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ReligionForBreakfast

ReligionForBreakfast

An educational channel dedicated to the academic, nonsectarian study of religion. We promote improving the public's religious literacy by exploring humanity's beliefs and rituals through an anthropological, sociological, and archaeological lens.

Religion for Breakfast does not endorse any particular religious tradition or non-religious perspective. Please be respectful in the comments!

The host, Dr. Andrew M. Henry, is a scholar of religious studies. His research focus is early Christianity and late Roman religion. He earned his PhD at Boston University. Follow him on Twitter @andrewmarkhenry.
fan Made. no infringement intended.

Links:
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast
Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewmarkhenry
Blog: http://www.religionforbreakfast.com

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  • Friday · 17 min

    Was Thomas Jefferson Religious?

    Compare news coverage. Spot media bias. Avoid algorithms. Be well informed. Download the free Ground News app at https://ground.news/religionforbreakfast Uploaded 22-06-23 Join our Patreon community!: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Check out my favorite religious studies books by following this affiliate link to my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast When Thomas Jefferson ran for president, his opponents attacked him as an atheist. But was this true? What did Jefferson believe? Select footage and images courtesy of Getty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 24 min

    Are Animals Religious?

    Register for our 8-week seminar, Religion and Science!: https://www.religiondepartment.com/offers/iQaLcZhh/checkout?coupon_code=CLASSMATES Uploaded 07-12-25 Are humans the only religious species? New research on chimpanzees, elephants, and other animals challenges our assumptions about awe, grief, ritual, and the emotional roots of religion. Join our Patreon community! https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images and Reuters This video was made possible through the support of grant #TRT-2021-10499 from the John Templeton Foundation managed by the Center for Mind and Culture. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation or the Center for Mind and Culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 30 min

    Interviewing Bart Ehrman about Hell, Souls, and Jesus

    Sign up for Dr. Ehrman's webinar, "Did Jesus Think He Was God?": https://religionforbreakfast--ehrman.thrivecart.com/bart-webinar/ Uploaded 22-10-21 Join our Patreon community!: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Check out my favorite religious studies books by following this affiliate link to my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 16 min

    Americans Exaggerate How Often They Go to Church

    Compare news coverage. Spot media bias. Avoid algorithms. Try Ground News today and get 40% off your subscription by going to https://ground.news/religionforbreakfast Uploaded 27-03-25 New research using smartphone location data reveals a massive gap between how often Americans say they attend religious services and how often they actually do. Are surveys wrong? Are memories fuzzy? Here's what the data really shows about religion in America. The article: Devin Pope, BFI Working Paper·May 8, 2024, "Religious Worship Attendance in America: Evidence from Cellphone Data," https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-paper/religious-worship-attendance-in-america-evidence-from-cellphone-data/ Join our Patreon community! https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images and Reuters 00:00 Intro 00:43 Problems with self-reported surveys 2:20 How the Smartphone Study Worked 5:12 The Results Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 23 min

    Melchizedek: The Most Mysterious Man in the Bible

    Compare news coverage. Spot media bias. Avoid algorithms. Try Ground News today and get 40% off your subscription by going to https://ground.news/religionforbreakfast Uploaded 27-09-24 Join our Patreon community! https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images and Reuters In Genesis 14, a priestly king named Melchizedek randomly appears and gives bread and wine to the patriarch Abraham. And then...he's never mentioned again in the story. Who is this mysterious man? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 11 min

    Why did the Romans Persecute Christians?

    It is common knowledge that the Romans killed Christians in the first few centuries of the new religion's history. But we don't often ask why. What was it about Christianity that made the Romans want to persecute it? Uploaded 27-08-15 Patreon: www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry Blog: www.religionforbreakfast.com Music: Kevin MacLeod Further Reading: Beard, Mary. Religions of Rome. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998). Moss, Candida. The Myth of Persecution. (HarperCollins, 2013). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 10 min

    What is the Hagia Sophia?

    Join our Patreon community!: https://patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Uploaded 17-09-19 The Hagia Sophia is a super famous building in Istanbul. Officially, at least according to the Turkish government, it is a museum. But it was originally built as a church and then was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. So what is it? Church, mosque, or museum? Follow me on Twitter at: @andrewmarkhenry I'm a current fellow with the Foundation for Religious Literacy, a nonsectarian philanthropic organization dedicated to the academic study of religion. They are supporting my work on Religion for Breakfast during 2019-2020. Check out their work here: https://tfrl.org/ Thumbnail photo credit: Arild Vågen Sources: Erdogan and converting back to mosque: https://www.apnews.com/9d7a4644abb04b9788c1ba37ec71c4ac ; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-election-museum/turkeys-erdogan-says-he-plans-to-change-hagia-sophias-title-from-museum-to-mosque-idUSKCN1RA1ZB Structural integrity of Hagia Sophia including Rob Ousterhout and Stephen Kelley quotes: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/a-monumental-struggle-to-preserve-hagia-sophia-92038218/ Bissera Pentcheva, Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and Spirit in Byzantium (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017) Eve Avdoulos, "Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia: Challenges of Managing Sacred Places" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 6 min

    Star Wars Fan Fiction Explains Early Christian Apocrypha

    You probably have heard about the canonical Gospels in the New Testament. They introduce famous characters like the apostles Peter and John. But they also introduce not-so-famous characters that only show up for one chapter or less...guys like Nicodemus or Bartholomew. Despite the obscurity of these characters, early Christians in the 2nd century and onward wrote texts featuring these characters. I argue that this is a form of "fan fiction," and viewed through the lens of modern fandoms, we can see the motivation for why these Christians decided to write apocryphal literature. Uploaded 22-08-18 www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast www.facebook.com/religionforbreakfast Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry For religious studies book recommendations visit: http://amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast Bibliography: Ika Willis: http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/692/564 Acts of Paul and Thecla text: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/maps/primary/thecla.html http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2006/09/fan_fiction_as_critical_commen.html Photo attributions: Paul and Thecla Ephesus fresco: http://rmadisonj.blogspot.com/2013/05/acts-of-paul-and-thecla-and-other-people.html St. Thecla from Barcelona: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barcelona_Cathedral_Interior_-_St._Thecla_-_1486.jpg Chapel of St. Thecla, Czech Republic: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chapel_of_Saint_Thecla_2016_-_east_view.jpg Roman Amphitheater: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merida_Roman_Amphitheatre_0594.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 8 min

    How Japanese Religion Influenced Pokémon

    Most people know that Pokémon is a Japanese video game, but did you know that many Pokémon designs were influenced by Japanese religion, mythology, and folklore? If you look closely, you can see Shintoism and Buddhism throughout the entire franchise. Uploaded 14-11-18 This show is funded by generous fans like you! Check out our Patreon campaign if you would like to support us too: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations can be sent to: paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Follow me on Twitter @andrewmarkhenry Facebook at: www.facebook.com/religionforbreakfast Bibliography: Karen Ann Smyers (1999). The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Michael Dylan Foster, "The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore, " 2015 Michael Dylan Foster, "Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yokai," 2009 Helen Hardacre, "Shinto: A History," 2017 Most photographs and video from Japan was shot by my brother EC Henry. Check out his channel at https://www.youtube.com/echenry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 36 min

    Who Were the Last Pagans of Europe?

    If Europe's "last pagans" sparked your curiosity, join other curious learners for an 8-week seminar exploring modern Pagan traditions with scholar Thorn Mooney: https://www.religiondepartment.com/contemporarypaganism Uploaded 06-03-26 Europe was supposedly Christian by the Middle Ages, but the reality is more complicated. From the Sámi in Fennoscandia to the Baltic countryside, sacred groves, sacrifices, and animist traditions survived into the modern era. 00:00 Intro 1:43 Who are these people groups? 4:22 Unchristianized society, Christianization, creolization, syncretism 14:48 Case Study: Estonian Paganism 25:31 Why the slow Christianization in Estonia? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 16 min

    Buddhism Has a Lot of Hells

    Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: http://ow.ly/magN30siJK7 Uploaded 30-05-22 Watch a tour of Senkoji Temple in Japan at @Yukendoit : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4ZIQZiSlXQ&t=1s Watch the Nangsa Obum Tibetan Opera @tibetanlanguageforum : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yISH1WXGdo&t=981s Join our Patreon community here!: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 46 min

    John Green on Religion

    Don’t miss a lecture—sign up for email updates!: https://www.religiondepartment.com/subscribe Watch Crash Course: Religions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O77IFewBxcg&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNDV8GjzfScxgEe4OgIlh3c&ab_channel=CrashCourse Uploaded 04-04-25 Andrew Henry sits down with John Green to talk about religion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 15 min

    The History of Demons

    Watch Angela's video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHDyHpQC-wc&feature=youtu.be Uploaded 10-06-20 Join our Patreon community!: https://patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Check out my favorite religious studies books: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast Bibliography: Archie Wright, “Some Observations of Philo’s “De Gigantibus” and Evil Spirits in Second Temple Judaism,” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period, Vol. 36, No. 4 (2005, 471-488. Dale Martin, “When Did Angels Become Demons?” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 129, No 4 (Winter 2010), 657-677. David Frankfurter, “Master-Demons, Local Spirits, and Demonology in the Roman Mediterranean World: An Afterword to Rita Lucarelli,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 11 (2011), 126-131. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 9 min

    How I Became a Religious Studies Researcher

    Inspired by Simon Clark's call for his subscribers to post "How I Became a Researcher" videos, I'm posting a short biographical sketch of my journey from a history Bachelors student to a religious studies PhD candidate. Hope you enjoy! Uploaded 02-05-17 Support the show over at https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast Simon Clark's Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhyZ8FYCmw&t=165s Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative: http://cdli.ucla.edu/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 18 min

    The Reason Why They Gave Jesus a Beard

    Signup for your FREE trial to The Great Courses Plus here: http://ow.ly/Rl3d30rb5Tb Uploaded 24-09-20 This video includes a paid sponsorship from The Great Courses Plus. Join my 15-person online seminars here: https://www.speakeasy.com/speaker/andrew-henry Join our Patreon community!: https://patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Check out my favorite religious studies books: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast Why do depictions of Jesus always seem to portray him with long hair and a full beard? The reason stretches back to the earliest centuries of Christianity. The first images of Jesus actually depict him as beardless, but by the 4th century, bearded Christ was much more common. Bibliography: Thomas Mathews, "The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art," Princeton University Press, 1999. Joan Taylor, "What Did Jesus Look Like?" Bloomsbury T and T Clark, 2018. Joan Taylor, “What Did Jesus really look like?” https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35120965 Michael Peppard, "The World's Oldest Church," Yale University Press, 2016. Mike Fillon, The Real Face of Jesus, Popular Mechanics, article: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a234/1282186/ Claudine Chavannes-Mazel, “Popular Belief and the Image of the Beardless Christ,” John Dominic Crossan, “The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images," Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 14 min

    The Rise of Atheist Churches?

    Join our Patreon community!: https://patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Uploaded 27-08-19 As religiously unaffiliated people become a larger and larger portion of the US population, scholars are noticing a rise in atheist/humanist/agnostic gatherings that mirror some of the characteristics of Christian churches (i.e. meeting on Sundays, participating in collective rituals such as singing). What can we learn about these gatherings? Can we call this a godless form of religiosity? Full interviews: Anthony Pinn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faRdcfrFEBc&feature=youtu.be Houston Oasis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4OrJ6SIrEY&feature=youtu.be This video was supported, in part, by Sacred Writes: Public Scholarship on Religion, funded by the Henry R. Luce Foundation and hosted by Northeastern University. They paid for my travel to Rice University. Follow me on Twitter @andrewmarkhenry Source on the US population of Nones: https://religionnews.com/2019/03/21/nones-now-as-big-as-evangelicals-catholics-in-the-us/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 20 min

    When Shinto Became a “Religion"

    Special thanks to the researcher and co-writer of this episode Kaitlyn Ugoretz. Check out her new channel on Japanese religion: "Eat, Pray, Anime:" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA0Bt7lnqD2c73M_PQkRDKg Uploaded 23-12-20 Join our Patreon community!: https://patreon.com/religionforbreakfast Join my 15-person online seminars here: https://www.speakeasy.com/speaker/andrew-henry One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Check out my favorite religious studies books by following this affiliate link to my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast Photo Attributions: Izumo grand shrine used under CC BY-SA 2.0 License: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Izumo-taisha01nt3200.jpg Shichi-go-san images from Wikimedia Commons users Jordi Sanchez Teruel; Japanexperterna; Donna Cleveland: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kimonos_@_Harajuku_2011-11_(6451331577).jpg | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Shichi-Go-San#/media/File:Shichigosan_boy.jpg | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Shichi-Go-San_(girl)#/media/File:7-year-old_girl_wearing_kimono_in_Shichi-go-san_festival;_November_2007.jpg Kamidana photo by Nesnad: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Typical-kamidana-tokyoarea-2017-12-22.jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 20 min

    What is Diwali?

    Get Nebula using my link for 40% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/religionforbreakfast Uploaded 09-11-23 Watch Cogito here: https://nebula.tv/videos/cogito-yt-what-is-hinduism?ref=religionforbreakfast Join our Patreon community!: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Sign-up for my classes list to be notified of online classes: https://classes.religionforbreakfast.com/ Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is the festival of lights. It is celebrated mostly by Hindus, but many Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists recognize Diwali as well. The festival symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. 00:00 The Basics: When and what? 2:49 Day 1: Dhanteras 3:18 Day 2: Choti Diwali / Naraka Chaturdashi 4:17 Day 3: Lakshmi Puja 5:44 Day 4: Govardhan Puja / Annakut / Bali Pratipada 7:37 Day 5: Bhai Dooj 7:47 Diversity of Practice 9:49 Diwali Outside of Hinduism 10:26 Origins and Mythological Narratives 12:35 Diwali Outside of India Select images courtesy of Getty Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 18 min

    Intro to Hanukkah

    Join our Patreon community!: https://patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Join my 15-person online seminars here: https://www.speakeasy.com/speaker/andrew-henry Check out my favorite religious studies books: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast Uploaded 10-12-20 Special thanks to co-writer Seth Weprin. Thanks also to Gavi Lazan of @Unpacked. Check out their channel for more videos on Judaism. Bibliography: Dianne Ashton, "Hanukkah in America: A History," 2013 Jonathan Klawans and Lawrence Wills, The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, 2020. Ran Abramitzky, “Is Hanukkah Responsive to Christmas?” with Liran Einav and Oren Rigbi,Economic Journal, 120, 612-630, June 2010 Image Attributions (all public domain or CC): Hydraulic lift and Menorah, by wikimedia user Ted Eytan: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2017.12.12_National_Menorah,_Washington,_DC_USA_1361_(38980511032).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2017.12.12_National_Menorah,_Washington,_DC_USA_1360_(38980499382).jpg Israeli dreidels, by wikimedia user Adiel lo; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah#/media/File:Colorful_dreidels2.JPG Latke, by Wikimedia user Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Potato_latkes#/media/File:LatkeFry.JPG Model from Holy Land Museum in Jerusalem, Wikimedia user Ariely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_in_Jerusalem#/media/File:Second_Temple.jpg Antiochus IV Coin by Classical Numismatic Group, Inc, CC-BY-SA 2.5: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Coins_of_Antiochus_IV#/media/File:Antiochos_IV_Epiphanes_face.png Menorah, photo by Gil Dekel, wikimedia user 39james, CC BY-SA 4.0: Gelt pictures, Wikimedia User Evan-Amos, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chocolate-Gold-Coins.jpg Sfenj donut image, Wikimedia User Maor X: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sfenj#/media/File:Sfenj_sprinkled_with_sugar_and_served_on_a_plate.jpg Sephardis reading Torah, Wikimedia User Sagie Maoz: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Torah_Reading_Sephardic_custom.jpg Ethiopian Jew celebrating Sigd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sigd-27.11.08.jpg National Menorah and Washington Monument, Wikimedia User Ted Eytan: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Menorah_and_Tree_7677_(6560511695).jpg Hanukkah candles up close, Wikimedia user, RonAlmog: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%D7%97%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%94_-_Hanukkah_(5235406326).jpg Hanukkah bush image, Wikimedia user, Jonah Green: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hanukkah_bush.jpg August Reidel painting, Wikimedia User, Yelkrokoyade: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judith_-_August_Riedel_1840.jpg Impressive photograph juxtaposing National Menorah with National Christmas Tree, Wikimedia User Tim Evanson: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Menorah_and_National_Christmas_Tree_-_2014.jpg Menorah at Western wall, CC BY-2.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jerusalem_(8141581212).jpg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • November 5 · 32 min

    What The Mandalorian Gets Right About Real-World Religions

    Join our live lecture on the mythology of Star Wars: https://www.religiondepartment.com/theherojourney Uploaded 17-05-26 The Children of the Watch from The Mandalorian follow rules that look surprisingly familiar to scholars of religion: costly rituals, strict group boundaries, fictive kinship, and lifelong commitments. Why do strict communities like this persist across generations? 00:00 Mandalorians Introduced 5:09 Strict Church Theory 8:55 Costly Signaling Theory 14:08 Credibility Enhancing Displays 19:49 Fictive Kinship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Showing 161–180 of 341 episodes