Religions

21 pages, 1559 KB

Open AccessArticle

Material Images and Cultivation: An Iconographical Interpretation of Xingqi 行气 Pattern Bronze Mirrors Along the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River During the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE)

by Huijun Li

Religions 2026, 17(3), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030403 - 23 Mar 2026

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Abstract

The Xingqi (行气, breath circulation) pattern bronze mirrors of the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) represent a distinctive category of Daoist material culture in southern China. Despite their unique iconography, systematic research on their functions and religious significance has been lacking. This study examines [...] Read more.

The Xingqi (行气, breath circulation) pattern bronze mirrors of the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) represent a distinctive category of Daoist material culture in southern China. Despite their unique iconography, systematic research on their functions and religious significance has been lacking. This study examines sixteen Xingqi pattern bronze mirrors through iconographic analysis and textual research, integrating evidence from surviving Daoist scriptures and ritual manuals. Two primary types are identified: the “Tortoise-Swallowing and Crane-Breathing Style” and the “Sun and Moon Observing Style”. The former depicts practitioners imitating the breathing techniques of tortoises and cranes, while the latter shows figures gazing upward to ingest the essences of the sun and moon. Both motifs continue earlier health preservation traditions from the Pre-Qin (221–207 BCE) through Han dynasties, adapted within the Northern and Southern Song context. These mirrors were specifically used by Daoists along the middle Yangtze River for inner alchemy cultivation, particularly in visualized Cunsi (存思, contemplation practices). They were predominantly passed down through generations rather than buried, explaining their scarcity in archaeological contexts. These artifacts illuminate how Song Daoism translated abstract philosophical concepts into tangible, operable practices through material imagery. They provide new physical evidence for understanding historical Daoist cultivation methods and the materialization of religious experience. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Daoist Inner Alchemy Atlas: Practice and Related Medicine, Thunder Rites and Iconology)

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12 pages, 214 KB

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God in Nature, God in Christ, God in Religions: Bede Griffiths’s Mysticism, and Its Ambiguities

by Tibor Görföl

Religions 2026, 17(3), 402; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030402 - 22 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Bede Griffiths is considered one of the pioneers of interfaith theology. He sought to establish a profound connection between different religious traditions at a time when even Christian ecumenism was still in its infancy. His spirituality, nourished by monastic sources, and his mystical [...] Read more.

Bede Griffiths is considered one of the pioneers of interfaith theology. He sought to establish a profound connection between different religious traditions at a time when even Christian ecumenism was still in its infancy. His spirituality, nourished by monastic sources, and his mystical teachings devoted an unusually high degree of attention to the problem of nature. According to his own interpretation, he first found God in nature, then in Christ and the Church, and finally in the comprehensive horizon of religions. This article attempts to demonstrate that his theology of religions, which reflects an explicitly mystical approach, is not simply pluralistic in orientation, but remains committed to Christianity, yet presupposes an almost forced harmony between different religious traditions. An analysis of Griffiths’s most important texts reveals a series of ambiguities and inconsistencies in his thinking that are rarely examined in the relevant literature. By analyzing Griffiths’s mysticism, his conception of nature, and his theology of religions, the article argues that his thinking is still so nuanced and complex that it has potential for the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism and Nature)

21 pages, 301 KB

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The Remission Phase in the Canonization of Francis Borgia (1649–1655)

by Henar Pizarro Llorente

Religions 2026, 17(3), 401; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030401 - 21 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This article examines a decisive yet relatively understudied stage in the canonization process of Francis Borgia, third superior general of the Society of Jesus, by focusing on the remission phase carried out between 1649 and 1655. Although Borgia had been beatified in 1624, [...] Read more.

This article examines a decisive yet relatively understudied stage in the canonization process of Francis Borgia, third superior general of the Society of Jesus, by focusing on the remission phase carried out between 1649 and 1655. Although Borgia had been beatified in 1624, the path toward his canonization extended over several decades, shaped by a combination of institutional, political, and procedural factors that slowed its progress. The pontificate of Innocent X marked a turning point, creating favorable conditions for renewed momentum within the Roman Curia. Following authorization by the Congregation of Rites, the remission phase formally commenced in 1649, leading to a series of witness examinations conducted in key Iberian centers—Toledo, Madrid, and Valencia—beginning in 1650. By analyzing the selection of witnesses in each location and the substance of their testimonies, the article sheds light on the strategies employed to consolidate Borgia’s reputation for sanctity and to address juridical expectations in Rome. Particular attention is given to the coordination between local ecclesiastical authorities and the central institutions of the Holy See. The study argues that the efficiency and coherence of this phase, culminating in the issuance of the remission briefs in 1655, played a crucial role in advancing the cause toward its successful conclusion in 1670. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Theological Underpinnings of Ignatian Spirituality: From Historical Context to Contemporary Relevance)

13 pages, 271 KB

Open AccessArticle

Approaches Old and New in Twenty-First Century New Testament Textual Criticism

by Dieter T. Roth

Religions 2026, 17(3), 400; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030400 - 21 Mar 2026

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Abstract

New Testament textual criticism in the twenty-first century continues to refine principles and approaches that have been part of this scholarly discipline since the development of the modern era of textual criticism. At the same time, even as New Testament textual criticism remains [...] Read more.

New Testament textual criticism in the twenty-first century continues to refine principles and approaches that have been part of this scholarly discipline since the development of the modern era of textual criticism. At the same time, even as New Testament textual criticism remains connected to its roots in pursuing the (re)construction of a critical text of the New Testament, more recent approaches have expanded the set of questions being asked by textual critics to include far more than simply the words of a New Testament text. In all of these developments, there is both “Old” in the “New” and “New” in the “Old,” resulting in New Testament textual criticism in the twenty-first century having become not only one of the more vibrant fields in New Testament studies but also having captured the popular imagination. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Testament Studies—Current Trends and Criticisms—2nd Edition)

14 pages, 238 KB

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Rearticulating Dharma: Just Sustainabilities and the Bees Quarter in Amish Tripathi’s Ram Chandra Series

by Dongwon Lee

Religions 2026, 17(3), 399; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030399 - 21 Mar 2026

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Abstract

The Bees Quarter episode in Amish Tripathi’s Ram Chandra Series rearticulates dharma by relocating it from a transcendent cosmic mandate to a framework enacted through spatial and procedural ethics. Traditionally understood as a sustaining principle of moral and social order, dharma in Tripathi’s [...] Read more.

The Bees Quarter episode in Amish Tripathi’s Ram Chandra Series rearticulates dharma by relocating it from a transcendent cosmic mandate to a framework enacted through spatial and procedural ethics. Traditionally understood as a sustaining principle of moral and social order, dharma in Tripathi’s narrative is reconfigured through the spatial reorganization of Mithila, where environmental vulnerability and infrastructural design shape the conditions of ethical governance. Interpreting this transformation through the framework of just sustainabilities, the article argues that the episode reconfigures dharma not as a transcendent principle but as a practice grounded in resource equity, institutional responsibility, and the consistent application of law. The crisis surrounding the Battle of the Bees Quarter and Ram’s subsequent self-exile further dramatizes a dharmic dilemma between sovereign authority and procedural justice, foregrounding tensions between power and legitimacy. Read through this lens, Tripathi’s retelling situates dharma within contemporary debates on sustainability and justice, reframing it as a normative response to ecological precarity and institutional fragility. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Humanities/Philosophies)

24 pages, 478 KB

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The Paradox of Omniscience (Sarvajñāna): From Divine Omniscience to the Mystical Self-Awareness in Indian Philosophy

by Youngsun Yang

Religions 2026, 17(3), 398; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030398 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

While Western theology typically locates omniscience in a personal Creator-God, Indian philosophy presents a notable spectrum. This article traces the dialectical arc of omniscience (sarvajñāna) across major Indian philosophical traditions, arguing that what appears as an epistemological question—“who knows everything?”—is ultimately [...] Read more.

While Western theology typically locates omniscience in a personal Creator-God, Indian philosophy presents a notable spectrum. This article traces the dialectical arc of omniscience (sarvajñāna) across major Indian philosophical traditions, arguing that what appears as an epistemological question—“who knows everything?”—is ultimately an ontological puzzle about the nature of consciousness itself. Moving from the Vedic oscillation between cosmic personhood (Puruṣa Sūkta) and primordial uncertainty (Nāsadīya Sūkta), through the Upaniṣadic internalization of omniscience as Self-knowledge (ātmajñatā), the article examines how Nyāya-Yoga affirms divine omniscience as a logical and soteriological necessity, how Mīmāṃsā displaces it onto an impersonal authorless text, and how Jainism and Buddhism reappropriate it as a perfected human achievement. The final section demonstrates that both Sāṃkhya’s isolation (kaivalya) and Advaita Vedānta’s non-dual realization ultimately transcend encyclopedic omniscience, revealing that authentic liberation requires not the possession of maximal information but a transformation from representational object-knowledge to non-objectifying awareness. Together, these trajectories constitute Indian philosophy’s most enduring contribution to the global philosophy of religion: the recognition that the “All” cannot be an object of knowledge, because it is the very condition for any knowledge whatever. Full article

23 pages, 1064 KB

Open AccessArticle

Evangelizing “Home”: Laura M. White’s Translation and Intellectualizing of Home Economics in China (1891–1931)

by Caiping Yan

Religions 2026, 17(3), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030397 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Since the late Qing, Christianity helped reconfigure China’s modern intellectual landscape not simply by importing “Western knowledge” but by constructing the epistemic frameworks through which knowledge was named, classified, and circulated. This article examines how the Christian idea of “homemaking” was scientized through [...] Read more.

Since the late Qing, Christianity helped reconfigure China’s modern intellectual landscape not simply by importing “Western knowledge” but by constructing the epistemic frameworks through which knowledge was named, classified, and circulated. This article examines how the Christian idea of “homemaking” was scientized through translation and became jiazheng (家政, Home Economics) in Republican China, emerging as a new discipline within women’s education. It centers on Laura Marsden White (1867–1937), an American Protestant missionary and pioneer of women’s education who founded China’s first Christian women’s monthly, Nüduo (The Woman’s Messenger, 1912–1951) and initiated its jiazheng column as an institutional infrastructure for domestic science knowledge. Foregrounding White as a missionary–translator and translingual mediator, this study argues that her work participated in the construction of modern home economics rather than merely transmitting a ready-made field. Strategically aligning her translation with Confucian gendered ethics, White rendered home economics intelligible as jiazheng while simultaneously reorganizing household practices into a systematic, science-based curriculum. By circulating scientific knowledge, standardized curricular categories, and credentialed forms of expertise, White recast women’s domestic responsibilities as socially recognized knowledge and employable labor. Her translation offered Chinese women a historically specific route into schooling, writing, and public service, allowing them to negotiate the traditional gender divide without abandoning the culturally legible language of the family. Translation thus serves as both a medium of Protestant moral pedagogy and an engine of disciplinary formation and gendered social change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Christianity and Knowledge Development)

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21 pages, 287 KB

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Post-Liturgical Women’s Rituals Among Western Ukrainian Female Labor Migrants in Israel

by Anna Prashizky

Religions 2026, 17(3), 396; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030396 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This article develops the analytical concept of post-liturgical female rituality to examine informal religious practices created by Western Ukrainian female labor migrants in Israel. Drawing on approaches that conceptualize ritual as flexible, embodied, and processual, it focuses on women’s ritual activities that take [...] Read more.

This article develops the analytical concept of post-liturgical female rituality to examine informal religious practices created by Western Ukrainian female labor migrants in Israel. Drawing on approaches that conceptualize ritual as flexible, embodied, and processual, it focuses on women’s ritual activities that take place in close temporal and symbolic proximity to official church liturgy while remaining outside canonical frameworks. Rather than directly challenging institutional religion, these practices extend and reinterpret patriarchal liturgy through gendered forms of ritual engagement. The analysis is based on qualitative research among Ukrainian Greek Catholic women in Israel, including 27 in-depth interviews, participant observation, and digital ethnography. The findings highlight three interconnected dimensions: collective gatherings following church services; post-liturgical practices involving food, singing, and embodied performance; and national-religious rituals expressing emotional belonging to Ukraine in the context of war. The article argues that post-liturgical female rituals constitute a distinct form of women’s religious agency that operates within institutional Christianity while reworking its meanings, contributing to feminist scholarship on ritual, migration, and war. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies on Religious Rituals and Practices)

20 pages, 264 KB

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God and Humanity in an Evolving Universe: Rudolf Steiner’s Christology and the Knowledge Drama of the Second Coming in the Work of Yeshayahu Ben-Aharon

by Torbjørn Eftestøl and Jeremy Qvick

Religions 2026, 17(3), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030395 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This article explores Rudolf Steiner’s Christology within the framework of cosmic evolution, focusing on the Second Coming of Christ as a pivotal metaphysical event. Identifying a scholarly lacuna regarding Steiner’s developmental cosmology and the work of Yeshayahu Ben-Aharon, the study adopts an immanent–synthetic [...] Read more.

This article explores Rudolf Steiner’s Christology within the framework of cosmic evolution, focusing on the Second Coming of Christ as a pivotal metaphysical event. Identifying a scholarly lacuna regarding Steiner’s developmental cosmology and the work of Yeshayahu Ben-Aharon, the study adopts an immanent–synthetic methodology to demonstrate a sacramental, participatory epistemology. The first part unfolds Steiner’s vision of the ‘Mystery of Golgotha’ as a cosmic turning point where a macrocosmic death process is reversed into a resurrection life stream. The second part examines Ben-Aharon’s esoteric development of these ideas into a contemporary ‘knowledge drama of the Second Coming.’ Through the spiritualization of consciousness, Ben-Aharon describes an individual ‘essence-exchange’ with the Christ impulse within the ‘abyss of nothingness’ of our age. Finally, the article discusses the social–metaphysical implications of this drama through the ‘Reversed Cultus.’ Here, the indwelling Christ is recognized as humanity’s ‘Higher Self,’ grounding a new community and ‘school of love’ capable of responding to the technoscientific challenges of mechanization of intelligence and life. By positioning the human being as a co-creative agent in cosmic becoming, the article argues for a renewed understanding of the Second Coming as a new step in humanity’s spiritual evolution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Divine Creativity and Participatory Cosmologies: Theological Perspectives on Science, Technology, and the Future of Humanity)

12 pages, 290 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Linguistic Method of Abraham Joshua Heschel: Interpretative, Linguistic, and Cognitive Aspects

by Yonatan Karish

Religions 2026, 17(3), 394; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030394 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Abraham Joshua Heschel proposed a linguistic method that he applied in his interpretation of biblical texts and rabbinic teachings. A central feature of this method is the reinterpretation of certain terms beyond their direct, literal meaning. While this approach is rooted in earlier [...] Read more.

Abraham Joshua Heschel proposed a linguistic method that he applied in his interpretation of biblical texts and rabbinic teachings. A central feature of this method is the reinterpretation of certain terms beyond their direct, literal meaning. While this approach is rooted in earlier traditions, Heschel gave it a distinct conceptual formulation and regarded it as a key component of his theological vision. This article articulates its structure and explores how it may be understood through the lens of contemporary research on creative language. To that end, the article compares Heschel’s view with selected philosophical and theological models and introduces cognitive tools, such as metaphor theory and semantic networks, that may support a more systematic understanding of his exegetical style. The aim is not only to deepen our comprehension of Heschel’s linguistic method, but also to propose a path toward advancing his broader vision through the integration of traditional thought and modern research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modern Jewish Thought and Philosophy)

24 pages, 412 KB

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Religious Education as a Sustainable Approach to Sociocultural Risk Reduction in Multicultural South Korea: Developing a Curriculum Framework for Teaching About Korean Religions in General Education

by Jahyun Gu and Juhwan Kim

Religions 2026, 17(3), 393; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030393 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Discussions of school safety management have often centered on physical and infrastructure-related risks and have not adequately addressed sociocultural risks emerging from South Korea’s gradual transition toward a multicultural and multireligious society. To address this gap, we pose two interrelated research questions: (1) [...] Read more.

Discussions of school safety management have often centered on physical and infrastructure-related risks and have not adequately addressed sociocultural risks emerging from South Korea’s gradual transition toward a multicultural and multireligious society. To address this gap, we pose two interrelated research questions: (1) In what ways do these sociocultural risks present challenges that existing frameworks do not cover? (2) What curriculum framework can be developed to foster religious literacy as a sustainable approach to sociocultural risk reduction? In response, we first use the term sociocultural risk to identify a distinct dimension within the landscape of school safety policy and propose religious literacy education as a response to these emerging challenges. Adapting Joseph Schwab’s practical approach to curriculum development, particularly through deliberation on the interactions among his four commonplaces of education, we then design Exploring Korean Religions, a general education course that complements a curriculum for teaching about world religions. By examining the historical development of religious traditions in Korea (e.g., Buddhism, Confucianism, Korean folk beliefs, and Christianity) and their contemporary relevance, this course enables Korean students to reflect on the religious foundations of their own culture while helping students from diverse backgrounds develop a deeper understanding of the religious and cultural landscape of Korean society. Through this educational approach, this study contributes a distinct perspective on addressing sociocultural dimensions of safety challenges by demonstrating the importance of religious education in fostering religious literacy and interreligious understanding in multicultural South Korea and beyond. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Justice in Theological Education: Challenges and Opportunities)

16 pages, 237 KB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Sanctification and the Ordo Extractionis: Formative Sovereignty and Predictive Habituation

by Åke Elden

Religions 2026, 17(3), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030392 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Theological engagement with artificial intelligence has largely focused on applied ethics, addressing bias, governance, and labor displacement. While indispensable, this framing often presumes that algorithmic systems operate as external instruments acting upon already constituted subjects. This article argues that contemporary predictive architectures intervene [...] Read more.

Theological engagement with artificial intelligence has largely focused on applied ethics, addressing bias, governance, and labor displacement. While indispensable, this framing often presumes that algorithmic systems operate as external instruments acting upon already constituted subjects. This article argues that contemporary predictive architectures intervene at a deeper anthropological level by structuring attention, expectation, and habituation prior to deliberative judgment. It introduces the concept of ordo extractionis to designate a technologically mediated regime of formation characterized by behavioral trace extraction, probabilistic modeling, and recursive projection of statistically inferred continuity. Drawing on Augustine’s account of ordered love and temporality and Aquinas’s doctrine of habitus and the invisible mission of the Spirit, the article distinguishes algorithmic projection from sanctification as divergent pedagogies of temporal formation. Predictive systems stabilize continuity by extrapolating from measurable past behavior; sanctification reorders desire teleologically toward a final end not deducible from prior pattern and grounded in non-competitive divine causality. Algorithmic mediation is therefore interpreted pedagogically rather than metaphysically: it does not rival divine agency but participates creaturely in shaping the ecology within which habituation unfolds. Engagement with contemporary AI research on recommender systems, reinforcement learning, and generative models situates the argument within technological realism and resists determinism. The digital twin is analyzed as a probabilistic representation that acquires institutional authority when operationalized in ranking, profiling, and evaluative systems, without constituting a metaphysical competitor to the imago Dei. In response to anticipatory closure, Eucharistic anamnesis and epiclesis are developed as practices that re-situate memory and expectation within eschatological promise. The article concludes that the central theological question posed by AI is not whether machines can think, but how formative sovereignty over desire is exercised within technologically mediated modernity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theological and Ethical Reflections on Artificial Intelligence)

15 pages, 272 KB

Open AccessArticle

Anti-Conversion Laws and the Governance of Belonging Under Hindu Nationalism

by Jiyeon Choe

Religions 2026, 17(3), 391; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030391 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This study analyzes how state-level anti-conversion laws in India—ostensibly enacted to protect the religious freedom of vulnerable communities—can structurally generate minority–minority conflicts within Adivasi (tribal) populations. Similar patterns have surfaced across multiple regions. This study examines cases from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand as [...] Read more.

This study analyzes how state-level anti-conversion laws in India—ostensibly enacted to protect the religious freedom of vulnerable communities—can structurally generate minority–minority conflicts within Adivasi (tribal) populations. Similar patterns have surfaced across multiple regions. This study examines cases from Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand as illustrative modalities of this broader pattern: spectacular violence, everyday exclusion, and legal weaponization. The analysis identifies three mechanisms that produce these conflicts. Firstly, the “Hindu-plus” classificatory framework incorporates diverse indigenous traditions into an expanded Hindu category while positioning non-Indic religions as external. Secondly, anti-conversion laws frame religious change as a threat to indigenous cultural identity, and the state delegates enforcement to village councils, customary authorities, and judicial–administrative institutions. Thirdly, the politics of belonging translates these classificatory and enforcement practices into membership boundaries that operate through territorial control and cultural claims to authenticity, producing inclusion and exclusion. The findings suggest that anti-conversion laws operate as a political technology of protection, generating minority–minority conflicts while channeling disputes over rights into nationalist boundary-making over minority identity and belonging. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nationalisms and Religious Identities—2nd Edition)

20 pages, 407 KB

Open AccessArticle

Five Hundred Monks in Crisis: Meditation-Related Difficulties and Prescriptive Responses in the Pāli Commentarial Tradition

by Byoungjai Lee

Religions 2026, 17(3), 390; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030390 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Meditation-related difficulties have been systematically documented in contemporary contemplative science, yet the prescriptive resources preserved in the ancient Buddhist commentarial literature remain underutilized in comparative research. This study analyzes the case of five hundred monks in the Paramatthajotikā I’s commentary on the [...] Read more.

Meditation-related difficulties have been systematically documented in contemporary contemplative science, yet the prescriptive resources preserved in the ancient Buddhist commentarial literature remain underutilized in comparative research. This study analyzes the case of five hundred monks in the Paramatthajotikā I’s commentary on the Karaṇīya-metta-sutta. During intensive practice, these monks experienced complex psychosomatic symptoms—perceptual disturbances, fear, somatic distress, and cognitive impairment—and received from the Buddha an integrated prescription of five protective practices (pañca rakkhā). Through Pāli textual and comparative analysis with Lindahl et al.’s taxonomy of meditation-related difficulties, this study demonstrates that the monks’ symptoms correspond systematically to the perceptual, affective, somatic, and cognitive domains of the modern taxonomy, with the critical difference residing in interpretive frameworks rather than in the phenomena themselves. The five practices—loving-kindness meditation, protective chant recitation, contemplation of impurity, mindfulness of death, and the arousal of religious urgency—constitute a sequentially structured system progressing from the emotional reframing of fear to the deconstruction of bodily and existential attachment, culminating in the restoration of soteriological motivation. This study argues that Paramatthajotikā I’s prescriptive system provides a historically grounded, soteriologically oriented complement to contemporary contemplative science, particularly in bridging the gap between phenomenological classification and meaning-centered intervention. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhist Meditation: Culture, Mindfulness, and Rationality)

27 pages, 1373 KB

Open AccessArticle

Guadalupan Nahua Stories: An Analysis of the Inner Indigenous Influence in Nahuatl Accounts of Guadalupe

by Jorge Arredondo Sevilla

Religions 2026, 17(3), 389; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030389 - 20 Mar 2026

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Abstract

The historical debate over the apparitions’ historicity has overshadowed the beauty of the Guadalupe message. An understudied aspect warrants further analysis: the Indigenous interpretations and background of the Nahua stories of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In this paper, I will analyze the inner [...] Read more.

The historical debate over the apparitions’ historicity has overshadowed the beauty of the Guadalupe message. An understudied aspect warrants further analysis: the Indigenous interpretations and background of the Nahua stories of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In this paper, I will analyze the inner Indigenous Nahua meanings of the following Guadalupe Accounts: Nican Mopohua, Tepoanxcuicatl, Inin Hueitlamahuilzoltzin, and Relación Mercuriana. The sources will be studied in the context of Nahuatl literature, particularly the Nican Mopohua, in comparison with the Cantares Mexicanos (Songs of the Aztecs) and the Romances (Ballads of the Lords of New Spain). This work will complement Timothy Matovina’s scholarship on indigenous devotion and on the Indigenous interpretation of the Image. Therefore, the three sources of Guadalupan knowledge (Image, devotion, and the story) could be read through a Nahua-Indigenous lens. This piece will close the gap in the story source, arguing for the “nahuatization of Christianity” and presenting the extent of the Nahua worldview’s influence on Colonial Christianity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)

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20 pages, 300 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Transformation of Christology (And the Church) Through Interfaith Dialogue

by Peter Admirand

Religions 2026, 17(3), 388; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030388 - 19 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This article explores how interfaith dialogue, especially involving non-Christian views and interpretations of Jesus, has transformed contemporary understandings of Christology. It also contends how and why such challenges and developments can further reform and expand what is meant by the Church and salvation [...] Read more.

This article explores how interfaith dialogue, especially involving non-Christian views and interpretations of Jesus, has transformed contemporary understandings of Christology. It also contends how and why such challenges and developments can further reform and expand what is meant by the Church and salvation (ecclesiology and soteriology). To do so, it first highlights three perspectives towards the other that seem most promising for any robust interfaith Christology and why turning to non-Christians for views of Christ can be spiritually and theologically helpful, if not cathartic. To highlight this idea, it then examines some representative Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist interpretations or critiques of Christology. In doing so, the article ambitiously contends that one main aim of transforming Christology is to transform the Church. Thus, the transformation of Christology through interfaith dialogue will also transform the Church because it will transform how Christians perceive and respond to what is salvific in other faiths and revelations. Advocating for a more expansive Christology, therefore, coincides with developing a more expansive ecclesiology and soteriology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interfaith Dialogue and Transformation)

40 pages, 687 KB

Open AccessArticle

“Punishing Evil” and “Supplementing Confucianism”: The Intellectual Interaction Between the Jesuits and Wang Yangming’s School in the Late Ming Period

by Wenping Li and Jing Jing

Religions 2026, 17(3), 387; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030387 - 19 Mar 2026

Viewed by 371

Abstract

The intellectual exchanges between late-Ming Jesuits and Chinese literati have long been interpreted primarily as a process of cultural accommodation aimed at “harmonizing with Confucianism” (合儒), and scholarship has tended to focus on missionary strategies, social networks, or individual conversion histories. By contrast, [...] Read more.

The intellectual exchanges between late-Ming Jesuits and Chinese literati have long been interpreted primarily as a process of cultural accommodation aimed at “harmonizing with Confucianism” (合儒), and scholarship has tended to focus on missionary strategies, social networks, or individual conversion histories. By contrast, the question of how resources within Confucian thought made ethical dialogue with Catholicism possible—especially why the practical-learning strand (實學派) of Wang Yangming’s School (陽明學) exhibited such pronounced receptivity to Catholic ideas among late-Ming literati—remains insufficiently theorized at the level of conceptual structure. This study, therefore, shifts the analytical focus from “historical narratives of converts” to an explanation of the mechanisms that enabled Sino-Jesuit dialogue. It argues that Augustine and Wang Yangming display a notable convergence in their conceptions of good and evil (善惡論), and that this convergence created an intellectual space for engagement between Jesuits and later Yangming scholars. The Jesuits’ deliberate promotion of doctrines concerning the punishment of evil (懲惡) further facilitated the practical-learning Yangmingists’ reception of Catholic resources regarding ultimate judgment and retributive justice, especially as they confronted the problem of inadequate means to restrain or punish wrongdoing. This article situates late-Ming Sino-Western intellectual exchange within an analytical framework of “theories of good and evil—mechanisms for punishing evil—pathways for supplementing Confucianism (補儒),” thereby offering a mechanism-based explanation, grounded in theories of good and evil, for the historical interaction between Chinese Confucian thought and the ethical systems of incoming religions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Religious Cultures: Historical Traditions and Modern Interpretations)

18 pages, 362 KB

Open AccessArticle

Accumulating Virtue to Become Immortal: A Moral Turn Within Daoist Cultivation in the Taishang Ganying Pian (Tractate of the Most High One on Actions and Consequences)

by Xia Chen and Ke Hu

Religions 2026, 17(3), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030386 - 19 Mar 2026

Viewed by 216

Abstract

Early Daoist cultivation is often presented through technical repertoires such as alchemy, ritual, and specialised bodily disciplines, while ethical discourse is treated as preparatory or auxiliary. This article examines how ethical practice could instead function as a sufficient mode of cultivation oriented toward [...] Read more.

Early Daoist cultivation is often presented through technical repertoires such as alchemy, ritual, and specialised bodily disciplines, while ethical discourse is treated as preparatory or auxiliary. This article examines how ethical practice could instead function as a sufficient mode of cultivation oriented toward immortality within the Daoist morality books. Focusing on the Taishang Ganying Pian 太上感应篇 (Tractate of the Most High One on Actions and Consequences), it argues that the tract articulates a coherent cultivational model in which moral conduct is rendered cumulative, intention-sensitive, and enforceable through a bureaucratised system of oversight. Moral deeds are quantified and graded, intentions are treated as morally efficacious prior to action, and both are embedded within a system of registers, inspectors, and periodic assessments that make moral causality predictable. A focused comparison with Ge Hong’s Baopuzi Neipian 抱朴子内篇 highlights a structural contrast in the ordering of virtue and technique and in the degree of certainty attributed to moral retribution. Tracing the text’s reception, the article further shows how this ethical logic was canonised, pedagogically simplified, and socially embedded in later morality texts. It concludes that the Ganying Pian estabilished an alternative Daoist pathway in which everyday ethical life itself could function as a practicable route toward immortality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Multiple Images and Forms of Classical Confucian and Daoist Ethics for Living)

33 pages, 347 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Sovereign Servant: Transubstantiation as an Exercise of Christ’s Authority over Human Culture

by Christopher V. Mirus

Religions 2026, 17(3), 385; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030385 - 19 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Twenty-five years ago, Germain Grisez introduced a significant alternative to the Scholastic account of transubstantiation in terms of substance and accidents, and in particular to Aquinas’s version thereof. Although Grisez’s specific proposal fails, it exemplifies a broader type of account on which bread [...] Read more.

Twenty-five years ago, Germain Grisez introduced a significant alternative to the Scholastic account of transubstantiation in terms of substance and accidents, and in particular to Aquinas’s version thereof. Although Grisez’s specific proposal fails, it exemplifies a broader type of account on which bread and wine are transformed into Christ insofar as, through this transformation, the person of Christ comes to incorporate a new sort of bodily reality. Grisez himself proposed that bread and wine are transformed into new parts of Christ’s natural body. Although his Thomistic critics have good reason to reject this proposal, they fail to disarm his objections to the Thomistic account. In contrast with both, I suggest that the Eucharist can be fruitfully understood as a divinely authoritative, metaphysically robust extension of the Incarnation from the realm of nature to that of culture, on the model of hypostatic union. So understood, it reveals the true meaning of culture by inserting into the heart of human culture an act of cultural creativity—in the mode of self-gift rather than self-assertion—that transcends the capacity of any merely human maker in such a way as to verify the doctrine of transubstantiation. This account presupposes the pervasive role of human making, and therefore of culture, in the constitution of the world. It also, however, presupposes the reality of the natural and moral orders as distinct from the cultural, and the complete dominion of the suffering and risen Christ over His own body, the goods of the earth, and all human culture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Eucharist as the Bread of Life: Phenomenological and Existential Explorations)

23 pages, 1576 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Theology of Mountains from the Margins: The Linguistic Practices of Mountaintop Prayer in Mam Mayan Experiences of Migration

by Christian Espinosa Schatz

Religions 2026, 17(3), 384; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030384 - 19 Mar 2026

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Abstract

The Mam Mayan Christians of Guatemala’s Western Highlands regularly ascend sacred mountains to pray for the precarious migration journey across Mexico and into the United States. This paper describes and explicates the cultural logic connecting mountains, migration, and prayer through an analysis of [...] Read more.

The Mam Mayan Christians of Guatemala’s Western Highlands regularly ascend sacred mountains to pray for the precarious migration journey across Mexico and into the United States. This paper describes and explicates the cultural logic connecting mountains, migration, and prayer through an analysis of linguistic practices across three domains: (1) the tacit and habitual reference to mountains in common Mam grammatical form classes, (2) the discourse patterns that link the precarities of migration to mountaintop prayer, and (3) the context for and structure of mountaintop prayer rituals. Taken together, the analysis of these three domains describes a Mam ontology of mountains that render mountaintop prayer the most important venue for facing the precarities of international migration. The paper closes by considering the habitus of Mam Maya Evangelical Christians as a source of Indigenous theological praxis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forced Migration and the Bible: Displacement, Statelessness, and Resiliency in Sacred Texts)

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5 pages, 153 KB

Open AccessEditorial

Introduction to the Special Issue “Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations”

by Andre P. Audette, Mark Brockway and Christopher L. Weaver

Religions 2026, 17(3), 383; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030383 - 19 Mar 2026

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Abstract

In the 1966 animated television special “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, character Linus Van Pelt infamously claimed that there are three things he learned never to discuss with people: “religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin” (Mendelson et al [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)

20 pages, 1236 KB

Open AccessArticle

An Examination of the Phenomenon of Ihtidā in the Ottoman Empire in Light of the Rodosçuk Court Registers (1546–1846)

by Kaan Ramazan Açıkgöz, Furkan Sarı, Gülay Bolat and Ümit Ekin

Religions 2026, 17(3), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030382 - 18 Mar 2026

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Abstract

The Ottoman Empire possessed a multi-religious social structure whose continuity was maintained through legal and administrative mechanisms. While Muslims, Christians, and Jews preserved their religious identities within the imperial framework, conversion was a closely monitored and regulated process at both the individual and [...] Read more.

The Ottoman Empire possessed a multi-religious social structure whose continuity was maintained through legal and administrative mechanisms. While Muslims, Christians, and Jews preserved their religious identities within the imperial framework, conversion was a closely monitored and regulated process at both the individual and public levels. Because religious conversion had direct consequences for taxation, legal and social status, family structure, and communal affiliation, it became a matter of concern for the Ottoman legal order. In this context, the sharia courts constituted the primary institutional arena in which cases of ihtidā (conversion) were recorded, supervised, and given legal effect; they also produced the principal documentation that verified the procedural validity of conversion and secured the legal standing of new Muslims. This study examines the social and legal contexts of religious conversion in the Ottoman provinces through cases recorded in the sixteenth- to nineteenth-century court registers of the district of Rodosçuk. It challenges interpretations that portray ihtidā as a coercive and one-directional policy of Islamization, demonstrating instead that legal protection and economic opportunity could function both as outcomes of conversion and as enabling preconditions. The study also questions assumptions about systematic judicial bias against non-Muslims, emphasizing that in the Rodosçuk example the courts operated as a neutral forum accessible to different confessional communities. The evidence suggests that conversion unfolded through slow, gradual, and largely individual processes shaped by the combined influence of religious, economic, and social motivations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Factors in Religions Converting: Focusing on the Social Group Disparities)

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15 pages, 332 KB

Open AccessArticle

Pondering Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri’s Project of an ‘Arab Reason’

by Luis Xavier López-Farjeat

Religions 2026, 17(3), 381; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030381 - 18 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri (d. 2010) is one of the most important and stimulating contemporary Arabic philosophers. He is well-known for his project Critique of Arab Reason (Naqd al-ʿaql al-ʿArabī), in which he deconstructs the Arabic philosophical and cultural tradition, revitalizing the [...] Read more.

Mohammed Abed Al-Jabri (d. 2010) is one of the most important and stimulating contemporary Arabic philosophers. He is well-known for his project Critique of Arab Reason (Naqd al-ʿaql al-ʿArabī), in which he deconstructs the Arabic philosophical and cultural tradition, revitalizing the rationalist legacy of the classical period, mainly, the philosophical ideas of Ibn Rushd (Averroes). According to Al-Jabri, the renewal of Arab thought requires a non-traditionalist understanding of tradition. In this paper, I shall critically examine Al-Jabri’s “contextualist” methodology. I first provide some historical background for understanding Al-Jabri’s concern with fostering a critique of Arab reason. Secondly, I discuss the way Al-Jabri reinterprets Islamic intellectual history, emphasizing his attempt to overcome the idiosyncratic approaches to Arab culture, namely, religious Salafists, Orientalists, and left nationalists. Thirdly, I discuss the extent to which his renewal of classical intellectual tradition, mainly his approach to Ibn Rushd, allows for the socio-political and cultural reformation of an Arab identity through his idea of “understanding oneself through the other.” Finally, I highlight some successful aspects of Al-Jabri’s epistemic project and its potential relevance for the present. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anthropology and Religion: Rethinking Identity in a Fragmented Cultural Landscape)

17 pages, 236 KB

Open AccessArticle

Evils of Optimistic Panentheism

by James Dominic Rooney and Dax Bennington

Religions 2026, 17(3), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030380 - 18 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Theologians have described Sergius Bulgakov as one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century. Bulgakov is an ‘optimistic panentheist,’ someone who embraces a combination of panentheist metaphysics and an optimistic attitude that God’s eschatological will (an essential desire of God) will necessarily [...] Read more.

Theologians have described Sergius Bulgakov as one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century. Bulgakov is an ‘optimistic panentheist,’ someone who embraces a combination of panentheist metaphysics and an optimistic attitude that God’s eschatological will (an essential desire of God) will necessarily be accomplished in the future, when all evil will be eliminated. This paper fleshes out a practical problem affecting ‘optimistic’ versions of panentheism like Bulgakov’s, using Bulgakov’s own views as an example. Not only is there no good way for panentheists to infer that God’s essentially good nature or desires (such as an essentially good will) will ultimately ‘win out’ over the bad consequences of His nature or desires, but their view implies that God only allows evil because its possibility is a metaphysically necessary consequence of God’s essence or desires. As God’s essence is eternally the same, it cannot then be that evil ceases to be so necessary at any point in God’s life. In sum, we will defend the conclusion that ‘pessimism’ is the only coherent position for panentheists to take, given their metaphysical commitments. Moreover, we will conclude by generalizing these insights to panentheism generally and Christian panentheism particularly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Science and Religion: Natural Theology in the Contemporary Context)

23 pages, 1157 KB

Open AccessArticle

The Three Purities and Three-Stage Ontologies: From Daoism to the Baháʼí Faith

by Amrollah Hemmat and David A. Palmer

Religions 2026, 17(3), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030379 - 17 Mar 2026

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Abstract

In this article, we draw on the Daoist trinity of the Three Purities to outline a three-stage ontological framework for understanding the relationships between primal unity, emerging patterns, and the phenomenal world. We then apply this framework to identify parallels in Platonic, Sufi, [...] Read more.

In this article, we draw on the Daoist trinity of the Three Purities to outline a three-stage ontological framework for understanding the relationships between primal unity, emerging patterns, and the phenomenal world. We then apply this framework to identify parallels in Platonic, Sufi, and Baháʼí ontologies. We find that despite differences in time, space, symbolism, language, and conceptualisation, each tradition posits three ontological stages or realms that depict aspects of the creative process. We consider the notion of “return” as it is understood in each of the four traditions. Through a discussion of expositions of this process by Chen Tuan (872–989) and Zhou Dunyi (1017–1073), we consider the complementarity of the movement from primal oneness to phenomenal multiplicity, and the reverse movement back to primal unity. We place these insights into dialogue with notions in the other traditions (such as the “arc of descent” and “arc of ascent”), elucidating the paradox of simultaneous states of transcendence and immanence. A phenomenological approach allows us to understand the dynamic integration between the three ontological stages, and points to the role of experience and action for deepening understanding and spiritual progress. Finally, we consider the ethical and social implications of the three-stage ontological framework. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Bahá’í Faith: Doctrinal and Historical Explorations—Part 2)

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29 pages, 532 KB

Open AccessArticle

Between No-Self and the Algorithm: Buddhist Mind-Nature as Ethical Architecture for AI and Human Self-Realization

by Jia Liu

Religions 2026, 17(3), 378; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030378 - 17 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This article explores how Buddhist theories of mind-nature can inform ethical design in artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on AI as a supportive condition for human awakening and self-realization. Drawing on the doctrine of no-self, it argues that AI should not be treated as [...] Read more.

This article explores how Buddhist theories of mind-nature can inform ethical design in artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on AI as a supportive condition for human awakening and self-realization. Drawing on the doctrine of no-self, it argues that AI should not be treated as an autonomous moral subject, but as a contingent mirror of human data, design, and intention. Although present AI does not possess prajñā, it can serve as a mindfulness aid by making patterns of thought, emotion, and desire more visible. Building on the Five Precepts and Ten Wholesome Deeds, the paper proposes design and oversight principles oriented toward non-harm, truthful communication, fairness, and the reduction of greed, hatred, and delusion in digital environments. It concludes that AI ethics is inseparable from the human moral agency, and that cultivating a “digital Pure Land” depends on the moral choices of decision-makers, engineers, policy-makers, and users, thereby linking technical governance to spiritual practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Between Soul and Algorithm: Religion and the Humanities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence)

28 pages, 2138 KB

Open AccessArticle

Family as an Arena for Religious Socialisation in a Secular Environment—Enabling Conditions and Paths of Transmission in East Germany

by Hagen Findeis

Religions 2026, 17(3), 377; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030377 - 17 Mar 2026

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Abstract

For decades, research has provided consistent findings on the decline in the importance of religion in Western societies. The question is how religiosity is reproduced against this backdrop. This study assumes that religious socialisation takes place primarily as family socialisation. The aim of [...] Read more.

For decades, research has provided consistent findings on the decline in the importance of religion in Western societies. The question is how religiosity is reproduced against this backdrop. This study assumes that religious socialisation takes place primarily as family socialisation. The aim of this article is to gain a more precise understanding of this process. To this end, it reconstructs the transmission of Christian faith in three-generation families in East Germany. The sample comprises 15 three-generation families from different social backgrounds and world views. In order to ensure the validity of the findings, a triangulation of the following qualitative investigation methods was carried out: individual interviews, photo documentation and family discussions. As a result, three forms of positive transmission of religious influences across several family generations are presented typologically: transmission with hardly any change, declining religiosity and intensified religiosity in the youngest generation. It becomes apparent that the more indifferent religion appears to the individual, the more difficult it becomes to transmit religious attitudes. Complementary to this, however, it also becomes apparent that transmission is particularly sustainable in terms of socialisation when it is combined with openness to the social environment. The lack of religious resonance areas in society can lead to an intentional dynamisation of the transmission processes. Using quantitative data, the thesis is put forward that religious socialisation paths are more diverse in East Germany than in West Germany, where transmission still tends to follow traditional patterns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Transmission Across Generations: Challenges, Continuities, and Changes)

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16 pages, 2235 KB

Open AccessArticle

Sensing the Sacred: Non-Verbal Performance and the Pluralities of Contemporary Religious Space

by Frederico Dinis

Religions 2026, 17(3), 376; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030376 - 17 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This article investigates how site-specific audiovisual performances can reconfigure the contemporary relationship between art and the sacred in contexts characterised by religious plurality and late-modern disenchantment. In response to the erosion of traditional religious language, it examines how non-verbal mediation through sound, moving [...] Read more.

This article investigates how site-specific audiovisual performances can reconfigure the contemporary relationship between art and the sacred in contexts characterised by religious plurality and late-modern disenchantment. In response to the erosion of traditional religious language, it examines how non-verbal mediation through sound, moving images and embodied presence can enable alternative ways of engaging with sacred spaces. Drawing on three artistic interventions created within different religious contexts, the article shows that performative memory emerges as a presence-in-absence phenomenon, activated through sensory, spatial and atmospheric engagement. The analysis reveals that religious spaces act as active agents in the process of performative remembrance, generating shared experiences centred on themes of shelter, humility, and fragility. Methodologically, the research takes a practice-as-research approach, informed by an emergent research design. This approach combines site immersion, audiovisual performance and reflexive analysis in order to articulate the knowledge produced through artistic practice. The findings suggest that these performances counter the accelerated temporal regimes characteristic of late-modern life by cultivating slowness, attentiveness, and affective resonance. The article concludes that performative memory functions as a relational practice through which the sacred persists and is reimagined beyond doctrinal representation, fostering inclusive forms of encounter within plural religious environments. In this way, the study contributes to broader sociological and humanistic debates on art, religion, and the transformation of sacred experience in contemporary society. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatio-Temporal Plurality in the Connection Between Art and the Sacred in Contemporary Society)

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16 pages, 322 KB

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Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy and Practice of Interfaith Dialogue and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Human Revolution and Pathways to Global Peace

by Chang-Eon Lee

Religions 2026, 17(3), 375; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030375 - 17 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This paper examines the philosophy and practice of interfaith dialogue (IFD) developed by Daisaku Ikeda (1928–2023), a prominent religious leader and peace philosopher. It explores how his dialogical approach can contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pathways to global [...] Read more.

This paper examines the philosophy and practice of interfaith dialogue (IFD) developed by Daisaku Ikeda (1928–2023), a prominent religious leader and peace philosopher. It explores how his dialogical approach can contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pathways to global peace. Ikeda’s dialogue is not confined to doctrinal debate or temporary reconciliation among faith communities. Rather, it is framed as a transformative process in which participants from diverse religious and civilizational traditions rebuild relationships through mutual respect and understanding, thereby contributing to personal transformation and broader societal change. Focusing on Ikeda’s core concepts—humanism, the dignity of life, and human revolution—this study first clarifies the philosophical foundations of his interfaith dialogue rooted in Nichiren Buddhism and a life-affirming worldview. It then examines major dialogues with global thinkers and leaders (e.g., Arnold J. Toynbee, Linus Pauling, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Johan Galtung) and selected institutional practices associated with Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP), and the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. These cases illustrate how Ikeda’s IFD functions as praxis for civilizational understanding, social cohesion, conflict transformation, and solidarity for the public good. The paper further analyzes the linkages between Ikeda’s IFD and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), SDG 4 (Quality Education—especially Target 4.7 on Global Citizenship Education), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). It argues that IFD can operate as both a normative and practical resource for mitigating religious conflict, strengthening inclusion, enhancing global citizenship education and education for sustainable development (ESD), and fostering multistakeholder partnerships. The paper also reflects on the challenges of translating an approach grounded in a particular religious tradition into broader SDG governance contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theoretical and Behavioral Approaches to the Growth of Soka Gakkai International (SGI))

25 pages, 3191 KB

Open AccessArticle

Just Peace or Just War? Theological, Ethical and Technological Reflections on Armed Conflict

by Nándor Birher, Avraham Weber, Nándor Péter Birher, Noga Sebők and Márk Joszipovics Fodor

Religions 2026, 17(3), 374; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030374 - 17 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Armed conflict management increasingly demands new normative and strategic frameworks that preserve human life while maintaining effective deterrence capabilities. This study develops a multidisciplinary framework for rethinking armed conflict through the concept of just peace, integrating theology, ethics, law, technology, and empirical communication [...] Read more.

Armed conflict management increasingly demands new normative and strategic frameworks that preserve human life while maintaining effective deterrence capabilities. This study develops a multidisciplinary framework for rethinking armed conflict through the concept of just peace, integrating theology, ethics, law, technology, and empirical communication analysis. The research analyzes 7957 YouTube videos from NATO, the United Nations, and the Vatican, published over two years, employing semantic network analysis, modularity-based community detection, and sentiment analysis to identify emerging discourse patterns around peace, technology, and regulatory complexity. The findings suggest that contemporary socio-technological conditions are increasingly framed in ways that open a discursive space for rethinking conflict management beyond exclusive reliance on large-scale lethal force. Positive messaging correlates with higher audience engagement, while concepts such as law, ethics, religion, and technical standards emerge as interconnected regulatory domains. The study concludes that just peace is not naïve pacifism but a strategic, normatively grounded reorientation in contemporary deterrence thinking. Effective implementation requires integrated regulatory frameworks combining legal norms, ethical principles, religious values, and technical standards. The evolving technological landscape may allow deterrence systems to move beyond exclusive reliance on lethal force toward more humane and efficient conflict-management mechanisms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Ethics of War and Peace: Religious Traditions in Dialogue)

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