The decades leading up to the new millennium and the decades beyond saw the arrival of modern religious magazines. These magazines delved into subjects both sacred and secular, from daily living for practicing adherents to news from around the world and how it affected those faithful laypeople. Obviously, these religious magazines featured articles upon the faith and how those practitioners might best live their beliefs credibly.  

Many of these religious magazines were created specifically to be consumed by members of the religion to whom the magazine was dedicated. Though there are some specific examples of a magazine’s purpose being to introduce a religion to a wider audience, any of these magazines could serve as an entry point to a different religion for the public. Due to the accessibility of the magazine size, the mix of pictures and words, the relatively cheap cost, and wide availability at grocery store checkout lines, convenience stores, bookstores, and even libraries, magazines would be a less intimidating and accessible starting point to learning about a new religion. 

This selection of religious magazines is part of the Samir Husni Magazine Collection, which consists of over 30,000 first issues of magazines covering a variety of topics published from 1805-2022. The collection was donated by Dr. Samir Husni to the Special Collections and Archives at the University of Missouri in 2023.