Science and Religion

Während auf Deutsch mit „Implizites Wissen“ ein einziges Werk Polanyis vollständig erschienen ist, und Polanyi daran anschließend hauptsächlich lerntheoretisch rezipiert wurde, haben seine Arbeiten in Originalsprache von Anfang an reiche Wirkung in dem Gespräch zwischen Naturwissenschaft und Theologie entfaltet. Um das deutsche Rezeptionsdefizit zu kompensieren, wird in dem Artikel zunächst eine biographische Skizze geboten, bevor eine Erläuterung seiner wissenschaftsphilosophischen Kerngedanken im Kontext seines Gesamtwerkes erfolgt.

Since the advent of quantum mechanics, our fundamental physical descriptions of the universe have included a strong element of randomness. While this randomness goes against aspirations to comprehend a fundamental, deterministic order underlying science, physicists have mostly learned to accept randomness, fashioning a picture of the universe according to which order and chance are two sides of the same coin, and which all we know appears subject to physical descriptions combining rules and randomness. Broader cultural understandings of science, however, have not yet come to terms with the randomness in physics. Debates concerning science and religion, in particular, have been slow in accepting the consequences of fundamental randomness, partly because these are difficult to reconcile with religious intuitions about design and purpose.

The design argument, also known as the teleological argument, is one of the most commonly used evidences of the existence of a Creator God. Over the centuries, the argument has taken many forms, from the pre-Socratics to Jewish rabbis to Hindu philosophy and the modern debate over Intelligent Design (ID) and theistic evolution (TE). Present day controversies seem to show that disagreements over the apparent design of nature have roots in deep historical and metaphysical differences. We believe there is much to learn from how different religious traditions (here, Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have engaged or are engaging with design discourse. So, we are arranging a two-day online closed-door workshop on the history and metaphysics of design arguments, to be hosted at the University of Helsinki.

This article examines the, hitherto comparatively unexplored, reception of Greek embryology by medieval Muslim jurists. The article elaborates on the views attributed to Hippocrates (d. ca. 375 BC), which received attention from both Muslim physicians, such as Avicenna (d. 1037), and their Jewish peers living in the Muslim world including Ibn Jumay (d. ca. 1198) and Moses Maimonides (d. 1204). The religio-ethical implications of these Graeco-Islamic-Jewish embryological views were fathomed out by the two medieval Muslim jurists Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī (d. 1285) and Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350). By putting these medieval religio-ethical discussions into the limelight, the article aims to argue for a two-pronged thesis. Firstly, pre-modern medical ethics did exist in the Islamic tradition and available evidence shows that this field had a multidisciplinary character where the Islamic scriptures and the Graeco-Islamic-Jewish medical legacy were highly intertwined. This information problematizes the postulate claiming that medieval Muslim jurists were hostile to the so-called 'ancient sciences'. Secondly, these medieval religio-ethical discussions remain playing a significant role in shaping the nascent field of contemporary Islamic bioethics. However, examining the exact character and scope of this role still requires further academic ventures.

In order to create a better future in the struggle with climate change, many people are turning to Buddhism and its environmental principles of interconnectedness and compassion.  But do Buddhist values really lead to ecological sustainability, and if so, how?  Do Buddhists of different types even agree on how we should live ecologically?  This seminal book is the first to answer these questions through a comprehensive, critical, and innovative examination of the theories, practices, and real-world results of Buddhist environmental ethics.  In synthetically exploring lived ecological experiences across seven Buddhist worlds from ancient India to the contemporary West, this book helps one to discern attitudes and practices that lead to beneficial ecological interactions from alternative orientations that may result in unsatisfying outcomes.  Further, the book’s journey clarifies our understanding of crucial contours of Buddhist vegetarianism or meat eating, nature mysticism, as well as cultural speculations about spirituality in nonhuman animals.  With its accessible style and personhood ethics orientation this book should appeal to anyone who is concerned with how human beings interact with the nonhuman environment.  Representing the definitive analytic treatment of Buddhist environmental ethics, the book also offers great value in university classrooms involving environmental studies, religious studies, cultural studies, or philosophical ethics.

This was a talk at "Theology in Mathematics?" (Kraków, Poland, June 8-10, 2014).
Abstract: A deep conviction of the majority of mathematicians on the brink of the 20th century was that mathematics is or at least must be infallible, consistent, rigorous, certain, necessary and universal, as well as free and applicable to the world without restriction. This common belief needs to be explained. This very conviction or belief was responsible for a heated argument provoked by set-theoretic paradoxes which were interpreted as an indication of the foundational crisis of mathematics (Grundlagenkrise der Mathematik). The crisis caused the emergence of diverse programs for the foundations of mathematics. Those programs gave birth, on the one hand, to the contemporary philosophy of mathematics and, on the other, to the formation of a new research field within mathematics: mathematical logic and the foundations of mathematics. This paper proposes the hypothesis that mathematics, seen from the foundationalist perspective, served at the time as a substitute for theology. According to this approach, philosophy of mathematics mediates an impact between theology and mathematics. To confirm this hypothesis I consider the prehistory of such an absolutist account of mathematics and pay a special attention to theological and quasi-theological ideas of the key figures of the three main foundationalist programs (logicism, intuitionism and formalism).

It is hard to think of an area of Christian theology that provides more scope for interdisciplinary conversation than the doctrine of creation. This doctrine not only invites reflection on an intellectual concept: it calls for contemplation of the endlessly complex, dynamic, and fascinating world that human being inhabit. But the possibilities for wide-ranging discussion are such that scholars sometimes end up talking past one another. Productive conversation requires mutual understanding of insights across disciplinary boundaries. Knowing Creation offers an essential resource for helping scholars from a range of fields to appreciate one another's concerns and perspectives. In so doing, it offers an important step forward in establishing a mutually-enriching dialogue that addresses, amongst others, the following key questions:

- Who is the God who creates?
- Why does God create?
- What is "creation"?
- What does it mean to recognize that a theology of creation speaks of a natural world that is subject to the observation of the natural sciences? What does it mean to talk about both a "natural" order and a "created" order?
- What are the major tensions that have arisen between the natural sciences and Christian thinking historically, and why? How can we move beyond such tensions to a positive and constructive conversation, while also avoiding facile notions such as a "god of the gaps"?
- Is it feasible for a natural scientist to maintain a belief in God's continuing creative activity?
- In what ways might a naturalistic understanding of the natural world be said to be limited?
- How can biblical studies, theology, philosophy, history, and science talk better together about these questions?

At a time when the doctrine of creation - and even a mention of "creation" - has been disparaged due to its supposed associations with anti-scientific dogma, and theological offerings sometimes risk appearing a little more than reactionary exercises in naive apologetics, ill-informed by science or distinctly wary of engagement with it, it is more important than ever to offer a cross-disciplinary resource that can voice a positive account of a Christian theology of creation, and do so as a genuinely broad-ranging conversation about science and faith.

When popular physicist Stephen Hawking dreams at the end of his best-selling Brief History of Time of a Great Unifying Theory (GUT) which would be able to merge the major physical theories describing the laws of nature, he goes on to say: “However, if we discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable by everyone, not just by a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God.”  John Polkinghorne, Hawking’s colleague at Cambridge University, is on the one hand critical of such an approach. “What is God doing in the book at all?”  On the other hand, he is himself searching for his own very particular version of a GUT. “There is indeed a Theory of Everything, but a theory that is much grander and more comprehensive and intellectually satisfying than any Grand Unified Theory of Particle Physics could ever be.”  For former particle physicist Polkinghorne, this theory is his new field of work: theology.  How does he come to this?

This essay was published in The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, edited by Christopher A. Beeley and Mark E. Weedman, for the CUAP Studies in Early Christianity (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2018); this is the uncorrected proofs. Exploring the humanity and divinity of Jesus, the Son's relation to the Father, and the agency of the Holy Spirit, it is one of five essays suggesting Johannine contributions to trinitarian discussions in the early church.

In order to better cope with the pressures and stresses of the current day, modern psychology is anxiously seeking to find new therapies to address the increasing disorders within the human psyche. In the process new fields of research, such as humanistic and transpersonal psychology, curiously appear to borrow more and more from the wisdom of the ages. This volume, containing eighteen articles by noteworthy expositors of the perennial philosophy such as Huston Smith, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Frithjof Schuon, presents the spiritual psychology of the wisdom traditions as a much-needed antidote to the current impasse in modern psychology.

Some Endorsements for Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy:

“[Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy] is more than an anthology. It is a wisely crafted collection of classic and contemporary scholarship noting that what many are seeking is what has always been, a perennial philosophy, that remains foundational. As one of the authors, Tage Lindbom, properly notes, ‘Secularization is a fish in troubled waters.’ This book claims the waters and is essential reading for all those who may have forgotten or are simply ignorant of the rich foundation provided by the perennial philosophy.”
—Ralph W. Hood, Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, past president of the Psychology of Religion division of the American Psychological Association, co-founder of The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion and co-author of The Psychology of Religion

“A necessary and bracing critique of the assumptions and limitations of contemporary Western psychology, this generous volume is also a passionate call and learned guide towards a truer perspective that embraces man's spiritual nature.”
—Gabor Maté, M.D., and author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“Knowing the nature of the mind is perhaps the most difficult undertaking, especially in today’s world. To comprehend the nature of mind one needs to turn to the domain of religion and spirituality. Yet the truth of the mind and its complexity cannot explicitly be defined in words. Inner or transcendent wisdom sees the mind’s own nature without the duality of the seer. Suchness (tathatā) of mind is only experiential and not expressible. The words used to describe thought are themselves a product of thought, which is conditioned and limited. Thus, differences and contradictions are unavoidable. Therefore, a comparative study of different viewpoints and commentaries is immensely important to awaken the inner intelligence to see the mind as it is. Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is an outstanding effort in this direction.”
—Samdhong Rinpoche, former Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, author of Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism and Today’s World

“The rise of psychology has impacted the study and practice of spirituality, the experiences and attitudes relevant to ultimate human values that transcend ordinary behavior. Each chapter of this remarkable book demonstrates this interaction in a unique and provocative way. But rather than using psychology to reduce and ‘psychologize’ spiritual topics, its authors demonstrate how directives from the spiritual traditions can enhance and even illuminate the enduring importance of psychology in the 21st century.”
—Stanley Krippner, Saybrook University, co-author of Spiritual Dimensions of Healing

“The work at hand is a thinking and debating man’s delight. If you have any interest at all in attempting to include an educated and enlightened view of man’s higher functions in your purview of the world, you will learn from and enjoy this collection of essays. If you already have some knowledge in this area, brace yourself: you may see some of your favorites sharply criticized. A thought-provoking work.”
—Bruce W. Scotton, University of California, San Francisco, co-editor of Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology

“This book, superbly edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, is a masterful critique of the field of psychology and its loss of the sacred ground in which it once was rooted. It offers depth psychologists an opportunity to contemplate timeless truths echoed through the centuries by perennial philosophers who have always claimed psyche is subordinate to Spirit. Although ignored in depth psychology’s early years due to prejudice and lack of understanding, this is a message today’s psychotherapists must take seriously. Human beings need a deeper and wider transpersonal vision of who and what we are, which the saints and sages of the world’s spiritual traditions have always pointed to. In psychotherapy with a therapist committed to such a vision, patients penetrate into their unconscious depths and not infrequently awaken to the Ground of all Being. Their suffering itself occurred because they had turned away from Spirit. Above all, this volume passionately calls upon depth psychology to remember its origin in the perennial wisdom at the core of the great religions. There is something of a polemic in these pages. It deserves to be considered by depth psychologists of all persuasions.”
—Bryan Wittine, Transpersonal psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst

“This anthology from Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is a must reference for anyone who is interested in psychology and its relationship to spirituality, and in developing an inclusive dialogue between disciplines that favor an integral outlook on the person and his or her potential. Selections in this anthology will inspire us to reexamine the metaphysical underpinnings of psychology, and remind us how important it is to rise above science’s attempt to reduce the human being to an epistemic object.”
—Sangeetha Menon, National Institute of Advanced Studies (Bangalore, India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Beyond Experience: Consciousness in Bhagavad Gita

“This anthology has some of the most discerning essays and reviews on spirituality and psychology, which provide much-needed care and caution to all those engaged in bringing them together or who wish to do so in future. Therefore, it is a must-read for all those who teach, research, consult, or study in such frontier areas as transpersonal psychology, states of consciousness, mind-body relation, holistic health, Indian psychology, and so on. It will be an invaluable textbook for courses in these and other related areas. I congratulate the editor of the book.”
—Kiran Kumar K. Salagame, University of Mysore (India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Psychology of Meditation: A Contextual Approach

“One of the finest collections of essays on the Perennial Philosophy—a must-read for all psychologists who are engaged with spirituality and transpersonal psychology. The essays which critique modern psychology (including transpersonal psychology, and the framework of Carl Jung), in the light of the Perennial Philosophy are a revelation and make compelling reading. The book serves as a corrective to the excesses of modern psychology, and to this end Sotillos has done a commendable job. I for one will include the book in some of the graduate courses that I teach.”
—Suneet Varma, University of Delhi, co-editor of Foundations of Indian Psychology

“To its credit modern science by-and-large is becoming more cognizant of the essential connection between spirituality and psychological health and well-being and most of all its positive implications within the field of psychology. While there is ample data to document this in a plethora of academic journals and books, this new book Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy adds a novel contribution to the dialogue between psychology and spirituality, which captures many nuances that for the most part go unnoticed within these discussions, and last but not least, it provides a keen eye of discernment to understand this intricate relationship on a deeper level that is crucially needed. This work will be a valuable asset to students and long term mental health practitioners and professors alike who seek to better understand the relationship between psychology and spirituality.”
—Harold G. Koenig, Duke University, Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, co-author of The Handbook of Religion and Health

The paper deals with the aesthetic and religious dimensions of mathematics. These dimensions are considered as closely connected, though reciprocally non-reducible. “Mathematical beauty” is already firmly established as a term in the philosophy of mathematics. Here, an attempt is made to bring forward two additional candidates: “mathematical sublime” and “numinous mathematics”. The last one is meant to designate the recognition of some mathematical practices as inspiring anticipation of the meeting with the divine reality or producing a feeling of its presence. The first one is used here to designate the related feelings in disguise, i.e., being reinterpreted or transferred from the straightforwardly religious to the aesthetic sphere. Taking Kant’s theory of the sublime as a starting point, the paper introduces a related account of it that treats mathematical beauty through mathematical sublimity as a more fundamental category. Within this account, religious experience, the aesthetics of the sublime and mathematical practice are closely interlinked through an appropriate interpretation of the idea of the infinite. Both mathematical and art symbolism are seen as an endeavour to represent the infinite within the finite, which correlates well with the definition of mathematics as “the science of the infinite” (Hermann Weyl).Keywords: philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of mathematical practice, mathematical aims, mathematical beauty, the sublime, numinous, the infinite, symbolism.

This dissertation investigates the ways scientific and biotechnological advancement impact and change Jewish law and ethics. It analyzes the contemporary Jewish bioethical debate concerning the identification of maternity and paternity in four cases of assisted reproductive technologies (ART): in vitro fertilization, gestational surrogacy, cloning, and mitochondrial replacement therapy. Unprecedented modes of procreation engender new definitions of parenthood, challenging a longstanding Jewish framework of theology, law, and ethics. Part I develops a conceptual scaffolding for the discrete analyses of Part II, and considers the philosophical bases of parenthood, the gendered nature of Jewish legal bioethics, the relationship of law and ethics, and ways of relating religion and science. For each case of ART, Part II examines the biological science and technology in historical context, locates Jewish bioethical concerns within the larger bioethical discussion, and critically reviews the epistemological and axiological dimensions of the legally oriented analyses of a select group of leading Jewish bioethicists, chosen for their copious writings on ART and contextualizing oeuvres: Rabbi J. David Bleich, Rabbi Michael J. Broyde, Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, and the collaborative writings of Dr. John D. Loike and Rabbi Moshe D. Tendler. Insights from Jewish feminist bioethical criticism and other notable Jewish bioethical works enhance the analyses. Through a focused study of the redefinition of parenthood in Jewish law and bioethics, I demonstrate four ways in which advances in science impact Jewish law and ethics. One, scientific awareness leads to greater sophistication and nuance of analysis. Two, Jewish bioethicists grapple with religion and science relations, and speak directly to these overarching considerations. Three, the epistemological and axiological influence of religion and science relations correlate with greater openness to new technologies, theoretical conceptualizations, and their practical applications. Four, advances in science change Jewish legal and bioethical analyses and outcomes through (at least) four possible methodological mechanisms – namely, theoretic holism, innovative interpretation, indeterminate gaps, and realist realignment. Jewish bioethics are thus shown to illumine the intricate interrelationship between religion and science and its impact on Jewish law and ethics.

For my talks and debates on the resurrection of Jesus and other topics, see my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK7fMevhmEe8hR_S0aTsV1Q

"One of the best Analytic Philosophy ebooks of all time" - BookAuthority .
‘By the end of Andrew Loke’s excellent book, he concludes that the most rational viewpoint is that the original percipients saw Jesus himself…. Loke is to be commended for an accessible and systematic approach to the resurrection of Jesus that helps the reader understand the full range of available options in considering the epistemic warrants for believing in the foundational claim of the Christian faith.’ –The Journal of Theological Studies (Oxford University Press)

This book provides an original and comprehensive assessment of the hypotheses concerning the origin of resurrection Christology. It fills a gap in the literature by addressing these issues using a transdisciplinary approach involving historical-critical study of the New Testament, theology, analytic philosophy, psychology and comparative religion. Using a novel analytic framework, this book demonstrates that a logically exhaustive list of hypotheses concerning the claims of Jesus’ post-mortem appearances and the outcome of Jesus’ body can be formulated. It addresses these hypotheses in detail, including sophisticated combinations of hallucination hypothesis with cognitive dissonance; memory distortion; and confirmation bias. Addressing writings from both within and outside of Christianity, it also demonstrates how a comparative religion approach might further illuminate the origins of Christianity. This is a thorough study of arguably the key event in the formation of the Christian faith, and the basis of the Christian hope of eternal life.

简要回顾独特的美国神秘阿迪达(弗兰克林·琼斯)的生活和精神自传。一些版本封面上的贴纸上写着"有史以来最深刻的精神自传",这很可能是真的。我70多岁,读过许多由精神导师和灵性的书,这是最伟大的之一。当然,这是迄今为止我所见过的启蒙过程最全面、最清晰的描述。即使你对人类最迷人的心理过程毫无兴趣,它还是一个惊人的文件,揭示了很多关于宗教、瑜伽和人类心理学的信息,并探讨了人类可能性的深度和局限性。我详细地描述了它,并将他的教学与当代印度神秘奥修的教导进行比较。
那些希望从现代两个系统的观点来看为人类行为建立一个全面的最新框架的人,可以查阅我的书《路德维希的哲学、心理学、Min d和语言的逻辑结构》维特根斯坦和约翰·西尔的《第二部》(2019年)。那些对我更多的作品感兴趣的人可能会看到《会说话的猴子——一个末日星球上的哲学、心理学、科学、宗教和政治——文章和评论2006-2019年第3次(2019年)和自杀乌托邦幻想21篇世纪4日 (2019)

Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry (SHERM) is a biannual, not-for-profit, peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes the latest social scientific, historiographic, and ecclesiastic research on religious institutions and their practices. SHERM is dedicated to the critical and scholarly inquiry of historical and contemporary religious phenomena, both from within particular religious traditions and across cultural boundaries, so as to inform the broader socio-historical analysis of religion and its related fields of study.

In partnership with the FaithX Project, SHERM is a full, no-fee, open access academic journal, which means it publishes and publicly makes available your research without charging subscription dues or publishing fees. Whereas other open access journals still require authors to pay for making their publications available, SHERM believes in making high-quality scholarship accessible to the public while promoting the wide dissemination and visibility of your published article. Our goal is to increase the opportunity for erudite academicians to publish their work, gain a larger readership outside the confines of conventional journals, and receive citations from future researchers.

Numbers are important in the natural world and particularly in the sciences.  The writings of Emmanuel Swedenborg also suggest that numbers have a unique spiritual significance, and he explains the meaning for selected numbers that appear throughout the bible.  For example, the unitary one (1), refers to God - “God is One”.  This paper explores the remarkable properties of the number phi (φ) from this perspective and concludes that φ reflects the infinite unfolding, through roots, fractions, or additions, of the number one itself.  This suggests that φ may correspond spiritually to the act of Divine Creation.  Indeed, φ is ubiquitous within nature in a wide variety of forms including the perfect spiral --- found in the nautilus shell, the trajectory of a falcon, the head of a sunflower or the arms of a spiral nebula.  The perfect spiral offers a beautiful image of what Swedenborg refers to regeneration - the process by which each one of is able to move toward conjunction with the God.

«You must understand that peace is an internal matter. It has to be a self-discipline for an individual or for an entire civilization. It must come from within. If you set up an outside power to enforce peace, this outside power will grow stronger and stronger. It has no alternative. The inevitable outcome will be an explosion, cataclysmic and chaotic. That is the way of our universe. When you create paired opposites, one will overwhelm the other unless they are in delicate balance.
-- The writings of DIANA BULLONE» Frank Herbert «The Godmakers» 1972.

" «A religion requires numerous dichotomic relationships. It needs believers and unbelievers. It needs those who know the mysteries and those who only fear them. It needs the insider and the outsider. It needs both a god and a devil. It needs absolutes and relativity. It needs that which is formless (though in the process of forming) and that which is formed.
-- Religious Engineering, secret writings of Amel
Frank Herbert «The Godmakers» 1972

GODMAKING (ΘΕΟΠΟΙΪΑ – THEOPOIA) = the construction of a god. From scratch. The construction of a religion. The rules that should govern a religion. Its elements and characteristics. Those that make it attractive, successful, convenient, useful, necessary or even unacceptable.
RELIGIOUS ENGINEERING = The art and craft of engineering religions.

926 BC - Palestine

Solomon's state splits after his death. In the Northern Kingdom - of Israel - and in the Southern Kingdom - of Judah.
To the north the leader of the breakaway North has a problem. There is a usurper king, almost unknown to history, named Jeroboam I.
His problem is the way in which the Israeli-Jewish-religion was structured. It ruins his plans for independence from Jerusalem as it imposes regular trips for the faithful at the Temple of the Great King located there. But Jerusalem is not only temple. It is also the capital of the - hostile to him - Southern Kingdom. So if his people continue their religious duties as before, they will be regularly under "hostile" influence, propaganda, that might persuay them to reconsider their separatist ideas. So what could he do?
What he did was "dirty" but genius and most of all effective: He invented a new religion "suitable" for the needs of his power!

This little known story of the fabricated religion of Jeroboam the first, king of the secessionist Northern Kingdom of Israel has been recorded for centuries, evident but unrecognized, in the first book of the kings of Israel (1 KINGS or 3 KINGDOMS):
“26And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 29And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. 32Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. 33So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.”
(1 KING 12:26-33 NKJV)
This brief description is the epitome of religious engineering, even if it comes from events that happened some 3000 years ago!
What did Jeroboam do? He created a religion from his mind ( “created from his heart,” according to the Septuagint.)

Through this simplistic and unrecognized narrative lies the great secret of many religions: They have been constructed.
There is also an even bigger secret: The construction of religions is governed by Principles, and Rules that can be explored, studied and applied in a way that the result is a successful religion!
Civil Engineers have the right knowledge for building, and apply it to build a house. This very similarity of the construction of a building with the construction of a religion led some to call the Art of the Construction of Religions, Religious Engineering!
It looks incredible. And yet, religions in general, seen from a distance, display repetitive "patterns". Common elements and general things that are repeated as "mechanical".
This is as you understand it is an ancient art. If the Principles of the construction of a religion have been known for 3000 years, as the story of Jeroboam shows us, it is not surprising that today these principles of "art" have the potential to evolve into something approaching Technology and science, that is, in Religious Engineering!

فیلم مناظره دکتر حمیدرضا آیت‌اللهی، استاد گروه فلسفه دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی و  با دکتر صادق زیباکلام، استاد گروه علوم سیاسی دانشگاه تهران درباره علوم انسانی اسلامی، روز دوشنبه بیستم آبان‌ماه  1392در سالن شهیدبهشتی دانشکده حقوق و علوم سیاسی دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی،با حضور جمعی از دانشجویان، استادان و علاقه‌مندان برگزار شد که فیلم آن را می توانید از آپارات و سایت شخصی به آدرسهای ذیل مشاهده کنید:
https://www.aparat.com/v/bdKxI
https://sokhanrani.ayatollahy.net/speaks/114-2020-01-22-12-36-31

O campo da bioética é um território fértil de polêmicas envolvendo as áreas da ciência e da religião. Em pleno século XXI muitas pessoas recusam tratamentos médicos em função de suas crenças religiosas, é, portanto necessário procurar entender como e porque isso ocorre. Nesse sentido, o problema que guia nossa pesquisa é: Qual a perspectiva dos líderes religiosos sobre métodos de reprodução assistida, transfusão de sangue e xenotransplante? Em busca de respostas aplicamos um questionário estruturado a 12 líderes religiosos, representantes das religiões afro, adventista, católica, espírita, protestantes tradicionais (batista, assembleia de Deus) e neopentecostais (igreja universal e igreja mundial) e testemunhas de Jeová. Os dados foram tabulados e apresentados em gráficos juntamente com as falas dos líderes. Na área das técnicas de reprodução assistida a grande maioria dos líderes se posiciona contra esse tipo de intervenção, com os católicos se destacando na sua não concordância radical, enquanto outros líderes aceitam alguns tipos de intervenção específica. Quanto à questão da transfusão de sangue, a grande maioria dos líderes religiosos se posicionou a favor e somente as testemunhas de Jeová se colocaram radicalmente, indicando que a interpretação bíblica que faz corresponder o não comer sangue a uma proibição de recebê-lo em transfusão, não é compartilhada pelos outros grupos religiosos. Na área do xenotransplante, a grande maioria dos líderes se posicionou contra, no entanto, percebe-se que os líderes católicos são radicalmente a favor, seguidos de perto pelos líderes afros. Concluímos que não existe uma opção radical religiosa que se opõe de modo geral contra a ciência, o que se percebe é que cada religião encontra temas específicos dentro do rol de técnicas e conhecimentos científicos que confrontam com suas doutrinas específicas.

Developments in evolutionary biology expressed in the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) present new opportunities for theological engagement with biology. Emphases of the EES have the potential to transform our understanding of key realities that define creaturely life such as agency and inheritance, and this holds implications for theologies of inherited sin. This essay examines two areas of research within evolutionary biology that fit within the EES—epigenetics and systems biology. Reflecting on new information from these areas of evolutionary theory demonstrates the reality that we are constituted through networks of relationships, all the way down to the molecular level. The essay demonstrates that the effects of sin and its propagation involve every aspect of being human, including the biological. The symbiosis of nature and culture that forms us as human beings allows for an understanding of inherited sin that sees humans as both victims and perpetrators of sin, and it embeds an understanding of human sinfulness in the context of the rest of the natural world, acknowledging the interdependence of creation.

Ci sono diverse forme di verità, ma queste si trovano in contatto. Bisogna riconoscere i limiti di ciascuno di questi ordini. Non si può dubitare che nella stessa scienza ci siano dei presupposti e dei principi di ordine filosofico, e anche di ordine religioso. La scienza moderna è nata nel segno di una cultura occidentale cristiana, e benché oggi molti scienziati si dichiarano agnostici o addirittura atei, molti dei più grandi scienziati di tutti i tempi si sono dichiarati credenti nella divinità.

There has been much public comment on the recent Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis.  Not least this has come from climate change commentators, communicators and policy advocates welcoming the Pope’s engagement with the issue.  In this short commentary I want to question whether this Papal intervention is really about climate change, or even about the environment more broadly.  Rather, he offers a profound analysis of humanity’s earthly predicament.