波士顿大学校友杂志

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Religion Prof Prothero tries to explain a faith in 140 characters

Stephen Prothero is offering a quick overview of eight major world religions on his 推特 feed, @sprothero. Vernon Doucette摄

Providing a synopsis of each of eight major world religions in 推特-speak takes creative condensation. On Stephen Prothero的视频, an “啊!” at the end indicates that a religious philosophy includes a final payoff. The eightfold path in Buddhism becomes “Path=let go(d),” and his shorthand for atheism is “There is no uknowwho but Freud & Marx is his prophet,” because the words “delusional” and “oppressive” are too long.

The professor and chair of the religion department in the College of Arts & Sciences was already well known before he took to tweeting last summer — his 2007 book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — and Doesn’t, landed him appearances on 每日秀 and 奥普拉 — but his effort to post on eight major world religions, plus atheism, has attracted hundreds of followers. The core principles are distilled from Prothero’s upcoming book, The Great Religions, due out next year. 目标是什么？ “Part of what I’m trying to do is to get people to understand that religion matters, that it’s a huge political and social force,” Prothero says. “And I’m interested in bringing the conversation in academia into the public square.”

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