In The News Martyrs of Free Speech In the face of resurgent Islam, the blood of the ninth-century Cordoban martyrs poses a pressing question to Christians. Steven Gertz
For many, the word persecution has become almost synonymous with the experience of Christians suffering for their faith in Muslim lands. ...
"Arabic" Number System Westerners call our numbers "Arabic," because the notation system came to Europe via Islamic Arab mathematicians sometime in the Middle Ages. The first written record of Arabic numbers in the West is a Spanish codex from 976. Adoption crept along among the educated elite until the fourteenth century, when Italian merchants finally ditched their Roman I's and V's. Other traders wisely followed suit. Interestingly, Arabs didn't develop the "Arabic" number system. They picked it up around 750 from Hindus, who had invented it some 150 years earlier.
You can learn more about Christians & Muslims by visiting our archives.
Orthodoxy, Explained How did the church come to understand Christ as fully God and fully man? Stephen Need is an excellent tour guide to the early church councils that debated the core issues of Christian faith. Review by Bradley Nassif
Cathedral Trivia Edition Here's a quick quiz that will test your knowledge of cathedrals—and on the answer page, it will guide you to resources so you can learn more about these classic and classy churches.
October 13, 1605: Theodore Beza, Calvin's successor as leader of the Swiss Reformation, dies (see issue 12: John Calvin).
October 13, 1670: Virginia bans slavery for Negroes who arrive in the American colonies as Christians. The colony repealed the law 12 years later (see issue 62: Bound for Canaan).
October 13, 1917: Three shepherd children near Fatima, Portugal, report visions of the Virgin Mary.
