Do Religions Even Exist?

In this episode, we explore Solomon as an occult authority in the Islamicate world: from the Quranic stories of Sulayman commanding the jinn and the winds, to the legendary Seal of Solomon, to his role in Islamic magic, talismans, letter science (ʿilm al-ḥurūf), and grimoires. We ...  Show more

Iblis (Satan) refused to bow to Adam, and the Qur’an condemns him for it. But some of the most daring Sufi mystics read that refusal very differently: as the act of a perfect monotheist and a tragic lover who would not bow to anything but God, even at the cost of eternal separati ...  Show more

Did God create us or did we create God? Listen to this episode as Muhammad Sami discusses his journey through religion, and how it is deeply embedded in his thirst for knowledge, spirituality and philosophy. We discuss the core elements of religion and how it governs elements of ...  Show more

For evolutionary scientists studying religion, it's more fruitful to examine what people do in religious contexts, rather than listen to what they say they believe. There's a new recognition that as well as looking at behaviour, people studying religion must take account of the r ...  Show more

Today we talk more about the work of Charles Taylor and his book The Varieties of Religion Today. We look at different answers to a classic question around religious belief. The sociological and structural role that religion plays at any given point in history. Paleo, Neo and Pos ...  Show more