ReligionForBreakfast

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Uploaded 10-10-19

American Civil Religion Episode 1: "Americans Are Religious About America."
This episode is an introduction to American Civil Religion. It launches a 5-part series on the topic. Basically, American Civil Religion is when Americans are religious about America. The series argues that Americans are being religious when they create and curate American identity and ideals. Stay tuned for future episodes.

Follow me on Twitter at: @andrewmarkhenry
Special thanks to the Foundation for Religious Literacy for sponsoring this series: https://tfrl.org/

Thanks to Dr. David McConeghy for researching and writing this episode! Follow him on Twitter at: @dmcconeghy

Referenced videos:
Coca-Cola is a Religion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTVC2uVGEL0&t=118s

What is Religion?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5KHDR8jdbA

Image credits:
National Anthem protest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._national_anthem_protests_(2016%E2%80%93present)#/media/File:Oakland_Raiders_National_Anthem_Kneeling_(37444579735).jpg



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Hell is well-known in popular culture and is a widespread belief among Christian communities today. But where did this doctrine come from? Jewish apocalyptic literature from the 2nd Temple period reveals the idea was evolving even before the rise of Christianity.

Uploaded 31-10-18

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/religionforbreakfast/
Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry

Religious studies book recommendations: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast

Bibliography:
Pope John Paul II quote, General Audience July 28, 1999: http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_28071999.html

John Collins, "The apocalyptic imagination: an introduction to jewish apocalyptic literature."

John Collins, “Apocalpyticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls”

Kim Papaioannou, “The Geography of Hell in the Teaching of Jesus, Gehenna, Hades, the Abyss…"

Aristotle Papanikolaou, Elixabeth Prodromou (eds.), "Thinking Through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars," p. 195

Photo attributions:
Valley of Hinnom, author Deror Avi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehenna#/media/File:Valley_of_Hinom_PA180090.JPG



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Uploaded 20-02-25

Korean Shamanism (Musok) is a dynamic religious tradition rooted in spirit mediation, ritual healing, and ancestral veneration.

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Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images and Reuters

00:00 Basic overview
1:25 What is Shamanism?
5:46 Shamanic Deities Explained
7:38 Who are the shamans?
12:40 Shamanism in Korea's religious landscape
14:25 Why the stigma?
18:26 Korean Shamanism in the 21st c.
21:37 Sign up for Nebula!



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Register for our Coptic class!: https://www.religiondepartment.com/coptic

Uploaded 21-10-25

Few prophets in Islam are as mysterious as Idrīs. In this video, we explore his identity, tracing how Muslims connected Idrīs with Enoch and Hermes Trismegistus, and why this ancient figure became a bridge between prophecy and esotericism.

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Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images and Reuters



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A common theory is that the Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of Gnostic texts, were an illegal stash of books hidden from Orthodox Christian authorities. But recent scholarship has called this theory into question. Were the Gnostic Gospels legal?

Uploaded 16-07-19

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Or Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast

Check out my favorite religious studies books: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast
Follow me on Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry

Bibliography:

Mark Goodacre: https://www.academia.edu/26053912/How_reliable_is_the_story_of_the_Nag_Hammadi_discovery

Nicola Denzey Lewis and Justine Ariel Blount: https://www.academia.edu/8105963/_Rethinking_the_Origins_of_the_Nag_Hammadi_Library_

Brent Nongbri, "The Nag Hammadi Discovery Story," https://brentnongbri.com/2018/08/20/the-nag-hammadi-discovery-story/

Tony Burke, "What Do We Talk About When We Talk About the Nag Hammadi Library?" http://www.tonyburke.ca/wp-content/uploads/What-Do-We-Talk-About.pdf

Lundhaug and Jenott, The Monastic Origins of the Nag Hammadi Codices

Photo credits:

Amulet: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jasper_intaglio-_Harpocrates_seated_on_lotus_in_papyrus_boat_MET_DP280467.jpg

Coptic Magical Text: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coptic_magical_text_599v_apis.jpg

Book of the Dead: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imhotep%27s_Book_of_the_Dead.jpg

Byzantine Amuletic Armband: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Byzantine_-_Amuletic_Armband_with_Holy_Rider,_Saints,_and_Magical_Symbols_-_Walters_542657.jpg

Codex II: http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/nha/id/1381

Codex V Interior: http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/nha/id/1997/rec/1

Gospel of Thomas manuscript: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Evangelio_de_Tom%C3%A1s-Gospel_of_Thomas-_Codex_II_Manuscritos_de_Nag_Hammadi-The_Nag_Hammadi_manuscripts.png



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Uploaded 22-09-22

Daoism, sometimes spelled as Taoism, is a religious and philosophical tradition indigenous to China. But what is Daoism?

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Bibliography:
There are several excellent intro books available. Here are a few I consulted for this video:

Ronnie Littlejohn, Daoism: An Introduction, 2009.
Livia Kohn, Introducing Daoism, 2008.
James Miller, Daoism: A Beginner's Guide, 2003.
Stephen Prothero, Religion Matters: An Introduction to the World's Religions, 2020.

00:00 Intro
1:00 The Dao Explained
2:53 The Dao De Jing
7:43 The Zhuangzi
12:00 "Religious" Daoism Intro
13:40 Tianshi dao
15:07 Quanzhen dao
16:13 Daoist Canon
16:45 Daoist Deities
19:05 Self-Cultivation Techniques
21:58 21st-century Daoism



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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.

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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.



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Watch the full interview here!: https://youtu.be/s_M2odFfxno

Uploaded 27-06-19

Support us on Patreon!: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast
Follow me on Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry

Special thanks to the Center for Mind and Culture for the chance to meet Dr. Joe Henrich and talk about this research! Check out their website and research at: https://mindandculture.org/

Bibliography:
Michael Jackson citation at 4:37 - 4:47: Citation from Existential Anthropology, p. 94

Joseph Henrich, Michal Bauer, Alessandra Cassar, Julie Chytilova, Benjamin Grant Purzycki, "War Increases Religiosity," Nature: Human Behavior, 2019

Vail et. al., "A TMT Management Analysis of the Psychological Functions of Religion," Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2010, 84-94.

Jonas, E. and Fischer, P. ‘TMT and religion: evidence that intrinsic religiousness mitigates worldview defense following mortality salience. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 91, 553-567 (2006)

Martin Lang, "Effects of Anxiety on Spontaneous Ritualized Behavior," Current Biology, July 2015.

Richard Sosis and Handwerker, "Psalms and Coping with Uncertainty," American Anthropologist," March 2011.

Gelfand, M. J. et al. Differences between tight and loose cultures: a 33-nation study. Science 332, 1100–1104 (2011)

Harvey Whitehouse et. al., "Brothers in Arms," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2014.

Zachary Rothschild et. al. "Does Peace Have a Prayer? The effect of mortality salience, compassionate values, and religious fundamentalism on hostility toward out-groups," Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, June 2009.



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Uploaded 23-03-23

Join our Patreon community!: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast
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The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or the Bardo Thodol, is arguably the most popular Buddhist text in Europe and the United States. Carl Jung loved it. So did John Lennon. But why? What is this text all about?

Sources:
Lopez, Donald S. Jr. The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Biography. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.

Coleman, Graham, and Thupten Jinpa, eds. The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation. Translated by Gyurme Dorje. New York: Penguin Random House, 2005.



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Uploaded 30-03-23

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Select footage and images courtesy of Getty



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