the origins of Judaism and Christianity. But one major question has remained unanswered: when exactly were the individual texts written? Now, an international team of researchers, led by the University of Groningen with contributions from SDU, has found the answer.

University of Bonn Researcher Involved in Sensational Find in Frankfurt University of Bonn Researcher Involved in Sensational Find in Frankfurt Inscription on 3rd-century amulet capsule highly significant, says Professor Wolfram Kinzig Some time ago, archaeological excavations in the Praunheim district of Frankfurt am Main uncovered a burial ground from the 3rd century.

Attending psychic nights can help ease a person's grief, according to the initial findings of a research study. The first-of-its-kind study, led Dr Adam Powell from our Institute for Medical Humanities, has explored the growing cultural phenomenon of psychic nights in England's pubs. Psychological benefits regardless of belief People attending psychic nights reported benefits such a sense of hope, comfort or closure.

The importance of bringing religious accommodation into workplace equality, diversity and inclusion practices is highlighted in a first of its kind research study. A novel model that conceptualises how Muslims navigate their stigmatised identity in the workplace has been developed by Dr Rami Al-Sharif from the University of Glasgow's Adam Smith Business School.

Together with Egyptian restorers, a team from the University of Würzburg has discovered traces of gold leaf, remnants of the colorful paintings and handwritten testimonies of the priests in the temple of Edfu.

U-M research finds it's not due to Asians becoming more Western and individualistic, but collectivism that enhances luxury consumption Study: Unpacking collective materialism: how values shape consumption in seven Asian markets The Asia-Pacific region is the largest consumer of personal luxury goods in the world.

Fifteen years of work, with 650 internationally renowned authors writing 1350 lemmata, has resulted in a book spanning 5000 pages across six volumes: The Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. This comprehensive work will be published next month, but is also available online. The chief editors are professors David Hunter (Boston College), Paul van Geest (Tilburg University, Erasmus University Rotterdam), and Bert Jan Lietaert Peerbolte (VU).

Since the summer of 2016, archaeologists from Innsbruck have been carrying out excavations in a late antique hilltop settlement in the municipality of Irschen in southern Austria. Two years ago, they made a sensational discovery: a Christian reliquary was still hidden in a previously unknown church.

Papyrologists decipher manuscript fragment and date it to the 4th to 5th century. For decades, a papyrus fragment with the inventory number P.Hamb.Graec. 1011 remained unnoticed at the Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky State and University Library. Now papyrologists Dr Lajos Berkes from the Institute for Christianity and Antiquity at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), and Prof Gabriel Nocchi Macedo from the University of Liège, Belgium, have identified the fragment as the earliest surviving copy of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas .

On behalf of Raiffeisen Switzerland Cooperative, researchers examined the beginnings of the Raiffeisen movement in Switzerland. Their focus was on antisemitism as well as Raiffeisen during National Socialism. Raiffeisen Group in Switzerland today has 219 cooperative Raiffeisen banks. It is based on the cooperative movement started by F.W. Raiffeisen in Germany around 1860.

In a speech to a group of religious broadcasters in February, Donald Trump promised to create a task force to counter "anti-Christian bias," which he said would investigate the "discrimination, harassment and persecution against Christians in America." It's not the first time Trump has claimed that Christians are being persecuted, and he's not alone.

Archaeological excavations in Iraqi Kurdistan point to a place of worship for the water goddess Anahita Besides being a fortress for military use, the ancient mountain settlement of Rabana-Merquly in

Two Cambridge-led studies suggest that the psychological distress caused by lockdowns (UK) and experience of infection (US) was reduced among those of faith compared to non-religious people. People of religious faith may have experienced lower levels of unhappiness and stress than secular people during the UK's Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, according to a new University of Cambridge study released as a working paper.

Today, the Netherlands is holding its elections, a crucial opportunity for every Dutch citizen to express their satisfaction or discontent with society through vote. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for marginalized groups, including Muslims, to abstain from voting despite the significance of this democratic process.

University of Bonn and katho to introduce mutual recognition of study achievements The Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Bonn and the Catholic University of Applied Sciences of North Rhine-Westphalia (katho) are to offer their students a new study option. In the future, students on the Magister Theologiae degree program at the University of Bonn will be able to combine it with a bachelor's in Social Work at katho, ideally on its Cologne campus, making it easier for them to obtain two degrees at the same time.

Response to health measures, COVID-19 news varied according to core beliefs, finds study co-edited by Amanda Friesen By Rob Rombouts, Special to Western News, March 29, 2023 By Rob Rombouts, Special to Western News, March 29, 2023 In 2020, as COVID-19 swept across the world, many churches closed their doors at the request of governments to slow the spread of the disease.

Even a small dietary change by a minority of UK Catholics had significant environmental benefits, say researchers, who argue that a papal decree reinstating meatless Fridays across the global church would save millions of tonnes of carbon a year. If the Pope was to reinstate the obligation for meatless Fridays to all Catholics globally, it could be a major source of low-cost emissions reductions Shaun Larcom In 2011, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales called on congregations to return to foregoing meat on Fridays.

Martie Haselton , is psychology professor in the UCLA College and Jaimie Arona Krems , is an assistant professor of psychology at Oklahoma State University. Many people have strong opinions about abortion — especially in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, revoking a constitutional right previously held by more than 165 million Americans.

In Tibetan populations, parental decisions to make a son a Buddhist monk were guided by reproductive and economic considerations - not just by religious tradition - according to a new study led by UCL researchers. Published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , anthropologists at UCL, in collaboration with researchers from Lanzhou University, China, explored lifelong religious celibacy in Tibetan monks in Western China.

Expectations are rising that the 2021 Northern Ireland census may act as a trigger for a referendum on Irish unification, but 'new' census questions on religious background and national identity are likely to shape the debate about Northern Ireland's constitutional future, a new study reveals. While 'sectarian head-counting' has featured in Northern Irish politics since partition in 1921, the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA) introduced a mechanism for a 'border poll' on Irish unification.