ReligionForBreakfast

Dive deeper, join our upcoming lecture at The Religion Department: “A Hidden History of Muslims in the United States” with Dr. Yasmine Flodin-Ali: https://www.religiondepartment.com/history-of-muslims

Uploaded 26-02-26

Is atheism rising in the Arab world? Drawing on Arab Barometer surveys, satellite data from Ramadan, and recent scholarship, this video explores what the numbers really show and how language, stigma, and politics shape nonreligious identity in Arab-majority countries.

Religion for Breakfast videos take a lot of research and collaboration. Patreon support helps fund editors, scholars, and future episodes. Support us here: https://www.patreon.com/c/religionforbreakfast

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I visited dozens of archaeological sites while researching in Jerusalem. Tel Arad was one of the my favorites and the inspiration for my video on YHWH and Asherah. Here is a longer exploration of this ancient Canaanite and Israelite city.

Uploaded 12-07-18

Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry
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For a list of my favorite religious studies books, check out my Amazon page: http://amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast

Photo attributes:
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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jericho_-_Tel_Es-Sultan10.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jericho_-_Tel_Es-Sultan1.jpg



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Uploaded 15-02-24

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"Avatar" became a household word in the 2000s with Avatar: The Last Airbender and James Cameron's movie series Avatar. But what is an avatar? The idea actually derives from Hinduism.

Thumbnail art by @hotcyder

Bibliography:
-Barbara Holdrege, Bhakti and Embodiment, 2015.
-Couture, André, “Avatāra”, in: Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online, Editor-in-Chief Associate Editors Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, Vasudha Narayanan. Consulted online on 02 February 2024
-Couture, André, “Viṣṇu”, in: Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online, Editor-in-Chief Associate Editors Knut A. Jacobsen, Helene Basu, Angelika Malinar, Vasudha Narayanan. Consulted online on 02 February 2024
-Couture, André, “From Vishnu’s Deeds to Vishnu’s Play,” Journal of Indian Philosophy, June 2001.
-Simon Brodbeck, Divine Descent of the Four World-Ages in the Mahabharata, 2022.
Noel Sheth, “Hindu Avatar and Christian Incarnation: A Comparison,” Philosophy East and West, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Jan 2002). 98 - 125.
-Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 2, N-Z, 2002.
-Gitagovinda of Jayadeva, editor and translator Barbara Stoler Miller. (Columbia University Press: 1977)
-Tracy Coleman, Avatara, Oxford Bibliographies Online, 2018.
-Cush et. al., Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Routledge: 2008.
-Kinnard, “When is the Buddha Not the Buddha? The Hindu/Buddhist Battle over Bodhgaya and Its Buddha Image,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 66/4.
-Freda Matchett, Krsna: Lord or Avatara?, (Routledge: 2001).
-Devadatta Kali, In Praise of the Goddess: The Devimahatmya and Its Meaning, (Nicolas-Hays, Inc.: 2003).
-Suvira Jaiswal, The Origin and Development of Vaisnavism,1981.

00:00 The rise of "avatar"
1:21 Avatar = Divine Descent
4:35 Vishnu and his avataras
9:20 Avataras outside Vaishnavism
11:16 How avatar was adopted in English

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"Religion is a belief system" is a common definition that I've seen around here on YouTube. However, I see this definition as obscuring other important dimensions of religion beyond the interior thought processes of religious adherents.

Uploaded 13-02-19

Become a member of our Patreon community!: https://patreon.com/religionforbreakfast
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For religious studies book recommendations, see: https://amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast

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Footnotes
1 Kelly Baker, “What’s belief got to do with it?” Religion Bulletin, 2012. http://bulletin.equinoxpub.com/2012/09/whats-belief-got-to-do-with-it/
2 Joseph Henrich, “The evolution of costly displays, cooperation and religion: credibility enhancing displays and their implications for cultural evolution,” Evolution and Human Behavior 30 (2009), 258.
3 Leslie Dorrough Smith, “Why Durkheim Was Right: On the Perils of Being a Young, Cute Shoplifter,” Religion Bulletin, 2014. http://bulletin.equinoxpub.com/2014/01/why-durkheim-was-right-on-the-perils-of-being-a-young-cute-shoplifter/

Other sources:
Seligman et. al. “Ritual and Its Consequences"



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Register for my Gospel of Thomas class here!: https://religionforbreakfast.eventbrite.com/

Uploaded 20-07-23

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The Rapture: The belief that Jesus will remove all true Christians from the Earth prior to the end of the world and establishment of his kingdom. The belief is mostly found among American Evangelicals and is part of the larger theological framework called Dispensational Premillennialism. But where did this belief come from?

Bibliography:
Daniel Hummel, The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism, 2023
Paul Richard Wilkinson, For Zion's Sake: Christian Zionism and the Role of John Nelson Darby, 2008
Candida Moss and Joel Baden, "1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 in Rabbinic Perspective," New Test. STud. 58, pp. 199-212.

00:00 Intro
3:29 Scriptural basis?
9:59 Possible hints from antiquity
15:43 John Nelson Darby to Scofield
22:19 The Rise of Prophecy Fiction
24:15 The Fall of Dispensationalism?

Select footage and images courtesy of Getty



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Göbekli Tepe is a massive monolithic complex in southeastern Turkey. Archaeologists have hypothesized that the site is the oldest temple known to humanity. But what do we know about it? And why do archaeologists think it is a religious site?

Uploaded 17-01-17

Kurzgesagt mentions this site in a recent video, check it out!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgOWmtGVGs&t=132s

Patreon: www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast
Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry
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Blog: www.religionforbreakfast

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Bibliography:
Banning, E.B. “So Fair a House: Gobekli Tepe and the Identification of Temples in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East,” Current Anthropology, vol. 52, no. 5 (2011): 619-660.

Borié, Dusan. “Theater of Predation: Beneath the Skin of Göbekli Tepe Images,” in Christopher Watts, Relational Archaeologies: Humans, Animals, Things,”

Oliver Dietrich, “The role of cult and feasting in the emergence of Neolithic communities. New evidence from Göbekli Tepe, south-eastern Turkey," Antiquity, Sept 2012.

Article on beer brewing at Göbekli Tepe: https://tepetelegrams.wordpress.com/2016/04/24/out-for-a-beer-at-the-dawn-of-agriculture/

Article on dating Göbekli tepe: https://tepetelegrams.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/how-old-ist-it-dating-gobekli-tepe/#



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Religious studies draws inspiration from multiple academic disciplines: sociology, anthropology, history, neuroscience, biology, psychology, political science..so no matter what you're interested in, you can probably find a home in religious studies!

Uploaded 16-11-17

Patreon: www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast
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Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry
Blog: www.religionforbreakfast.com

Andrew's religious studies book recommendations: http://amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast

Special thanks to the Religious Freedom Center for helping to film and edit this video. The Religious Freedom Center is a nonsectarian organization based out of the Newseum in Washington D.C. They are developing online curriculum to help public school teachers to improve their religious literacy in the classroom. This video is part of two classes I helped to design: RLIT 100 Religions of the World, and EDU 300 Teaching About Religion in Public School. If you are interested in signing up for one of these courses, head on over to: http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/admissions/

Buddhism footage is from my friend and colleague Jenn Lindsay. Check out her YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/user/jenniferslindsay

Special thanks to another friend and colleague, John Balch, for help describing the scientific study of religion. Follow him on Twitter at @PerplexedMonist



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You don't need to be religious to study religion. This might sound really obvious to you...but from my experience, lots of people assume this.

Uploaded 12-07-17

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AAR teaching guidelines: https://www.aarweb.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Publications/epublications/AARK-12CurriculumGuidelines.pdf

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Uploaded 31-05-24

The Amish appear a lot in pop culture, but they're also frequently misrepresented and mythologized. So what do the Amish actually believe and practice?

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00:00 Introduction
00:54 Basic Overview
3:16 Origins of the Amish
8:49 Amish "Order," The Ordnung
9:35 The Amish and Technology
11:43 The Amish and Public Life
14:47 Amish Culture and Rumspringa
16:46 Amish Religious Practice
17:29 High-Commitment Communities
18:36 The Amish, Pop Culture, and "Bonnet Rippers"
23:06 Sponsor

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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

Uploaded 20-04-20

Interview with Dr. Joseph Henrich: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_M2odFfxno
War Makes Us More Religious video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVKRAMupaUA

In March 2020, Google searches for "prayer" surged to its highest level in 5 years. Presumably, more and more people are searching for answers about prayer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Does this indicate a surge in religiosity as well?

Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry
2nd Channel: @andrewmarkhenry
Facebook: www.facebook.com/religionforbreakfast

Bibliography:
K.I. Pargament, "The psychology of religion and coping: Theory, research, practice," Guilford Press, 2001.

Ano and Vasconcelles, 2005, “Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis,” Journal of clinical psychology, 2005, 61 (4), 461-480

Joseph Henrich et. al. “War Increases Religiosity,” https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu/files/henrich/files/henrich_et_al-2019-nature_human_behaviour.pdf
Sinding Bentzen research on natural disasters and religiosity: https://academic.oup.com/ej/article-abstract/129/622/2295/5490325?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Saudi Government Bans Prayers: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/saudi-arabia-bans-prayers-holy-mosques-coronavirus-fears-200320063001931.html

Haaretz article on the sanitation of the Western Wall: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/with-hazmat-suits-collecting-letters-to-god-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-1.8728568

Study by Dr. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen: https://twitter.com/JeanetBentzen/status/1244609464239624192
Sociologist Dr. Landon Schnabel’s response: https://twitter.com/LandonSchnabel/status/1245276267445751808

Social Distancing Photograph 1: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2630Social_distancing_and_panic_buying_30.jpg

Social Distancing Photograph 2: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Social_distancing_sign_at_TJs.jpg

Social Distancing Photograph 3: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Social_distancing_during_COVID-19_pandemic,_Haslemere_02.jpg



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