Faith & Religion

Leaving the priesthood: a personal story

After 20 years as a Catholic priest, Richard Barton is struggling to understand why it took him so long to leave the church.

‘‘Turkey has never exactly been a heaven for writers, but they always existed’’

Q&A: Ece Temelkuran's new book tries to explain Turkey's current turmoil to a global audience.

The Vatican bans the scattering of ashes

Also prohibited: storing cremated ashes at home, or turning them into mementoes.

What is Salafi jihadism?

A Q&A with Shiraz Maher, whose new book explores the intellectual underpinnings of this warrior doctrine.

What non-believers can learn from St Augustine

According to Rowan Williams, St Augustine does not deserve his bad reputation as a dogmatic braggart. Is he right?

Can a Christian church employ an atheist minister?

The United Church of Canada is considering the position of Gretta Vosper, a minister who says she does not believe in god.

The fundamentalist Christian preacher who became an atheist

After 19 years as a self-proclaimed "extremist", Dan Barker renounced his faith – and he wants everyone to know about it.

Learn morality from the religious? No thanks

In the last New Humanist, moral philosopher Peter Singer said "it’s worthwhile to make common cause with people of various religions". Here, a reader responds.

Revelations from Rome: the Vatican exposed

A new book documents widespread corruption in the Vatican, Europe’s last absolute monarchy. Should we be surprised?

Faith in uncertainty: what early Christians believed about the afterlife

From the intellectual hotbed of late antiquity emerged some key Christian values – and some humanist ones too.