Religion

When the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children under state law, its chief justice had a higher authority in mind. By citing verses from the Bible and Christian theologians in his concurring opinion, Chief Justice Tom Parker alarmed advocates for church-state separation, while delighting religious conservatives who oppose abortion. Human life, Parker wrote, “cannot be wrongfully …

The Southern Baptist Convention’s top administrative body voted Tuesday to oust four congregations — one for having a woman as senior minister, two for what it said were failures related to the denomination’s sexual-abuse policy and one for lack of financial participation. The SBC’s Executive Committee announced the decision after a closed-door session at the end of its two-day meeting …

(RNS) — When Black Americans leave religion, it’s rarely a clean break. Take Rogiérs Fibby, a self-described agnostic, atheist and secular humanist who grew up in the Moravian Church. The head of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Black Secular Collective, Fibby also considers himself “culturally Christian.” “I know all the lingo, the theologies of different denominations, the theological distinctions, …

Joel Osteen is one of the most familiar faces in American religion. The pastor who leads the Houston megachurch where a 5-year-old boy was critically wounded in a Sunday shooting that also hit a man in the hip — before the shooter was killed by off-duty police working security — is known for his megawatt smile, wavy hair and widely …