A new book explores how religion, once at the core of American higher education, made its way to the margins of campus life.

Key points. In the West, religion is usually equated with theism (i.e., belief in a personal god). We review the history of the term and describe how this meaning came about.

To say that “religion” is a fraught word would be a fairly dramatic understatement. Like, think of the ways many people answer questions about religion: I’m not religious, but I am spiritual.

Religion has had its ups and downs over countless millennia. At this time, there is no singular “headache” that hasn’t already been faced and overcome in the past.

Organized religion seemed, to me, beset by scandal and entangled in noxious politics. So, I thought, what is there really to mourn? Only in the past few years have I come around to a different view.

Each year, the Religion News Association surveys its members to come up with the top domestic and international stories about religion. From the U.S. presidential election to the war in Gaza ...