As 2025 winds down, I’ve spent some time looking back—really looking—at what resonated most with readers this year. And while Patheos publishes across a wide spectrum of beliefs, practices, and lived experiences, a clear pattern emerged from the traffic charts: politics. Lots of it.
For as long as I have been here, I’ve tried to steer our editorial direction toward stories that deepen understanding rather than amplify division. Our mission has remained steady: to provide credible resources, stories, and conversations that lead to understanding, empathy, and acceptance of all faiths.
Patheos has long been home to millions of readers who come not for outrage, but for clarity. Our peer‑reviewed Religion Library, Side‑by‑Side Comparison Lens, and Answers resources serve everyone—from religion scholars to the spiritually curious.
But this year reminded me of something I had resisted for too long: you cannot separate faith and politics without ignoring the profound impact they have on one another. This intersection is one of the places where faith is most tested, expressed, weaponized, or redeemed. And if we are going to invite people into civil dialogue, we can’t do so only on calm days. We have to help steward the conversation when the storms hit too.
So while Patheos doesn’t endorse the opinions expressed in the columns below—and while I don’t agree with all of them either—they reflect something real, raw, and urgent about the state of the American soul in 2025. They capture fear, frustration, conviction, weariness, and hope. They tell the truth about where many people found themselves standing this year: right at the fault line between belief and power.
While politics dominated much of the year’s reading, several of the most‑read articles stood outside the political storm entirely, revealing something deeper about what people were seeking in 2025. Pieces like Debunking the Telepathy Tapes and The Moment You Die, Eternity Begins Immediately tapped into timeless spiritual questions—truth, mortality, and wonder. People are still hungry for meaning, clarity, and the kinds of conversations that help them make sense of their own faith journeys.
Before we jump in, a note: This list highlights articles written in 2025 that drew the highest traffic. It does not include our perennial traffic powerhouses—resources that continue to dominate year after year, including sex and relationship guidance and our Religion Library, Answers database, and Side‑by‑Side Comparison Lens. Those still remain our most widely used and read offerings.
With that context, here are the Top 10 most‑read Patheos articles published in 2025.
Top 10 Most‑Read Patheos Articles of 2025
One of the Scariest Texts in the Bible (Matthew 7:21–23)
By: Dr. B. J. Oropeza
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This reflection tackles one of the most unsettling warnings in Scripture—Jesus’ words about those who believed they were faithful only to hear, “I never knew you.” The author explores how deeply this passage unsettles many Christians and why it demands an honest look at the difference between outward action and inward transformation. It resonated with readers navigating a noisy world where religious identity is often claimed loudly but lived quietly.
We Have Made a Terrible Mistake
By: Rebecca Hamilton
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The author laments what she views as America’s slide into authoritarianism, spotlighting an offshore detention camp in El Salvador where foreigners are held without rights, alongside botched war planning and ignored crises like wildfires. Drawing parallels to historical tyrannies, the article blasts political incompetence and lies, tying into policies that the author argues prioritizes power over protections.
I Quit My Church Because of Trump
By: Jim Meisner Jr.
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A pastor shares his resignation after Trump’s election win, unable to reconcile with a congregation seemingly backing policies like mass deportations that the author claims clashed with biblical commands to love neighbors. He paints American Christianity as fractured, in need of Jesus’ healing, and highlights the human cost to immigrant families. The story underscores the personal toll of political divides within faith communities.
The Unofficial Second Coming: Jesus Sets the Record Straight
By: Tom Rapsas
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Imagining Jesus’ return to debunk myths, the article clarifies he wasn’t starting a religion or church but emphasizing inner transformation, universal divinity, and love over miracles or politics. Pulling from scholars like Richard Rohr and Elaine Pagels, it stresses private faith and mercy as the true kingdom within. Amid trending justice talks, it’s a reminder that spirituality transcends institutional power.
Charlie Kirk Called Out Pastor Steven Furtick
By: Kelly Williams
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Just before his death, Charlie Kirk publicly urged Pastor Steven Furtick to condemn a killing, sparking a broader plea for evangelical leaders to confront injustices around gender, sexuality, and hate. Referencing biblical shepherds in Ezekiel and John, it calls for courageous truth-telling in love, protecting flocks from societal threats. The piece grapples with fear versus faith in public witness.
Trump Was Warned Cuts to NWS and NOAA Would Kill People
By: Rebecca Hamilton
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Detailing warnings supposedly ignored by Trump’s team, the article links budget slashes to weather agencies with deadly floods in Texas, where understaffing hampered warnings. The article challenges “pro-life” rhetoric arguing that policies favor the wealthy over public safety. This critique ties faith’s ethical demands to real-world political choices.
What the Bible Really Says About Transgender People
By: Robert Cottrell
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This carefully researched and pastorally sensitive piece tackles what the author claims is the misuse of Scripture against transgender individuals. The author walks through biblical context, translation issues, and the broader message of inclusion woven throughout Jesus’ ministry.
Trump: “Thou Shalt Not Be Called Female”
By: Christy Thomas
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This piece by sharply mocks the Trump administration’s reported ban on “woke” terms like “women,” “female,” “feminism,” and “immigrant” in federal documents, imagining a Christian Nationalist rewrite of the Bible that erases all mentions of women and immigrants to fit the new reality.
Debunking the Telepathy Tapes
By: Keith Giles
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A welcome break from political tension, this article dives into a viral paranormal claim and examines how misinformation spreads. Giles blends humor, skepticism, and theological reflection to remind readers that critical thinking belongs in Christian life.
The Moment You Die, Eternity Begins Immediately
By: Amy Blossom
Link: Read the article
This pastoral and theological reflection offers comfort and clarity about what Scripture says happens at death. The author combines biblical teaching with pastoral experience to explore the mystery of the transition into eternity. Its popularity shows that even in a politically tumultuous year, people remain deeply hungry for hope.
Perennial Favorites
These weren’t published in 2025, but they remain very popular with readers — steady, reliable, and widely respected.
Shaunti Feldhahn’s Relationship Columns
The Desire Husbands Don’t Like to Discuss
By: Shaunti Feldhahn
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A candid, research‑grounded look at emotional intimacy from the male perspective, breaking open myths about desire and communication. Couples continue to share this one because it clarifies misunderstandings that quietly strain marriages.
How Often Do Men Need to Have Sex?
By: Shaunti Feldhahn
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A practical, empathetic exploration of physical intimacy that goes beyond stereotypes to explain the emotional needs beneath sexual connection. Its ongoing popularity shows how hungry couples are for trustworthy, stigma‑free guidance.
The Religion Answers Library
A central gateway to one of the internet’s most trusted Q&A repositories on global religious traditions. It provides peer‑reviewed clarity on everything from sacred texts to ethics to major world religions. The most popular Answers article this year was How Many Versions of the Bible Are There?
Side‑by‑Side Religion Comparison Lens
Compare religions
A powerful tool allowing readers to compare beliefs, rituals, and traditions across dozens of religions in a clean, intuitive format. It remains a favorite among classrooms, interfaith circles, and journalists needing quick but credible comparisons.
The Patheos Religion Library
Visit the Library of World Religions and Faith Traditions
The foundation of Patheos since 2009: a rigorously sourced library covering global religions and denominations with clarity and balance. Scholars cite it, clergy rely on it, and readers around the world visit it daily to understand the traditions shaping both neighbors and nations.
Looking Ahead
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that people are hungry—not just for information, but for meaning. For a way to navigate an increasingly loud world without losing their humanity. The political themes dominating this year’s readership weren’t a departure from our work; they were a reminder of why our work matters.
Faith is not a footnote to public life. It’s one of the forces shaping how we vote, how we argue, how we hope, and how we heal.
My hope for 2026 is that Patheos continues to be a place where disagreement doesn’t require dehumanization… where curiosity outruns certainty… and where we honor both the convictions people hold and the complexity of why they hold them.
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