Your one-stop shop for religion websites and blogs. Outlets that accept submissions are marked with an asterisks. If we’re missing any, please email Evan Sandsmark at es4aj [at] virginia [dot] edu
Table of Contents
Religion
>Religion and Politics
>Religion and History
Theology
Jewish Studies
Islamic Studies
Additional Traditions and Perspectives
News about Religion
>Podcasts on Religion
Resources for the Study of Religion
>Inactive Sites with Good Archives
Religion
Anthrocybib: Covers the anthropology of Christianity. Hosted by the University of Edinburgh.
Bartholomew’s Notes: Commentary on stories featuring religion, media, and culture
BeliefNet: A rare interfaith space online, featuring bloggers from a variety of faith traditions.
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs: Hosts blogs covering religion, human rights, ethics, and public life around the world. From Georgetown University.
Bulletin for the Study of Religion: “Articles that address religion in general, the history of the field of religious studies, method and theory in the study of religion, and pedagogical practices.” From NAASR.
*Contending Modernities: Articles on “Catholic, Muslim, and secular interaction in the modern world.” From the University of Notre Dame.
Entangled Worlds: The site for an ongoing interdisciplinary initiative centered on the themes “sovereignty, sanctity, and soil,” featuring blog posts, interviews, and other publications.
Feminist Studies in Religion Blog: Aims “to foster feminist studies in religion in all its variety and diversity.”
Freethought Blogs: Dozens of blogs, including PZ Myers popular blog Pharyngula, dedicated to reason, atheism, science, religion and government
GetReligion: Critiques the news coverage of religion. Founded by Terry Mattingly, writer of the syndicated column, “On Religion”
The Immanent Frame: Hosts original research, articles, book reviews focused on the boundaries of religion and the substance of secularism. Sponsored by the SSRC.
*Marginalia: Reviews, features on religion, theology, and history.
Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies: “For those interested in…the intersections of religion, the internet and new, social and mobile media.”
Patheos: A large collection of blogs covering virtually all religious perspectives. These include:
- Rhetoric, Race, and Religion (book reviews, short scholarly articles)
- The Anxious Bench (analysis of American religious history from a “broadly evangelical” perspective)
- Slacktivist (Fred Clark on a number of religious topics)
- Altmuslim (global Muslim perspectives on life, politics, culture)
- Monkey Mind (James Ishmael Ford, a Zen Buddhist priest, UU minister)
- Religion Prof (James F. McGrath on “religion, the Bible, science fiction, evolution, and lots of other topics”)
*Practical Matters: Original content and book reviews by and for scholars of religion, published by the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
*Reading Religion: A vast and ever-growing collection of book reviews, published by the American Academy of Religion.
REL Blogs: A network of blogs (including Studying Religion in Culture and Culture on the Edge) hosted by the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama designed to take the faculty’s work to a larger audience.
Religion & Culture Forum: The Forum enables “conversations about the relationship between scholarly work on religion and global public cultures,” from the Candler School of Theology.
*Religion Dispatches: Explores the intersection of religion, culture, and politics. It is now hosted by Rewire.News, but the full Religion Dispatches archive can still be found at their former website.
The Religion Factor: A blog for reflection on religion as an element of public life, coordinated by the Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalisation at the University of Groningen.
Religion: Going Public: “Aims to disseminate relevant research findings to wider audiences, and engage with and inform contemporary public debates on religion and society.” Funded by the Research Council of Norway.
Religion Unplugged: A non-profit online news magazine, funded by the The Media Project.
Religion Watch: Collects, summarizes, and curates stories from around the globe. Hosted by Baylor.
The Religious Studies Project: An international collaborative blog on what’s new in the social scientific study of religion.
The Revealer: Online magazine of the New York University Center for Religion and Media, with book reviews, round-ups of world religion news, and feature articles.
*Sacred Matters: “Public scholarship that undercuts conventional understandings of religion and reimagines the boundaries between religion and culture”
*Sightings: “Comment on the events, agents, and trends in public life where issues of religion are writ large, in plain view—or are simmering under the surface.” From the University of Chicago Divinity School.
*State of Formation: A forum for graduate, seminary and rabbinical students, and activists to share their thoughts on religion and ethics. Connected to the Journal of Interreligious Studies (JIRS).
*The Square: Our blog. Opinions, reviews, articles addressing events at the intersection of religion and public life. Part of the University of Virginia. Send submissions to Evan Sandsmark at es4aj [at] virginia [dot] edu
Tikkun: Brings together progressive voices from all traditions, religious or otherwise, “to talk about social transformation and strategies for political and economic democratization.” Founded by Rabbi Michael Lerner.
Whole Faith Living Earth: A blog by Nathan Aaberg about Christian environmentalism, publishing think pieces, interviews, and book reviews.
Religion and Politics
Brookings – Religion & Politics: Short blog posts and lengthy reports by fellows of the Brookings Institution.
Canopy Forum: “On the interactions of law and religion,” published by the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.
Council on Foreign Relations -Religion and Foreign Policy Program: Resources from CFR for the faith community, including pieces from Foreign Affairs magazine and audio of events that the CFR religion program sponsors.
Ethics and Public Policy Center: Blog dedicated to “applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy.”
Killing the Buddha: Original content on religion, culture, and politics.
Liberty Magazine: A publication of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that considers itself the “preeminent source for matters of religious freedom.”
Political Theology Network: Commentary on politics, culture, and religion, and sponsors inter-religious conversations on the same topics.
*Providence: Analysis of American foreign policy from the perspective of Christian realism.
*Public Discourse: The online journal of the Witherspoon Institute, a conservative research center in Princeton, New Jersey. Publishes article on politics, law, economics, and culture.
Religion & Politics: The Danforth Center for the Study of Religion and Politics’s blog. Publishes long-form and opinion pieces on religion and politics globally.
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly: Provides news and analysis of religion and ethics in public life, as well as book reviews and video clips from the PBS show.
Religion Clause: “Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.” Prof Howard M. Friedman
The Wall of Separation: News and editorials pertaining to religious liberty in America. Sponsored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Religion and History
Alin Suciu: Blog serves as a resource for scholars of Patristics, the Apocrypha, Coptic literature and manuscripts, listing conferences, jobs, call for papers, articles.
Ancient Jew Review: Online journal dedicated to study of ancient Judaism from multiple disciplinary perspectives.
Brice C. Jones’ Blog: A scholar of papyrology and early Christianity who blogs about the same.
Canon Fodder: Prof Michael J. Kruger writes on New Testament studies and theology.
Cold Takes: Kelly J. Baker, an independent scholar of American religion
Daniel B. Wallace: Prof writes about early Christianity and textual criticism on his website
Daniel Silliman: Professor of History at Valparaiso University writes mostly about American evangelicalism.
Evangelical Textual Criticism: “A forum for people with knowledge of the Bible in its original languages to discuss its manuscripts and textual history from the perspective of historic evangelical theology”
Forbidden Gospels Blog: Prof April D. DeConick on NT and early Christianity.
The Jesus Blog: An academically oriented blog on the historical Jesus and the New Testament with updates on books in the field, conferences, and other short pieces.
The Juvenile Instructor: Primarily for Mormon scholars of Mormonism, with book reviews, pieces of scholarship, call-for-papers and conference announcements.
Larry Hurtado’s Blog: Prof writes on New Testament and early Christianity.
Materializing the Bible: “A digital scholarship project that curates Bible-based attractions throughout the world.”
Paleo Judaica: A blog dedicated to the study of ancient Judaism.
The Pietist Schoolman: Chris Gehrz, historian, blogs about Christianity, history, pietism, and education.
Religion in American History: Oriented towards scholars in the field of American religion. Features interviews with authors, notices of conference and fellowship opportunities, highlights rich archives, and provides thought pieces by faculty and advanced graduate students in the field.
Reviews of Biblical and Early Christian Studies: Reviews of recent scholarly work in the field, curated by graduate students.
The Textual Mechanic: Timothy Mitchell, doctoral researcher, blogs on New Testament textual criticism and early Christianity.
The Way of Improvement Leads Home: “Reflections at the intersection of American history, religion, politics, and academic life”. From Prof John Fea.
Theology
A Friendly Letter: Chuck Fager, editor of Quaker Theology, blogs about “Quaker stuff.”
America: Jesuit-sponsored magazine hosts a number of blogs, as well as publishes feature stories, book and movie reviews, and editorials from the Catholic perspective.
The American Catholic: “Politics and culture from the Catholic perspective”
Big Pulpit: Analysis of the Catholic Church in the world
By Common Consent: News, opinion, and insight into contemporary Latter Day Saint concerns, from the Mormon perspective.
Catholic Moral Theology: A forum for theological discussion that is written and managed by a group of North American Catholic moral theologians
Catholic Stand: Conservative Catholic commentary
The Catholic Thing: A platform for Catholic commentary, often politically and theologically conservative, on contemporary issues.
The Christian Century: The flagship magazine of liberal-to-mainline American Protestantism hosts several blogs and some magazine content.
Christian History which explores the history of theology.
Christianity Today: An evangelical periodical that publishes news, feature stories, reviews, and opinion pieces.
Church Life Journal: A journal published by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame that explores a number of theological and cultural issues.
Commonweal: An independent Catholic journal with news, book and movie reviews, and editorials on issues especially relevant to American Catholics.
Conciliar Post: Publishes articles from a variety of Christian perspectives, sponsoring “meaningful dialogue across Christian Traditions”
*Cosmologics: A journal supported by Harvard Divinity School dedicated to the exploration of science, religion, and culture.
CT Women, devoted to women’s issues in modern evangelicalism
*Daily Theology: A collaborative Catholic theology blog that publishes short pieces primarily by graduate students or junior-level faculty.
Die Evangelischen Theologen: Commentary “on a wide range of theological, religious, and even political subjects from current events and culture as well as from the Christian and other religious traditions.”
Edward Feser: Prof writes about Thomism, philosophy of religion, and politics.
Episcopal Cafe: An independent journal, written from a progress perspective, featuring news and opinion of particular interest to Episcopal communities.
Faith and History: Prof Robert Tracy McKenzie writes about American religious history and evangelical life in academia.
Faith and Theology: Ben Myers, Kim Fabricius, and Steve Wright provide a mix of short blog posts, book reviews, and videos of Myers’ sermons.
Feminism & Religion: Explores “the F-word” and its relationship to religion, scholarship, and community. Affiliated with Claremont Graduate University.
*First Things: A conservative Catholic journal that features short pieces on politics, pop-culture, theology, and modern religious life. Hosts the blog First Thoughts
The Front Porch: Articles and interviews with leaders and activists in the African American Christian community.
Humanitas: A “Christian anthropological and cultural” review. Articles, interviews, and other pieces focused on the Catholic faith.
*Jesus Radicals: Collaborative blog exploring the politics of Jesus in critical engagement with anarchist theory. Long, footnoted articles and an extensive resource list organized by topic.
Lumen Christi Institute: A Catholic non-profit that sponsors lectures and conferences, most of which are available as videos or podcasts on their website. They also publish The Beacon, a quarterly newsletter.
The Mennonite : News and opinion pieces aimed at the Mennonite community. Supported by Mennonite Church USA.
*The Other Journal: Long-form articles at the “intersection of theology and culture.”
*Public Orthodoxy: “Bridging the ecclesial, the academic, and the political,” from the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University.
Rachel Held Evans: A blog about “faith, doubt, and life in the Bible Belt” by the popular evangelical author.
*The Reformed Journal: An online journal exploring the intersection theology and culture from the Reformed perspective.
The Remnant: Conservative Catholic commentary, mostly on Church-related news.
Science and Religion @ Edinburgh: Reflections by scholars on their academic work in philosophy, science, and religion.
Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum: Highlights modern interactions between science and religion. Sponsored by the University of Kent.
The Scriptorium Daily: Essays on theology, culture, and politics primarily written by theologian Fred Sanders. Sponsored by the Torrey Honors Institute.
Syndicate: Book reviews, which are modeled as dialogues between authors and reviewers. Attends to theology, plus work in ethics, history, and philosophy.
T h e o • p h i l o g u e: “Theology. Philosophy. Dialogue”
The Thomistic Institute: A Catholic organization that hosts lectures and conferences for the Institute’s chapters, located at dozens of campuses across the U.S. Events are recorded and posted on their website.
Times & Seasons: A forum for discussion on issues pertinent to the religious life of Latter Day Saints.
The Veritas Forum: A Christian organization that hosts events on campuses around the world. Their website publishes original essays and hosts an archive of videos and audio from past events.
Whispers in the Loggia: Rocco Palmo, aka the “Church Whisperer,” updates this blog with news and analysis on the Vatican.
Women in Theology: Academics write from various Christian and feminist perspectives, dedicated to adding women’s voices to the historically male discipline.
Jewish Studies
The Forward: Reports on “the issues, ideas and institutions” relevant to American Jews.
*Jewlicious: News, reviews, and opinions pieces oriented toward Jewish millennials
Tablet: An American Jewish online magazine that publishes essays and long-form articles as well as maintains the blog The Scroll.
Islamic Studies
Altmuslimah (altM): A site dedicated to issues of gender and Islam, from both Muslim and non-Muslim perspectives.
Digital Islam: A scholarly blog covering the Middle East, Islam, and the Muslim online presence.
Euro-Islam: Critical curation of news on Islam in Europe and North America.
Indigo Jo Blogs: Analysis of contemporary issues facing Muslims, written from the perspective of a Muslim living in London.
*Informed Comment: Prof Juan Cole aims to put the “relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context.”
Irtiqa: Tracks news in religion and science with a focus on the Muslim world.
Islam and Economics: “Random thoughts about Islam, Muslims, and issues related to economics and finance” from Prof Mahmoud El-Gamal.
Islam for Reporters: Provides resources, especially definitions of key terms, for reporters covering Islamic topics.
Islamicate: The word “Islamicate” marks things that refer not directly to the religion but to the surrounding social and cultural landscape. The site explores the culture that affects and is effected by the Muslim world.
ISLAMicommentary: A forum for the original work of scholars, journalists, advocates, and artists who work in the broadly defined area of Islamic studies.
Muslimah: A forum for Muslim women to critique and comment upon their own images in the media and pop culture.
MuslimMatters: Dedicated to covering modern-day issues, especially in the West.
Additional Traditions and Perspectives
The Humanist: Website of the American Humanist Association publishing daily news and analysis of politics, science, and human rights.
The Wild Hunt: A collaborative blog dedicated to “advocacy journalism” for the modern Pagan, Polytheist, and Heathen communities.
UU World: “Celebrating liberal religion.” Publishes think pieces and news from the Unitarian Universalist perspective.
News about Religion
Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Religion & Ethics: ABC’s section on religion, with stories from around the globe
Baptist News Global: Independent news and opinion on matters relating to the Baptist faith.
BYU Law – International Center for Law and Religious Studies: The Center’s website aggregates links to articles about religion and law from around the world. They often link to dozens of news stories a day.
The Catholic Herald: Britain’s leading Catholic newspaper, publishing breaking news and opinion pieces
Catholic News Agency: “Free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church”
Catholic News Service: A division of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, but editorially independent and financially self-sustaining.
Catholic World Report: News and commentary on the Catholic Church, published by Ignatius Press
Charisma News: News on the charismatic movements in the US and around the world.
CNN – Belief: CNN’s dedicated section for stories on religion
Crux Now: Independent news on the Catholic Church that strives to be neither “right” or “left”
The Dallas Morning News: News stories on religion in Texas, the United States, and the world
Episcopal News Service Sponsored by the Episcopal Church
The Guardian – Religion Section: Originally reported stories from across the globe on religion; for many years The Guardian also hosted Loose Canon, a column written by Anglican priest Giles Fraser and often featuring commentary on religion news.
Haaretz: Israeli newspaper
Inside the Vatican: Covers “the role of the Holy See in guiding the spiritual lives of one billion Catholics and the extensive impact of the papacy in today’s world”
Jewish News Syndicate: News and commentary on Judaism, from an American and Israeli perspective
LifeSiteNews: Conservative Catholic website covering “important life, faith, and family news”
National Catholic Register: New, opinions, and reviews from a conservative Catholic perspective
National Catholic Reporter: An independent news organization covering American Catholicism
Religion News Service: Curates and reports on religion news worldwide
Religious Studies News: The web magazine of the American Academy of Religion covering trends in the study of religion at institutions of higher education
The Washington Post – Acts of Faith: Collects all the articles on religion that are published in The Washington Post
Podcasts on Religion
New Books Network: A massive collection of interviews with authors. Virtually all academic fields are covered, including the various sub-disciplines of religious studies.
Research on Religion: Hosted by Prof Tony Gill, this podcast aims to make “scholarly research on religion interesting, relevant and accessible to a broad audience.”
The Square: Interviews with scholars of religion, hosted by Jane Little.
Resources for the Study of Religion
Al Tafsir: A collection of resources on the Qu’ran: Qu’ranic commentary, audios of Qu’ranic recitation.
Bible Odyssey: An encyclopedic resource with detailed information about the “key people, places, and passages of the Bible,” presented by the Society of Biblical Literature
Feminist Religion: Posts jobs, conferences, calls for papers related to religion and feminist, womanist, mujerista, queer, trans, and intersectional perspectives.
The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale: A large program that explores the religion and ethical resources for better understanding ecological problems; the Forum sponsors publications, events, and a resource-rich website.
Islam Question and Answer: This blog, sometimes called the “Sheikh Google,” answers questions concerning daily life and Islamic teachings.
Material & Visual Cultures of Religion: Hosted by Yale, this site includes an archive of material objects relevant to the study of religion as well as essays about religious objects of interest—everything from sculptures to meditation cushions.
Pew Research Center – Religion and Public Life: A deep reservoir of heavily researched data sets on trends in religious belief
Religion Link: A website with resources to help journalists write about religion.
Religious Studies Web Guide: Hosted by the University of Calgary. “Focuses on free (open-access) internet resources (bibliographies/indexes, library and archive catalogues, dictionaries/encyclopedias, e-texts and journals) supporting the academic study of religion.”
Inactive Sites with Good Archives
BBC – Religion Section: Although no longer updated, this section still serves as the central hub for content on religion – podcasts, radio shows, articles – by BBC journalists and their academic consultants.
Exploring the Study of Religious History: Jonathan Yeager, scholar at University of Tennessee Chattanooga, and Andy Tooley, scholar at Wheaton College, both blogged about the books they were reading in the field of history of Christianity, especially in America.
Peter Berger – Religion and Other Curiosities: For over ten years, up until his death in 2017, The American Interest hosted Peter Berger’s platform for commentary on religion and current events.