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Religions, Volume 16, Issue 8 (August 2025) – 5 articles

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24 pages, 355 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Psychedelics and New Materialism: Challenging the Science–Spirituality Binary and the Onto-Epistemological Order of Modernity

by Mateo Sánchez Petrement

Religions 2025, 16(8), 949; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16080949 (registering DOI) - 22 Jul 2025

Abstract

This essay argues for the reciprocal benefits of joining the new theories of matter emerging out of critical posthumanism and the psychedelic drugs currently experiencing a so-called “renaissance” in global north societies. While the former’s twin emphasis on relationality and embodiment is perfectly suited to capture and ground the ontological, epistemological, and ethical implications of psychedelic experiences of interconnectedness and transformation, these substances are in turn powerful companions through which to enact a “posthuman phenomenology” that helps us with the urgent task to “access, amplify, and describe” our deep imbrication with our more-than-human environments. In other words, I argue that while the “new materialism” emerging out of posthumanism can help elaborate a psychedelic rationality, psychedelics can in turn operate as educators in materiality. It is from this materialist perspective that we can best make sense of psychedelics’ often touted potential for social transformation and the enduring suspicion that they are somehow at odds with the “ontoepistemological order” of modernity. From this point of view, I contend that a crucial critical move is to push against the common trope that this opposition is best expressed as a turn from the narrow scientific and “consumerist materialism” of modern Western societies to more expansive “spiritual” worldviews. Pushing against this science-–spirituality binary, which in fact reproduces modern “indivi/dualism” by confining psychedelic experience inside our heads, I argue instead that what is in fact needed to think through and actualize such potentials is an increased attention to our material transcorporeality. In a nutshell, if we want psychedelics to inform social change, we must be more, not less, materialist—albeit by redefining matter in a rather “weird”, non-reductive way and by redefining consciousness as embodied. By the end of the essay, attaching psychedelics to a new materialism will enable us to formulate a “material spirituality” that establishes psychedelics’ political value less in an idealistic or cognitive “politics of consciousness” and more in a “materialization of critique”. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychedelics and Religion)

18 pages, 253 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Artificial Intelligence: A New Challenge for Human Understanding, Christian Education, and the Pastoral Activity of the Churches

by Wiesław Przygoda, Alina Rynio and Michał Kalisz

Religions 2025, 16(8), 948; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16080948 (registering DOI) - 22 Jul 2025

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most influential and rapidly developing phenomena of our time. New fields of study are being created at universities, and managers are constantly introducing new AI solutions for business management, marketing, and advertising new products. Unfortunately, AI is also used to promote dangerous political parties and ideologies. The research problem that is the focus of this work is expressed in the following question: How does the symbiotic relationship between artificial and natural intelligence manifest across three dimensions of human experience—philosophical understanding, educational practice, and pastoral care—and what hermeneutical, phenomenological, and critical realist insights can illuminate both the promises and perils of this emerging co-evolution? In order to address this issue, an interdisciplinary research team was established. This team comprised a philosopher, an educator, and a pastoral theologian. This study is grounded in a critical–hermeneutic meta-analysis of the existing literature, ecclesial documents, and empirical investigations on AI. The results of scientific research allow for a broader insight into the impact of AI on humans and on personal relationships in Christian communities. The authors are concerned not only with providing an in-depth understanding of the issue but also with taking into account the ecumenical perspective of religious, social, and cultural education of contemporary Christians. Our analysis reveals that cultivating a healthy symbiosis between artificial and natural intelligence requires specific competencies and ethical frameworks. We therefore conclude with practical recommendations for Christian formation that neither uncritically embrace nor fearfully reject AI, but rather foster wise discernment for navigating this unprecedented co-evolutionary moment in human history. Full article

16 pages, 311 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Odd Conspiracies: John Allegro, Sacred Mushrooms, and the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Matthew James Goff

Religions 2025, 16(8), 946; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16080946 (registering DOI) - 22 Jul 2025

Abstract

This article examines the scholarship of John Allegro on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the role his status as a scholar has played in the reception of his The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. While the Dead Sea Scrolls play no prominent role in the book, people promoting Sacred Mushroom and its unorthodox proposals stress that Allegro is a respected scholar with great philological acumen by appealing to status as an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls. But Allegro’s contribution to the field is much more mixed than is often acknowledged by proponents of Sacred Mushroom. Allegro was also one of the first to promote the corrosive conspiracy theory that the rest of the editorial team was being controlled by the Vatican. Recognizing that Allegro’s scholarship is infused with a kind of conspiratorial ideation helps understand his method and approach in Sacred Mushroom—that the evidence that Christianity began as a sacred mushroom cult was intentionally obscured by New Testament authors. To agree with Allegro, one must grant that the evidence is hidden and below the surface. The renewed popularity for Allegro’s work, which is out of sync with his reputation among Qumran scholars, can be understood as one example of the broader phenomenon of the popularity of conspiratorial theories in contemporary culture Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue On the Origins of Western Psychedelia: Exploring Allegro’s The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross)

15 pages, 279 KiB

Open AccessArticle

What’s in a Name?: Mutanchi Clan Narratives and Indigenous Ecospirituality

by Reep Pandi Lepcha

Religions 2025, 16(8), 945; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16080945 (registering DOI) - 22 Jul 2025

Abstract

The Mutanchis, known by their derogatory exonymic term ‘Lepcha’, are autochthonous to Sikkim, India. The name ‘Mutanchi’ derives from the phrase ‘Mutanchi Rumkup Rongkup’, eliciting the response ‘Achulay’, meaning ‘Beloved children of It-bu-mu, who have come from the snowy peaks’. The nomenclature prompts an ontological understanding rooted in the community’s eco-geographical context. Despite possessing a well-developed script categorised within the Tibeto-Burman language family, the Mutanchis remain a largely oral community. Their diminishing, scarcely documented repository of Mutanchi clan narratives underscores this orality. As a Mutanchi, I recognise these narratives as a medium for expressing Indigenous value systems upheld by my community and specific villages. Mutanchi clan narratives embody spiritual and cultural significance, yet their fantastic rationale reveals complex epistemological tensions. Ideally, each Mutanchi clan reveres a chyu (peak), lhep (cave), and doh (lake), which are propitiated annually and on specific occasions. The transmigration of an apil (soul) is tied to these three sacred spatial geographies, unique to each clan. Additionally, clan etiological explanations, situated within natural or supernatural habitats, manifest beliefs, values, and norms rooted in a deep ecology. This article presents an ecosophical study of selected Mutanchi clan narratives from Dzongu, North Sikkim—a region that partially lies within the UNESCO Khangchendzonga Man-Biosphere Reserve. Conducted in close consultation with clan members and in adherence to the ethical protocols, this study examines clans in Dzongu governed by Indigenous knowledge systems embedded in their narratives, highlighting biocentric perspectives that shape Mutanchi lifeways. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Himalayan Ecospiritual Knowledges and Ethics of Sustainability in the Anthropocene)

19 pages, 438 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Work Addiction in a Buddhist Population from a Buddhist-Majority Country: A Report from Sri Lanka

by Piyanjali de Zoysa, Edyta Charzyńska, Klaudia T. Bochniarz and Paweł A. Atroszko

Religions 2025, 16(8), 944; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16080944 (registering DOI) - 22 Jul 2025

Abstract

Most research on work addiction has focused on Western countries, often overlooking cultural and religious influences. This study examines work addiction in Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country, and explores whether gender and age moderate the relationship between religiosity and work addiction. A sample of 176 full-time employed Buddhists (66.5% women, mean age = 41.84 years) completed an online survey, including the International Work Addiction Scale and a self-rated religiosity measure. The prevalence of work addiction was around 10%, aligning with Western estimates. No direct link was found between religiosity and work addiction. However, age significantly moderated this relationship: among younger participants, higher religiosity was associated with lower work addiction, while in older participants it was linked to higher work addiction. Gender showed no moderating effect. These findings suggest that work addiction is prevalent even in cultural contexts emphasizing moderation and non-attachment. The age-related differences may reflect generational shifts in how religion is perceived and integrated into work life, as well as varying interpretations of Buddhist principles. This study highlights the importance of considering cultural and generational contexts when examining behavioral addictions like work addiction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intersections of Religiousness/Spirituality and Forgiveness and Implications for Mental Health and Well-Being)

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