Religions, Volume 15, Issue 4 (April 2024) – 134 articles

In this paper I discuss Moses Mendelssohn’s argumentation on religious tolerance in his “Vorrede” (“preface”) that he added to his translation of Rabbi Manasseh Ben Israel’s letter “Vindiciae judaeorum” in 1782. Instead of solely deducing Mendelssohn’s idea of religious tolerance, I examine Mendelssohn’s argumentation strategies. For this purpose, I firstly determine the political and social conditions in which Mendelssohn wrote the “Vorrede”. Secondly, I examine the normative reasons or resources that Mendelssohn argues for tolerance with. In my observation, he is legitimizing religious tolerance on the normative resources of philosophical reasons (natural law/universal reason) and pragmatic reasons (utility). Further, I will analyse Mendelssohn’s concept of a tolerant Judaism in the “Vorrede”. Full article

This article aims to share the experience of the renewal of congregational singing in Cuban churches since the 1960s as a testimony to the links that exist between liturgical renewal and theological renewal with a special focus on the dialogue between culture and social reality, particularly in light of the Cuban Revolution of 1959, as constitutive of this renewal. Full article

The Gospel of John, without having its own liturgical year, is typically assumed to have a supplemental homiletical role in the Revised Common Lectionary, and yet the Fourth Gospel is the designated Gospel reading for the festival Sundays of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and Easter season. As a result, the theological themes of the Fourth Gospel anchor the church’s Trinitarian confessions and doctrinal imagination when it comes to preaching. In particular, as the assigned Gospel for the Sundays of Easter, the Gospel of John shapes resurrection proclamation. Resurrection proclamation, therefore, is animated by Jesus’ final words to his disciples found in the Farewell Discourse (John 14–17), where Jesus interprets his own ministry, commissions his disciples, testifies to the Paraclete, and prays for his followers. This essay will explore how the viewpoint of Jesus’ departing declarations makes a difference for preaching the resurrection. Through the lens of the Farewell Discourse, the promise of the resurrection takes on thematic issues that give important meaning to Jesus’ own revelation, “I am the resurrection and the life”. Full article

This paper aims to decode medieval theology from the vantage point of ancient Chinese poetry, employing a cross-textual methodology that encourages a fusion of horizons. It highlights Saint Bernard’s profound and influential theological exegesis of the “Song of Songs”, particularly his comparison of the divine–human relationship to the conjugal bond. The present study posits that readers from Chinese culture can gain access to Saint Bernard’s mystical theology through the sentiment of love, as portrayed in the Book of Odes (Shijing). Initially addressing love as a core human sentiment, this study progresses by juxtaposing the representations of love in the Book of Odes with those in the “Song of Songs”. This comparative analysis culminates in an exploration of Saint Bernard’s theological perspectives, illuminated through these analogous depictions of love. The results affirm that engaging with Saint Bernard’s discourse on love via the Book of Odes is not only feasible but also instrumental in dispelling widespread misconceptions. Full article

In the famous medieval magical manual called the Picatrix, the unknown author describes the phenomenon of magic with the term nigromantia. As is well known, the original meaning of the Greek term necromantia has a more concise meaning. It is used for a special kind of divination, i.e., divination through the parts of a cadaver and the conjured spirit of the dead. Seemingly, in the Picatrix, no necromantic ritual can be found; moreover, the author stresses that his main goal is pious, i.e., to find the path leading to the ultimate source of the universe, the one and only God. In my article, I show that on some pages of the Picatrix, there are traces of divinatory practices that may be connected to the original meaning of the term nigromantia. In the third book of the manual, descriptions of some interesting rituals attributed to the pagan Sabeans of Harran and their teacher, the god Hermes can be found. During the practices, the magician involved conjured spirits of the heavenly bodies and powers as well. Because of this, by looking closely at and analyzing the given text, it is possible to piece together a complex web of necromantic and demonic divinatory rituals. Full article

The purpose of this research is to examine whether Buddhist ethics can improve the health and well-being of Buddhist practitioners during pandemics like COVID-19. It is hypothesized that diseases are part of suffering, and Buddhist teachings aim to eliminate the suffering of all beings. Buddhism also offers ethical codes of conduct for its practitioners to improve their health and well-being. So, the Buddha’s teaching or Buddhist ethics, when practiced seriously, should be able to improve one’s health, physically and mentally, enhancing the well-being of all Buddhist practitioners during the spread of all pandemics including COVID-19. The present study found that Buddhist ethical practices like the chanting of Buddhist suttas and the development of mindfulness, concentration/meditation, and insight (vipassanā) can improve both physical and mental health, which are important for dealing with any pandemic, tremendously. If the cores of Buddhist ethics (morality, meditation, and wisdom) are perfectly practiced, not only will one live with good physical and mental health but one also will be able to eliminate all the mental defilements that are the root causes of all illnesses and thus enter nibbāna, the state of mind that is beyond all sources of suffering including pandemics/epidemics. More specifically, this paper highlights a set of Buddhist practices, called four bhāvanās (types of development), that can be used to improve health and well-being during any pandemic. Full article

In recent years, the number of Chinese Christian organizations in Europe has grown considerably compared to other overseas Chinese community organizations. They can mobilize transnational networks and resources to expand religious space in host societies and form a highly visible social force. Although the rise of early Christianity in the Western world has been considered an outcome of inherent religious strength, especially in terms of its central doctrines and religious ethics, this article suggests that in the diasporic Chinese world where Christianity constitutes a non-indigenous religious tradition, social relatedness based on native place, family, and kinship ties provides a more useful context for understanding its dynamic expansion and cross-regional transmission. Drawing on anthropological fieldwork conducted in Europe among overseas Chinese Christian traders and entrepreneurs, this research seeks an alternative framework for understanding the religious-cultural dynamics of Chinese Christianity in the context of transnational migration. Full article

Modern Orthodoxy is a sect of Judaism which aims to combine a high level of commitment to Jewish observance with immersion in modern society. Alumni of Modern Orthodox parochial high schools have varying degrees of commitment towards religion. This study was designed to better understand the factors that lead adolescents towards internalizing traditional Orthodox beliefs. Previous studies on religion in general are lacking in quality and depth, using superficial factors such as church attendance to attest to religious commitment. Studies on Modern Orthodox Jewish teens are limited in quantity, with very few studies published on this population. This study focused on 1341 students from 18 Modern Orthodox high schools in the United States using the JewBALE 2.0 to collect the data. The design evaluated the relationship between spirituality and self-esteem, spiritual struggle, religious homogeny between parents and adolescents, and gender. Factors such as mental health, positive Judaic studies experience, and relationships with Judaic studies teachers were examined as potential mediators. The data indicated that students with high levels of spirituality would also have high levels of self-esteem and religious homogeny with their parents, as well as high levels of agreement with the Orthodox communal norms. Positive relationships with teachers and experiences in Jewish studies classes mediated the otherwise negative relationship between spirituality and disagreement with communal norms. Females were more likely to have high levels of spirituality than males. This study is important for those who want to better understand the factors involved in helping students enrolled in Jewish Modern Orthodox high schools achieve high levels of spirituality. Full article

Thomas Merton’s interfaith dialogue with the Jewish rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel sets a resonating example of how these two religious figures from the twentieth century can learn from each other and respect their theological differences while still finding common ground in their social critiques, as fully revealed in their more mature prophetic writings from the 1960s. The purpose of this article is to show how both Merton and Heschel found, in their sacred humanism, a final integration between their mystical quest for God and their passion as modern prophets to denounce the social injustices of their time. Merton and Heschel have become exemplar cases of creative interfaith dialogue and witnesses for justice. In so doing, I hope to demonstrate how their interfaith friendship brought them closer together when facing the Second Vatican Council’s efforts to write a major document like Nostra Aetate, or “in Our Time”. Full article

Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) was a medieval mystic. From a young age, she had many colorful visions and became well known and influential not only in her own time but in ours as well. Her music reached the mellow house scene in the 1990s, reviving Hildegard’s spirituality for people today. In this paper, I will approach Hildegard as a philosophical practitioner and conduct an imaginary philosophical consultation. I will study her biography, listen to her words by some authentic text fragments and propose a spiritual exercise on her music in order not to just think about Hildegard of Bingen but to try and think like Hildegard of Bingen, in line with the principles of philosophical practice. This way, I will try to understand Hildegard in a practical way and not (just) annotate the regular (theoretical) interpretations of her life. I will distinguish three phases in her life as movements towards spirituality: (1) her relationship with the world, (2) her relationship with God, and (3) her relationship with herself as a spiritual being. I will argue that her life is an example of a philosophical life. Hildegard’s “not fitting in any place” (being átopos) and her development define such a life as a path towards an authentic self, attained by spirituality. The paper intends to contribute both to the understanding of philosophical consultations and to the understanding of Hildegard of Bingen. Full article

This article centers around the early translation of the term Li 礼 in the Analects of Confucius (论语). This Latin translation shows that the interpretation of the Confucian term Li 礼 mostly did not include any religious meaning. This article also centers on the personal formation of the Jesuits of that time. Taking Michele Ruggieri as reference, this article details how studies based on the Latin Classics (especially Cicero) provided them with a reference to interpret this term as unrelated to religious worship. When the Jesuits arrived in China, at the end of the Ming dynasty, strong emphasis was given to the proper etiquette towards state officials. This in turn derived from the situation in the imperial court. In this historical environment, the Confucian rites (Li 礼) were interpreted as “good manners”. This article also presents briefly the question of whether for Christians, Li 礼 as a proper social behavior inspired by a particular cultural tradition has any connection with or can be a problem for the rituals of the Christian tradition instituted by Jesus as vehicles of divine grace. Full article

The mystical thinker Muhyi al-Din ibn ‘Arabī (d. 638/1240) had many audiences with the dead. This article explores who Ibn ‘Arabī interacted with, and how. Usually as dreams and visions, the meetings Ibn ‘Arabī had with messengers were generally at key milestones in his life, or to confer particular distinctions upon him. A special subset of these visions was of Prophet Muḥammad specifically, and these were to derive a legal ruling from him, or because he was under the special care of the Prophet. Conversely, the audiences he had with departed saints were largely to do with more quotidian issues, either regarding his relationship with spiritual masters, or to correct a misapprehension about someone. Finally, but more seldom, he had physical interactions with corporealised spirits from beyond. As these betrayed a higher rank than mere visions, they were reminiscent of his audiences with messengers in that they confirmed his exalted spiritual rank. Full article

As a discipline taught and debated in universities and seminaries, philosophy of religion has traditionally been understood as a form of apologetics: that is, it pursues with concentrated effort what proof for the existence of God the human mind can mobilize with recourse strictly to reason and logic [...] Full article

The dove, the most frequently mentioned bird in the Hebrew Bible, appears in diverse contexts, spanning its appearance as an element in the narrative (as in the case of Noah’s ark), and as an allegory and metaphor (as in the cryptic “sword of the dove”—twice in Jeremiah—and “the city of the dove”—Zephaniah). The dove even appears as the proper name of a prophet (or possibly of two, both named Jonah, son of Amittai). This article applies a communication perspective to better interpret some of these texts. We argue that the dove’s communicative attributes, to include unique acoustics, remarkable power of flight, but primarily the trait of returning home—the basis for the use of doves as carrier pigeons—may either explain or deepen the interpretation of many of the references to the pigeon in the Bible. In this vein, a major focus of the article is on using the dove’s homing ability as a key for reinterpreting the Book of Jonah. We conclude by suggesting that the dove’s trait of returning and, hence, its use as envoy made it a useful symbol of the deity’s presence in the world. In the Jewish reading, it became an emblem of one of the main political and eschatological themes of the Bible: the return home from exile, beginning with the exodus and return of Jacob’s sons to Canaan and ending with the Eschaton. Full article

The call for papers for this Special Issue Iidentifies contemporary humanity as experiencing a global “biogeochemical … political, economic, technological, ethical, and therefore, biocultural” crisis and asks scholars to consider how “religion may function as an adaptive or maladaptive presence” in response. Unasked is the adaptive capacity of scholarship as a crisis response. When buildings fall in earthquakes, or cities burn in wildfires, or second stories flood, few people just keep on doing what they were doing, “with a change of focus”. This is “studying Rome while it burns”. It’s time to put out the fire if we can and survive it if we cannot. We scholar/teachers can’t go on doing the same things and expecting different results. Unprecedented circumstances call for unprecedented actions in response. What would actual crisis responses on our part look like? What steps do we need to take as human beings in response to this crisis? How will that affect us as professionals? Seeking an ecology, rather than unanimity, of action and thought, and guided by Brian Walker’s resilience theory and a number of Indigenous scholars, I suggest a process of reintegration, analogous to regenerative agriculture, which is at once both socio-cultural and ecological. This process, necessarily rooted in place, progressively situates us experientially in a dynamic, creative, and relational world characterized by connection, collaboration, and relation. As scholars, we will find forms of discovery, discussion, and dissemination that share these qualities. As teachers, we will model this world to our students and embody it in our classrooms and curricula. Full article

Our study wants to clarify the structure of spirituality by applying existing multidimensional theories of religiosity and spirituality to in-depth interviews conducted among a sample of students. The current research analyzes 15 qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted among a sample of students at the Adventist Theological Institute in the Czech Republic and was conducted in May 2022. Since religiosity is a multidimensional phenomenon and we wished to investigate development in each dimension, we based our analyses on Glock and Stark’s model with four of their dimensions of religiosity: “belief”, “practice”, “experience”, and “knowledge”. Our study reflects on existing multidimensional religiosity/spirituality; six dimensions by Huber overlap with the religiosity/spirituality model we chose as the applied multidimensional model. As a result, based on the interviewees’ statements, we distinguished these dimensions in the context of specific conditions in the respondents’ individual personal experiences in the absence of personal group interaction. In our research, we ask the question: “What impact has the move of the entire formal and informal environment of an educational institution to an online environment had on the spirituality of each student?” An important finding is that the COVID-19 pandemic period brought about an exciting stimulus for spiritual support in theological education. The emergence of individual and independent religiosity/spirituality is a significant religious change. Full article

On 14 December 2021, the extraordinary event called “touching the Sun” has been heralded as a “monumental moment for solar science”, in which the Parker Solar Probe opened up a new frontier of research for Space exploration, proposing the challenge of reaching, studying, and even “touching” our Sun at close range. The consequences of this event are scientific but also metaphysical and transcendental, offering the opportunity to reflect on the complex reality and meaning of the “boundaries” as opportunities for relationships and then for ethics. In this paper, I would like to propose an attempt to develop a possible discussion for an extension of Space Sustainability as an ethical guide for humanity which, as it goes out into outer Space, is helped to rediscover new, expanded dimensions of perception along the path of mystery and humility, in order to return back to Earth enriched for new relationships in pursuit of the common good. Full article

The warnings about Turkey’s not-so-near accession to the EU are explored as a strategic tool in the Brexit campaign, linking concerns about sovereignty and immigration compounded with the anxieties surrounding Islam and the threat of terrorism. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Edward Said’s Orientalism and the unique perspectives gathered from British Turks, this paper sheds light on their nuanced responses. It uncovers strategies of disbelief and denial in the face of the constructed narrative that portrayed Turkey as an undesirable ‘Other’ with its predominantly Muslim population. A closer analysis of some British Turks’ narratives is premised not only on the sacralised defence of the principles of Turkish westernisation but also on the socio-political reputation of the Islamic Ottoman past as almighty. The article equally contributes to a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between British national identity and discourses surrounding immigration, sovereignty, and Islamophobia within the context of Brexit, as well as the principles by which the privileges of modern, secular Turkey, as well as the demise of the mighty Ottoman image, are maintained. In a paradoxical manner, the act of denial only serves to affirm the Brexit campaign’s narrative depicting Turkey as an undesirable ‘Other’ with a predominantly Muslim demographic. Full article

The pontificate of Pope Francis is proving to be one of the most controversial within the Catholic world, particularly because of the several objections and protests it has raised in the most traditional currents of Catholicism. This theological and political opposition to Bergoglio’s pontificate has been the subject of many studies, which have focused, in particular, on the growing harshness of this debate in North American Catholic circles. Following these studies, the present contribution aims to study how this polarization spreads and is amplified through the online communication of these groups by providing an analysis of a specific case study: a tweet published by the account of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAL). The PAL is a Vatican institution founded by John Paul II and renewed by Pope Francis in its membership and purpose (Global Bioethics). The Academy is perceived as the cutting edge of Pope Francis’ “progressivism”, especially regarding sensitive issues such as marriage, family, and euthanasia. For this reason, the Twitter account of PAL is considered the ideal platform to observe the languages, expressions, and content that characterize the opposition to Bergoglio’s pontificate today. Full article

The importance of spirituality in the treatment of mental illness is increasingly acknowledged, but mental healthcare professionals often feel they lack specific competence. An instrument is missing to quantify the spiritual care competence of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands. The aim of this study was thus to translate the Spiritual Care Competence Questionnaire (SCCQ) into Dutch and validate it for use in mental healthcare. After translation, the SCCQ-NL was distributed in a cross-sectional design among 3497 healthcare professionals in two mental healthcare institutions (MHIs) in the Netherlands. In the sample of 730 completed questionnaires, exploratory factor analysis revealed seven factors: perception of spiritual needs competencies, team spirit, spiritual self-awareness, documentation competencies, empowerment and proactive opening competencies, knowledge about other religions, and conversation competencies. One item was deleted during the process. Internal consistency for the 25-item SCCQ-NL subscales is sufficient with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.64 to 0.81. Conversation competencies and perception of spiritual needs scored highest in the sample, next to knowledge about other religions and empowerment competencies, while spiritual self-awareness, team spirit and documentation competencies scored the lowest. Small but significant differences in several subscale scores were found for profession, identifying oneself as a believer, practicing prayer and/or meditation, age and working years. The SCCQ-NL can be used for the assessment of spiritual care competencies and for the planning and evaluation of training and improvement strategies. Full article

How did an Arab Jew read the Quran against the backdrop of contradictory ideologies and the rise of key movements, including nationalism, colonialism, and Zionism, in Mandate Palestine? Approaching Isaac Yahuda as an Arab Jew challenges the binary opposition between Arabs and Jews in Zionist discourse, a linkage perceived as inconceivable, and on the other hand, that linkage is asserted, contested, and tested in the context of nationalism. This article also challenges the advancement of Jewish singularity and superiority by exploring how Jewish writers interacted with the Islamic scripture in Mandatory Palestine rather than dismissing it. This article examines Hebrew interpretation of various passages from the Quran that produced an understanding of the Quran that advanced Zionist ideals, including the nationalization of contested religious sites and the consolidation of the indigeneity of Jews in the East. Isaac Yahuda’s Hebrew commentary on the Quran challenged his Arab Jewishness in such a divisive nationalist atmosphere in Mandate Palestine. His hybrid background and dynamic connections with both Jews and Arabs enabled him to navigate these turbulent times by invoking the Quran, demonstrating respect for it, and at the same time challenging the understanding of his contemporary Muslims while utilizing German Jewish scholarship on the origins of Islam. Full article

The Easter controversy of the late second century unveiled a profound theological and cultural debate within early Christianity. Originating from differing practices regarding the calculation of Easter dates, the dispute pitted the churches of Asia Minor against the Roman Church. This paper primarily employs a method of documentary analysis. It analyzes the accounts provided by the fourth-century historian Eusebius of Caesarea in his work The History of the Church. It is also cross-referenced with the works of second-century Christian writers. Through this process, this paper seeks to reconstruct the situation of this Easter controversy. Furthermore, it aims to uncover the struggle for apostolic authority concealed beneath the surface of this debate over dates. Central figures like Victor I and Polycrates engaged in this struggle for Apostolic authority, responding to challenges posed by heresies. Victor I leveraged his position to convene religious conferences and issue excommunication decrees against dissenting churches, laying claim to the papal primacy. However, Polycrates invoked the apostolic succession and heritage from John the Apostle to assert the legitimacy of the churches in Asia Minor, challenging Victor I’s attempts at centralizing power within the Roman see. The controversy reflected broader debates over apostolic succession and ecclesiastical power structures. The Easter controversy serves as a case study of the Early Church’s engagement with practical theology and the integration of religious festival culture with social backgrounds, highlighting the significance of Easter as a symbol of Christian unity and collective memory. This debate highlighted theological nuances and underscored broader issues of communal identity and the power struggle within early Christian communities. Full article

Bantu African divination is firmly established in South Africa in the context of modernity and is protected, endorsed and regulated by law. It is received in the therapeutic field. Important explorations were performed in the early 20th century by psychiatrists and psychoanalysts of Jungian orientation. Their cultural, philosophical, spiritual, and academic backgrounds are relevant to this reception. Jungian thought, Spiritual Spiritism, and traditions of European philosophy of divination resonated with the experience, observation, and understanding of Bantu divination. (‘Bantu’ designates the cultural and linguistic realm from Cameroon and Kenya southwards). Religious-philosophical traditions, as well as the conceptualisations of ‘divination’ by Plutarch and Iamblichus, are preserved. The reception and appreciation of Bantu divination in South Africa emerged from it, and resonated with these European traditions of religious-philosophical thought. Out of this development a distinct ‘South African modernity’ emerges. A parallel reception process developed in Brazil, in the belief systems of Umbanda and Kardecism. These developments are illustrated at present in the literatures of South Africa and Brazil, specifically in Afrikaans literature, black South African poetry and its poetics, and Magic Realism in Brazilian literature. Lastly, a perspective is offered of modernity’s reception by black scholars and diviners, continually interacting with Jungian psychoanalysis. Full article

This article explores the becoming-church of fake news against the background of the rise of the mediatization of faith and religious beliefs through classic media supports, such as newspapers, magazines, and journals, between 1840 and 1863 in the United States. The analysis focuses on the expression of Seventh-day Adventist Church beliefs in the Adventist press before 1863. The observation of this corpus follows the construction of the “narrative” of fake news from the story propagated by William Miller. The aim is to understand how the Seventh-day Adventist Church was created in the media from the fake news of William Miller. The article shows that the mediatization of William Miller’s fake news made the Seventh-day Adventist Church appear as the embodiment of an agnostic movement, as the material trace of a cultural expression of romanticism, but also as a spiritual organization, with a social and auxiliary political vocation. Full article

Pope Francis’s dream for a synodal Church has implications for Catholic schools globally, but what exactly are these consequences? This paper explores Francis’s vision in the context of Canadian Catholic schools in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories (NWT), where these schools are fully-funded by the government and enroll nearly a quarter million students. Ten exploratory interviews with chief superintendents from these schools—which formed the basis of a larger study—were analyzed to understand potential connections to Francis’s vision and his four commitments to synodality: focusing on relationships, a culture of encounter, the essentials of the Christian faith, and local decision-making. The pope differentiates synodality from democratic forms of leadership and demands a communal form of listening and discerning God’s Spirit. While the superintendents’ style of leadership appeared to mirror synodality in many ways, predominant issues remain to be explored: an emphasis on relationships upends the status quo and gives new directions for the schools; encountering others will inevitably demand prophetic leadership by the system leaders; leading with the essentials of faith will not please everyone in Catholic schooling; and shared authority among the superintendents, bishops, and trustees requires further dialogue. Full article

This article explores the life and contributions of Dr. Olive L. Clark (1894–1989), a long-time faculty member at the fundamentalist Toronto Baptist Seminary (TBS). In the 1920s, Clark sided with the fundamentalists and became a vocal critic of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec. As the first person to receive a PhD in Classics from the University of Toronto, she was a gifted scholar. In 1928, she became one of the first faculty members at the newly-minted Toronto Baptist Seminary—operated by the prominent fundamentalist leader T. T. Shields—and remained there until her retirement thirty-eight years later. Through those years and even into retirement, she took an active role in the fundamentalist community by training pastors, publishing lesson plans and articles, speaking in various churches, and serving as co-editor of The Gospel Witness newspaper. In the process, she helped guide and shape the movement, both behind the scenes and in visible ways. Full article

This article explores the link between spirituality/religiosity and mental health from a clinical and neuroscience perspective, taking into account the advancements in neuroimaging. Specifically, it examines how spirituality influences the treatment of mental illness, emphasizing the importance of neuronal networks in cognitive and emotional processes, with a focus on the default mode network (DMN) of the brain. The discussion explores the role of spirituality/religiosity in managing mental disorders and how alterations in the DMN may provide insight into the impact of spirituality/religiosity on mental health. By also discussing spiritual and non-spiritual meditation, as well as spiritual experiences facilitated by the use of psychedelics in psychiatry and the associated brain networks, we aim to elaborate on the importance and limitations of spirituality within psychiatry. Full article

This study explores the relationship between religiosity, spirituality, and loneliness in the United States, using the 2018 General Social Survey to assess their interactions against a backdrop of declining traditional religious affiliation and a rise in “spiritual but not religious” identification. It examines religion and spirituality’s capacity to counteract loneliness, a condition with significant health implications. The analysis uncovers complex relationships between aspects of religious life and loneliness, showing no mitigating role of spirituality when controlling for other factors, with complex and varied negative relationships of religious service attendance and self-rate religiosity to different aspects of loneliness. Yet, any potentially protective effect of religion varies, with minority religious groups reporting feelings of increased loneliness. These findings underscore religion and spirituality’s nuanced roles in emotional well-being, indicating that their benefits (or not) against loneliness are complex, varied, and depend on the aspect of religion or loneliness observed, along with non-religious factors. The paper contributes to the literature on societal loneliness, changing religious and spiritual engagements, and highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach to explore the role of religion and spirituality in understanding loneliness specifically, and personal and social well-being more generally. Full article

The extent to which the metaverse will become a site for religious and spiritual experience depends on how the aims of users align with the new medium’s potentialities for action, or “affordances”. Affordances are formed as the social, technological, and contextual capacities of a medium are recognized and then enacted by users. This exploratory essay argues that the metaverse’s affordances, which overlap with those of already existing virtual reality (VR) environments, can deepen a sense of belonging for users of online religious spaces and mediate new ways of being present in those spaces. The following affordances of the metaverse (and of VR) are discussed analytically in the essay: immersion, presence, embodiment, usability, empathy, and contemplation. The phases of the continuing “buildout” of the metaverse are also assessed to uncover their likely effects on the metaverse’s affordances. These phases are massive scale, system interoperability, robust rendering, and persistent continuity. Full article