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Volume 17
Issue 8
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Religions, Volume 17, Issue 8 (August 2026) – 121 articles

Cover Story (view full-size image): At the core of the human experience lies a sharp paradox: our attempts to rationalise suffering often make it harder to bear. Drawing from Max Weber through Horkheimer, Adorno, and Habermas, Guido Giarelli investigates how religious and social rationalisation, designed to confer meaning on suffering, systematically strips away individual freedom. Modern bureaucratization colonises the lifeworld, leaving subjective distress without an explanatory anchor. As disenchantment and re-enchantment coexist within the Anthropocene, this tension shifts from divine reconciliation to a new framework of anthropodicy. View this paper
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18 pages, 1702 KB  
Review
Artificial Intelligence in Christian Religious Education: A Scoping Review
by Mariusz Chrostowski
Religions 2026, 17(8), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080991 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 569
Abstract
This article maps research on artificial intelligence (AI) in Christian Religious Education (CRE) during the first phase of rapid development following the widespread adoption of generative AI. A scoping review was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, the Open Digital Theological Library, and [...] Read more.
This article maps research on artificial intelligence (AI) in Christian Religious Education (CRE) during the first phase of rapid development following the widespread adoption of generative AI. A scoping review was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, the Open Digital Theological Library, and IxTheo, supplemented by Google Scholar. Included were full-text English-language publications from 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2026 that addressed AI in Christian educational, catechetical, theological–educational, or formative contexts. The final corpus comprised 23 publications. Data were charted by publication type, geographical and educational context, main topic, and key claims or findings. The results show that the field is recent, methodologically heterogeneous, and not yet well consolidated, but that the emerging debate is organised around four inter-related strands: didactic potential and personalisation, ethical–technical limitations, anthropological–theological reflection, and systemic, institutional, and cultural–geographical conditions. The literature is marked by a tension between AI’s didactic potential and concerns regarding its ethical, theological, anthropological, and institutional implications. The review contributes a thematic synthesis that clarifies why AI integration in CRE requires not only educational innovation but also theologically informed, pedagogically mediated, and context-sensitive frameworks for religious formation. Significant gaps remain, including limited empirical and longitudinal research, insufficient attention to students’ and parents’ perspectives, cultural and linguistic contexts, and a lack of religion-specific, empirically tested didactic models. The review concludes that future research should move toward longitudinal, practice-based, and theologically grounded models for AI use in CRE. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)
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15 pages, 222 KB  
Essay
The Paradox of the Cross: Catholic Theological Perspectives on Human Suffering
by Hilary Ndu Okeke
Religions 2026, 17(8), 990; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080990 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 306
Abstract
The Catholic view of suffering is fundamentally optimistic, rooted in the belief that God uses pain for a purposeful end. In this context, suffering refines character, builds endurance, and fosters hope. Rather than being meaningless, suffering is seen as both an ethical and [...] Read more.
The Catholic view of suffering is fundamentally optimistic, rooted in the belief that God uses pain for a purposeful end. In this context, suffering refines character, builds endurance, and fosters hope. Rather than being meaningless, suffering is seen as both an ethical and metaphysical reality. The theology of the Cross provides the foundation for understanding suffering within Christian doctrine and practice. It shows that religious history centres on Christ, even when human expectations differ from the divine will. The Cross is viewed as the ultimate revelation of a God present in suffering, not in worldly power. This perspective challenges efforts to understand God solely through reason or merit and demonstrates that true wisdom may appear as folly to the world. The paradox of the Cross gains existential meaning by transforming an instrument of shame and death into a symbol of divine strength and victory in Christ. This paper argues that suffering serves a redemptive purpose, encourages spiritual growth, and reveals the divine will amid human experience, offering the promise of eternal victory. It also affirms the patristic tradition that suffering is inseparable from humanity’s fallen nature in Adam and from the redemption achieved through the Cross of Christ. Thus, the Cross represents the self-emptying of Christ, or kenosis, and stands as the purest expression of theology, which must remain undiluted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christian Spirituality: Ancient Foundations, Modern Expressions)
24 pages, 330 KB  
Article
Mourning Being(s); Approaches Toward an Ontology of Ecological Grief
by Merlijn Verduin
Religions 2026, 17(8), 989; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080989 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 347
Abstract
As ecological crises intensify—characterized by the collapse of familiar ecosystems and vanishing of ancestral landscapes—growing numbers of people report experiences of ecological grief: mournful responses to loss of cherished more-than-human lives and environments. This paper examines how eco-grief unsettles existing ontological narratives and [...] Read more.
As ecological crises intensify—characterized by the collapse of familiar ecosystems and vanishing of ancestral landscapes—growing numbers of people report experiences of ecological grief: mournful responses to loss of cherished more-than-human lives and environments. This paper examines how eco-grief unsettles existing ontological narratives and creates space for renewed ways of thinking, feeling, and relating. In doing so, it reframes ecological disorientation as a liminal state which facilitates spiritual reimagining and renewal. Drawing on a comparative analysis of Heideggerian phenomenology with Dagara and Ubuntu philosophy, the essay conceptualizes ecological grief not as a retreat into despair, but as an invitation to reorient within the more-than-human world, thereby scrutinizing existing and persisting habits of separation and linear progress. It subsequently examines how spiritual and symbolic expressions of eco-grief can help to articulate notions such as affect, reciprocity, and care in an eco-centric manner. By explicitly incorporating underrepresented perspectives and aligning contributions across cultural and spiritual spheres, the paper explores how moments of spatial and existential rupture may be approached in a novel manner, thereby bridging existing eco-grief research gaps and framing spiritual notions as a generative force within the realm of ecological engagement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healing the Earth: Spirituality and Planetary Health)
42 pages, 409 KB  
Article
Care for the Work of Creation in the Rule of Saint Benedict and in the Documents of the Cistercian Order: A Historical-Systematic Overview
by Grzegorz Chojnacki
Religions 2026, 17(8), 988; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080988 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 636
Abstract
The article reflects on the care for the work of creation within Benedictine spirituality and within the broader tradition of the Cistercian Order. It seeks to demonstrate that monastic spirituality, though developed in a pre-modern context, contains enduring theological and ethical intuitions that [...] Read more.
The article reflects on the care for the work of creation within Benedictine spirituality and within the broader tradition of the Cistercian Order. It seeks to demonstrate that monastic spirituality, though developed in a pre-modern context, contains enduring theological and ethical intuitions that remain relevant for contemporary ecological reflection. The starting point of the analysis is the Rule of Saint Benedict written by Benedict of Nursia, which, although it does not employ the modern vocabulary of ecology or environmental ethics, nevertheless articulates a coherent vision of human life characterized by reverence, moderation, and responsibility toward the created world. Particular attention is given to key spiritual and anthropological dimensions of the Benedictine tradition, such as attentive listening (obsculta), humility, moderation, stability, and responsible work, expressed synthetically in the principle ora et labora. These elements are interpreted not only as monastic disciplines shaping individual and communal life, but also as forming a relational anthropology in which the human person is understood as fundamentally embedded within a network of relationships with God, other people, and creation. In this sense, Benedictine spirituality already implies a non-exploitative attitude toward the natural world. The article then examines how concern for creation has been deepened and concretized in the spirituality, institutional practice, and historical development of the Cistercian Order. Drawing on selected Cistercian documents as well as contemporary monastic reflections, the study shows that care for the natural environment is inseparably linked with spiritual attentiveness to God, interior silence, openness of heart, and readiness to serve. The Cistercian tradition, with its emphasis on simplicity of life, manual labor, and harmonious integration with the surrounding environment, develops these Benedictine intuitions in a particularly concrete and historically embodied form. From this perspective, a pro-ecological attitude is not interpreted merely as a reactive response to contemporary environmental crises, but rather as a structural consequence of a theologically grounded vision of reality. It emerges from a deep relationship with God as Creator and from a sense of entrusted responsibility for creation understood as a gift rather than as an object of domination. Ecological sensitivity is thus presented as an intrinsic dimension of monastic spirituality rather than an external adaptation to modern concerns. The main research question of the article is: to what extent and in what way do Benedictine and Cistercian spiritual traditions provide theological, anthropological, and ethical foundations for an ecological attitude toward creation within the framework of contemporary integral ecology. To address this problem, the study employs qualitative research methods grounded in theological inquiry. The primary method is textual analysis of the Rule of Saint Benedict and selected Cistercian documents, complemented by theological–hermeneutical interpretation aimed at identifying key spiritual principles and their implicit ecological implications. In addition, the study applies a historical–critical perspective in order to situate monastic sources within their original cultural and theological context, as well as a comparative theological approach, which enables a dialogue between classical monastic spirituality and contemporary ecological theology. These methods are used not only to reconstruct historical meanings, but also to interpret monastic texts in light of contemporary debates on integral ecology, sustainability, and the ethics of responsibility for our common home. In this way, the article highlights a significant continuity between monastic wisdom and modern ecological reflection, showing their mutual capacity for enrichment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Eco-Anxiety: Pastoral and Ethical Perspectives)
17 pages, 291 KB  
Article
Religious Exempla and Moral Judgement in Valerius Maximus’ Facta et Dicta Memorabilia, Book 1
by Yaoping Zhang
Religions 2026, 17(8), 987; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080987 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 249
Abstract
Book 1 of Valerius Maximus’ Facta et Dicta Memorabilia places cult, ritual failure, religious performance, and divine signs at the opening of the collection. This article examines how the book’s received organization guides the evaluation of human action. It argues that Book 1 [...] Read more.
Book 1 of Valerius Maximus’ Facta et Dicta Memorabilia places cult, ritual failure, religious performance, and divine signs at the opening of the collection. This article examines how the book’s received organization guides the evaluation of human action. It argues that Book 1 presents a graded field of religious judgement. Religio and neglecta religio provide the clearest opposition; simulata religio and superstitio are more ambiguous; and auspices, omens, prodigies, dreams, and miracles acquire force through human response, narrative outcome, and public confirmation. The analysis combines structural reading with close examination of key cases. Because 1.2–1.4 survive only in late epitomes, it distinguishes between the explicit evaluation of 1.1, the less secure boundary cases of 1.2–1.4, and the fuller sign narratives of 1.5–1.8. Book 1 thus provides an opening framework in which ritual practice and responses to divine signs become objects of ethical and historical interpretation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Humanities/Philosophies)
12 pages, 242 KB  
Article
Communicating Faith Across Divides: The Role of Theological Language in Ecumenical Dialogue
by Rajmund Porada
Religions 2026, 17(8), 986; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080986 - 21 Aug 2026
Viewed by 275
Abstract
This article examines the role of theological language in ecumenical dialogue, arguing that Christian division is not only a doctrinal or institutional problem but also a problem of mutual intelligibility. Theological language functions both as a bearer of revelation and as a marker [...] Read more.
This article examines the role of theological language in ecumenical dialogue, arguing that Christian division is not only a doctrinal or institutional problem but also a problem of mutual intelligibility. Theological language functions both as a bearer of revelation and as a marker of confessional identity; therefore, concepts such as “justification”, “Church”, “tradition”, “sacrament”, and “communion” often carry historically shaped meanings that may sustain misunderstanding between Christian traditions. Drawing on the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur, the article presents theological language as a dynamic space of interpretation, encounter, and transformation rather than as a fixed system of definitions. It then analyses selected conciliar, bilateral, and study documents, including Unitatis redintegratio, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, and Synodality and Primacy in the Second Millennium and Today, as differently situated instances in which inherited confessional languages are clarified, recontextualized, or rendered mutually intelligible. Against this background, the article proposes the category of communio linguarum, understood as a communion of theological languages capable of mutually recognizing the same faith without reducing legitimate diversity. The model is tested through differentiated consensus, a shared rereading of contested sources, and the renewed reception of inherited formulations. Its implementation requires hermeneutical humility, semantic discernment, reciprocal translation, and ecclesial reception. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Faith, Communication, and Culture: Ecumenism in Religion and Theology)
17 pages, 280 KB  
Article
Synodality as Baptismal Vocation and Ecclesial Care: Toward a Theology of Participation and Accompaniment
by Mark Joseph Zammit
Religions 2026, 17(8), 985; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080985 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 213
Abstract
This article proposes that synodality is grounded in two inseparable theological realities: baptism and ecclesial care. While contemporary studies frequently interpret synodality through the categories of participation and communion, this study argues that care should be recognised as one of its constitutive foundations [...] Read more.
This article proposes that synodality is grounded in two inseparable theological realities: baptism and ecclesial care. While contemporary studies frequently interpret synodality through the categories of participation and communion, this study argues that care should be recognised as one of its constitutive foundations rather than merely its pastoral expression. Baptism incorporates believers into Christ, establishes the dignity of the People of God, and calls every Christian to participate actively in the Church’s mission through shared discernment and co-responsibility. Care, rooted in God’s saving relationship with humanity and embodied in the ministry of Jesus, gives historical and relational expression to this baptismal identity by shaping communities marked by listening, accompaniment, mercy, and service. Through engagement with the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, the teaching of Pope Francis, and the Augustinian perspective of Pope Leo XIV, the article presents synodality as the Church’s enduring way of living, discerning, and witnessing together in service of the Gospel and the world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synodality, Sacramental Renewal, and Mission: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Ecclesial Transformation)
18 pages, 349 KB  
Article
Defining the Beginning of Human Life: Embryo Status and Abortion in Islamic and Jewish Legal Traditions
by Merve Yiğitoğlu and Mustafa Yiğitoğlu
Religions 2026, 17(8), 984; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080984 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 427
Abstract
The question of when human life begins is one of the fundamental issues at the intersection of religious ethics, law, and bioethics. This article examines the legal status of the embryo and abortion in Islamic and Jewish legal traditions through a comparative approach. [...] Read more.
The question of when human life begins is one of the fundamental issues at the intersection of religious ethics, law, and bioethics. This article examines the legal status of the embryo and abortion in Islamic and Jewish legal traditions through a comparative approach. The study analyzes primary religious sources, including the Qur’an and Hadith in Islam and the Torah and Talmud in Judaism, together with classical legal interpretations and contemporary scholarly debates. Using a comparative legal and textual methodology, it explores key concepts such as the gradual status of the fetus and ensoulment in Islamic law, as well as the position and legal status of the fetus in Jewish law. The findings indicate that both traditions regard the embryo as a developing form of human life worthy of protection, yet they differ regarding the stage at which full legal and moral status is attained. In Islamic law, fetal protection acquires greater significance following ensoulment, while contemporary discussions increasingly emphasize the importance of fertilization. In Jewish law, full legal personhood is generally associated with birth, and the fetus is understood primarily in relation to the mother. These differing approaches lead to distinct legal outcomes in matters such as maternal health and fetal abnormalities. The study concludes that, despite their differences, both traditions seek to balance the protection of fetal life with the preservation of the mother’s life and well-being. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Family Health and Its Threats in the Physical, Mental, Religious–Moral, and Social Dimensions)
26 pages, 384 KB  
Article
The Lord’s Prayer: A Rethinking of the Theological and Social Dynamics of Mtt. 6:9–13 and Jn. 17:1–26
by Chinedu Nwadike
Religions 2026, 17(8), 983; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080983 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 414
Abstract
The “Lord’s Prayer” is a popular Christian prayer. Notwithstanding variations between Mtt. 6:9–13 and Lk. 11:2–4, it has traditionally guided and inspired a range of religious and social activities. Its exceptional status is because it was formulated and taught by Jesus Christ. Using [...] Read more.
The “Lord’s Prayer” is a popular Christian prayer. Notwithstanding variations between Mtt. 6:9–13 and Lk. 11:2–4, it has traditionally guided and inspired a range of religious and social activities. Its exceptional status is because it was formulated and taught by Jesus Christ. Using a critical textual and non–exegetical approach and by applying theological and sociological analysis in the Catholic/Orthodox tradition between the prayers in Mtt. 6:9–13 (Lk. 11:2–4) and Jn. 17:1–26 (traditionally named the “High Priestly Prayer”), this research shows that the early editor or redactor who titled Mtt. 6:9–13/Lk. 11:2–4 the “Lord’s Prayer” inadvertently bequeathed a misnomer. In contradistinction, the prayer (if that title must go to just one of Jesus’ prayers) that deserves that title is Jn. 17:1–26 because its rich contents encapsulate what Jesus Christ is all about: soteriology, eschatology, and evangelical sociology. Furthermore, the radical social implications of this prayer due to its pragmatic and paradigmatic emphasis on love, unity, collaboration, and mutual acceptance inevitably resonates with the crisis–ridden modern world. It is recommended that Mtt. 6:9–13/Lk. 11:2–4 be re–titled, while Jn. 17:1–26 is rightly crowned the “Lord’s Prayer.” The Lord’s Prayer should also receive more attention in Christian faith–praxis and the Holy Mass. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Ethics and Theology in Contemporary Human Life)
12 pages, 226 KB  
Article
In the Beginning Was Laughter: Human and Divine Laughter in U. Eco’s The Name of the Rose
by Mikael Stæhr Brorson
Religions 2026, 17(8), 982; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080982 - 20 Aug 2026
Viewed by 270
Abstract
Does God laugh? This article is a systematic theological discussion of divine laughter and its implications for human laughter. Firstly, I define laughter in contrast to humour and the comical, and I present the most common theories of laughter. Secondly, I use Umberto [...] Read more.
Does God laugh? This article is a systematic theological discussion of divine laughter and its implications for human laughter. Firstly, I define laughter in contrast to humour and the comical, and I present the most common theories of laughter. Secondly, I use Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose to discuss laughter in relation to Christianity, and I hint at a possible concept of divine laughter. Thirdly, I unfold this idea of divine laughter, not least by drawing on the phenomenon of Easter laughter (risus paschalis), and I outline its implications for human laughter and mockery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)
16 pages, 393 KB  
Article
The Distinctiveness of Yiqing (疑情) in Ganhwa Seon Practice Theory: A Comparison with Contemporary Meditation Classification Frameworks
by Bon-Su Ku
Religions 2026, 17(8), 981; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080981 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 340
Abstract
This study contrasts the Ganhwa Seon (看話禪) practice theories of Dahui Zonggao, Gaofeng Yuanmiao, and Mengshan Deyi with the focused attention/open monitoring (FA/OM) model proposed by Lutz et al. and the three-family model developed by Dahl et al., both of which are meditation [...] Read more.
This study contrasts the Ganhwa Seon (看話禪) practice theories of Dahui Zonggao, Gaofeng Yuanmiao, and Mengshan Deyi with the focused attention/open monitoring (FA/OM) model proposed by Lutz et al. and the three-family model developed by Dahl et al., both of which are meditation classification frameworks based on cognitive mechanisms. Although these two frameworks have served as standard models in comparative meditation research, their criteria are based primarily on the sati tradition of Theravāda Buddhism and on Tibetan meditation and therefore have difficulty fully accounting for the principles of East Asian Seon practice. Using the Dahui Pujue Chanshi Shu, Gaofeng Yuanmiao Chanshi Chanyao, and Mengshan Heshang Fayu Lüelu as primary sources, this study compares Ganhwa Seon with the two meditation frameworks along five axes: attentional structure, core mechanism, the status of faith (信心), patterns of progression, and epistemological premises. The analysis shows that the huatou, as a conceptually irresolvable question, is neither a determinate object of FA nor the absence of an object characteristic of OM. Yiqing (疑情) operates not by stabilizing attention but by continuously deepening the question. The process by which yiqing condenses into a mass of doubt (疑團) eliminates the very separation between observer and object and thus differs from the investigation-based self-inquiry of the deconstructive family. Faith constitutes the basis on which yiqing arises, and therefore classifications organized solely around attentional functions have difficulty capturing this constitutive relationship. Progress in practice likewise has a nonlinear structure, involving not the gradual automatization of a technique but a leap into sudden enlightenment (頓悟) through the crisis of the silver mountain and iron wall. The cognitive crisis here is not an incidental by-product but an intentionally designed mechanism. Furthermore, the Eight Don’ts (八不得), by excluding introspective observation and rational analysis, indicate the need for a new approach to existing research methodologies that have presupposed introspective self-report. In conclusion, this study proposes that Ganhwa Seon be treated as a distinct unit of analysis in comparative meditation research. Rather than replacing existing classification frameworks, this proposal aims to broaden and supplement their attentional-function-based classification axes toward a more pluralistic classification model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhist Meditation: Culture, Mindfulness, and Rationality)
15 pages, 745 KB  
Article
Embodied Healing Beyond Dualism: A Taiwanese Spiritual Group’s Take on Health and Disease
by Tien-Sheng Pan and Wei-Hsian Chi
Religions 2026, 17(8), 980; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080980 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 495
Abstract
Modern healthcare systems, grounded in the logic of Western natural science, compartmentalize the mind and body, thereby privileging physical phenomena while excluding non-scientific or metaphysical understandings of illness. Within this context, Taiwan’s flourishing body–mind–spirit movements represent an important counter-discourse that challenges biomedical reductionism [...] Read more.
Modern healthcare systems, grounded in the logic of Western natural science, compartmentalize the mind and body, thereby privileging physical phenomena while excluding non-scientific or metaphysical understandings of illness. Within this context, Taiwan’s flourishing body–mind–spirit movements represent an important counter-discourse that challenges biomedical reductionism by reasserting the unity of corporeal and spiritual. Drawing on ethnographic research of the contemporary Taiwanese spiritual organization GW (pseudonym), this study examines how its teachings and practices articulate an alternative ontology of illness and healing. GW interprets certain ailments as manifestations of karmic or spiritual disturbances, and advocates meditative discipline, and bodily training as a means of restoring balance. The group’s framework situates the body not as a passive object of treatment but as an active site of transformation, reviving the Chinese tradition of self-cultivation. The analysis argues that GW exemplifies a modern revival of the tradition of self-cultivation within a scientifically oriented society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Body, Healing, and Religion in a Secular Age)
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20 pages, 481 KB  
Article
Labor of the Bhikkhuni Sangha: Communal Work as Female Buddhist Practice
by Gisun Kang
Religions 2026, 17(8), 979; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080979 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 372
Abstract
This study explores the role of labor as Buddhist practice within the Korean bhikkhuni sangha, with particular attention to ulryeok (communal labor). Bhikkhuni is not a term for a general female Buddhist practitioner, but a technical Buddhist term referring to a woman who [...] Read more.
This study explores the role of labor as Buddhist practice within the Korean bhikkhuni sangha, with particular attention to ulryeok (communal labor). Bhikkhuni is not a term for a general female Buddhist practitioner, but a technical Buddhist term referring to a woman who has formally undertaken full ordination (a fully ordained Buddhist nun). Unlike ordinary labor, which is primarily aimed at livelihood, Buddhist labor in the context of the Korean monastic community integrates personal practice with communal life. This study, drawing on the Madhyama Āgama, Vinaya regulations, and Baizhang Huaihai’s maxim “A day without work is a day without food,” examines how the Buddha’s participation in communal labor is depicted in early Buddhist texts and how such practices were institutionalized and interpreted within the Vinaya tradition. Furthermore, by comparing the duty assignment system of the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya with the duty roster system of the Yongsangbang at Unmunsa Monastery, the study explores how traditions of labor practice have been transmitted and reinterpreted within the specific historical and cultural contexts of Chinese and Korean Buddhism. The findings show that communal labor (ullyeok) functions to sustain both communal life and spiritual practice, operating as a form of collective discipline within the Korean monastic tradition. Principles of the early Vinaya tradition remain reflected in Unmunsa’s organizational system today, demonstrating that interpretations of Buddhist labor practice formed in historical contexts continue to shape contemporary Korean monastic culture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Humanities/Philosophies)
19 pages, 2016 KB  
Article
“The Inverted Part of the Soul Is Not Closed from Within”: Ethical Grammar of Proximity in Emmanuel Levinas’s Thought
by Hodaya Samet Har Shefi
Religions 2026, 17(8), 978; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080978 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 302
Abstract
This article proposes that Levinas’s philosophy of language constitutes a response to the collapse of linguistic structures in the wake of the Holocaust. Instead of attempting to repair or restore a pre-rupture metaphysics, Levinas establishes a new ethical grammar of openness rather than [...] Read more.
This article proposes that Levinas’s philosophy of language constitutes a response to the collapse of linguistic structures in the wake of the Holocaust. Instead of attempting to repair or restore a pre-rupture metaphysics, Levinas establishes a new ethical grammar of openness rather than totality. Through a novel interpretive reading of Levinas grounded in Wittgensteinian philosophy, particularly the critique of private language (a connection Levinas does not explicitly articulate), this article argues that the rejection of private language functions as the structural foundation for the recovery of the language of proximity. The article examines three focal points where this ethical grammar is revealed: suffering, memory, and the proper name. Regarding suffering, the cry establishes an appeal constitutive of ethical responsibility; regarding memory, the transition from representational to immemorial grounds meaning in heteronomous command rather than community; regarding names, both God’s and the human names become traces of irreplaceable singularity. The discussion culminates in fecundity as a grammatical solution to linguistic collapse, a structure in which asymmetry becomes the fundamental relation between human being and Other, realized through interpretation and the Oral Torah. Levinas thus demonstrates that responsibility to the Other remains not an external addition to language, but its logical and grammatical foundation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Humanities/Philosophies)
18 pages, 624 KB  
Article
Truth and Power—On the Importance of an Action Theory-Based Power Theory for Intercultural Hermeneutics
by Henning Wrogemann
Religions 2026, 17(8), 977; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080977 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 440
Abstract
The topic of “intercultural hermeneutics” has gained increasing attention since the 1990s. In the German-speaking world, missiologist and scholar of religion Theo Sundermeier (b. 1935) called for a “hermeneutics of difference” in his book “Den Fremden verstehen” (1996). The present article [...] Read more.
The topic of “intercultural hermeneutics” has gained increasing attention since the 1990s. In the German-speaking world, missiologist and scholar of religion Theo Sundermeier (b. 1935) called for a “hermeneutics of difference” in his book “Den Fremden verstehen” (1996). The present article outlines key concepts of Sundermeier’s approach but identifies a significant gap regarding the theory of power. While a theory of power is absent from Sundermeier’s hermeneutics, the author has developed intercultural hermeneutics as “discourse semiotics”, which he further elaborates in this essay. The author argues that Michel Foucault’s theory of power—specifically its emphasis on the diffuse nature of power—has led to the introduction of stereotypes within various postcolonial studies approaches (like Edward Said in his book Orientalism); the assertion of “Othering” has, in effect, made understanding the “stranger” nearly impossible. Drawing on the work of Herbert Paul Grice and James S. Coleman, the article calls for a theory of power grounded in action theory and illustrates the significance of this approach through an example. The thesis is that a theory of power grounded in action theory is required as a basis for an intercultural and interreligious hermeneutics in order to falsify and avoid postcolonial stereotyping. Full article
22 pages, 364 KB  
Article
The Onto-Epistemology of Sufi Experience in Khwāja Bāqī Billāh: A Naqshbandī Model Between Presence, Divine Unity and Ethic Authority
by Serhat Gültaş
Religions 2026, 17(8), 976; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080976 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 403
Abstract
One of the most fundamental and debated issues in the history of Sufism concerns not only the nature of mystical experience but also its epistemic value, its authority-generating capacity, and its normative legitimacy. Experiences expressed through kashf (unveiling), ilhām (inspiration), presence, witnessing, and [...] Read more.
One of the most fundamental and debated issues in the history of Sufism concerns not only the nature of mystical experience but also its epistemic value, its authority-generating capacity, and its normative legitimacy. Experiences expressed through kashf (unveiling), ilhām (inspiration), presence, witnessing, and annihilation have never been entirely rejected within Islamic thought, yet they have never been considered an unlimited or uncontrolled source of truth. This dual stance has shaped both internal Sufi debates and external critiques. Classical kalām and legal traditions approached mystical experience cautiously, emphasizing its subjectivity, fallibility, and non-generalizability. In contrast, the Sufi tradition defended unveiling and inspiration as integral to religious life. Modern scholarship, however, has often examined Sufism through universal theories of mystical experience or metaphysical and institutional frameworks, leaving its epistemological limits underexplored. The Naqshbandī tradition is notable for framing mystical experience within a tawḥīd-centered ontology, a cautious epistemology, and disciplined adherence to the Sharīʿa. This framework also allows reconsideration of the relationship between Sufism and ethics, presenting mystical experience as a bridge between transcendence and practical action. This article examines early modern Naqshbandī-Mujaddidī thought through Khwāja Bāqī Billāh (d. 1603). Drawing on his own writings, it analyzes the onto-epistemological structure of mystical experience, arguing that Bāqī Billāh grounds it in a tawḥīd-centered ontology, treats it as fallible and non-binding knowledge, and preserves the Sharīʿa as an indispensable normative criterion. Thus, Sufism emerges as a disciplined ethical horizon connecting transcendence and moral action. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mysticism and Ethics: Bridging Transcendence and Action in Religious Experience)
17 pages, 336 KB  
Article
The Christian Adaptation of Classical Culture: The Case of Photios the Great
by Dimitri Kepreotes
Religions 2026, 17(8), 975; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080975 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 294
Abstract
This article examines the understanding of paideia in the writings of Photios of Constantinople (c. 810–893) and argues that his educational vision cannot be reduced to literary cultivation or the preservation of classical learning. While modern scholarship has frequently emphasised Photios’ role in [...] Read more.
This article examines the understanding of paideia in the writings of Photios of Constantinople (c. 810–893) and argues that his educational vision cannot be reduced to literary cultivation or the preservation of classical learning. While modern scholarship has frequently emphasised Photios’ role in transmitting the intellectual heritage of antiquity, less attention has been given to the anthropological and theological framework within which he interpreted that inheritance. Through an analysis of his Myriobiblos, Amphilochia, letters and homilies, this study demonstrates that Photios understood education as the complete formation of the human person through the harmonious cooperation of body and soul. Classical philosophy, literature and aesthetics are valued not as autonomous disciplines but as instruments serving a higher theological purpose. In Photios’ thought, the Hellenic ideal of paideia undergoes a thorough Christian adaptation, recalibrated by doctrines of creation, incarnation, resurrection and deification. His anthropology is reflected in his understanding of virtue, ascetic discipline, beauty and cultural inheritance. The article argues that Photios’ engagement with the classical tradition was neither antiquarian nor merely apologetic but rather one of the most sophisticated syntheses of classical culture and revealed theology in the middle Byzantine period. Full article
25 pages, 398 KB  
Article
Shepherding According to God: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Pauline Pastoral Theology in Witness Lee’s Reading
by Brian Siu Kit Chiu
Religions 2026, 17(8), 974; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080974 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 372
Abstract
Contemporary pastoral theology has increasingly absorbed the categories and methods of counseling psychology, yet this turn often leaves unexplained the theological ontology of the pastoral caregiver. This article develops a constructive interdisciplinary dialogue between Pauline theology, counseling psychology, and the pastoral theology of [...] Read more.
Contemporary pastoral theology has increasingly absorbed the categories and methods of counseling psychology, yet this turn often leaves unexplained the theological ontology of the pastoral caregiver. This article develops a constructive interdisciplinary dialogue between Pauline theology, counseling psychology, and the pastoral theology of Witness Lee (1905–1997), proposing an ontological-participatory account of Christian shepherding. After surveying the therapeutic turn and major psychology–Christianity integration models, the study examines Lee’s reading of Paul’s pastoral pattern—nursing mother, exhorting father, and slave of Christ—and his interpretation of “shepherding according to God” (κατὰ Θεόν) in 1 Peter 5:2 as participation in the life, nature, and shepherding activity of the Triune God. Building on Lee’s doctrine of practical deification—believers becoming “God in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead”—this article argues that pastoral care is mediated through persons constituted with Christ who minister divine life through cherishing, nourishing, and mutual shepherding. Placed into dialogue with counseling psychology, this vision yields convergences in empathy, presence, and holistic care, alongside tensions concerning anthropology and the telos of human transformation. The article offers an ontological-participatory framework that situates the descriptive achievements of the human sciences within a richer Pauline vision of participation in the Triune God’s ongoing shepherding ministry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Constructive Interdisciplinary Approaches to Pauline Theology)
16 pages, 262 KB  
Article
American Pragmatism and Post-Holocaust Jewish Theology: The Case of Irving Greenberg
by Tanya White
Religions 2026, 17(8), 973; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080973 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 725
Abstract
Irving Greenberg (b. 1933), among the most influential American Jewish theologians responding to the Holocaust, consistently describes his theological approach as “postmodern”—emphasising the breakdown of absolutes, fragmentation, and the failure of modern certainties. This article argues that the label is misleading. Through a [...] Read more.
Irving Greenberg (b. 1933), among the most influential American Jewish theologians responding to the Holocaust, consistently describes his theological approach as “postmodern”—emphasising the breakdown of absolutes, fragmentation, and the failure of modern certainties. This article argues that the label is misleading. Through a reading of Greenberg’s foundational concepts—the voluntary covenant, tzelem Elokim, the assumption of power, and tikkun olam—set against the conceptual apparatus of continental postmodernism and classical American pragmatism, we will show that Greenberg’s theological method and normative conclusions align far more closely with the pragmatist tradition of Peirce, James, and Dewey. Where continental postmodernism tends toward deconstruction and the dissolution of normative claims, Greenberg’s thought exhibits characteristic pragmatist motifs: fallibilism without nihilism, pluralism without relativism, and a robust meliorism oriented toward world repair. His dictum that “pluralism is an absolutism that knows its limits” echoes William James’s pluralism rather than Derridean deconstruction, and his post-Holocaust ethic of power directly resists postmodern suspicion of agency. Reading Greenberg through the lens of American pragmatism offers a new perspective on post-Holocaust Jewish theology and clarifies how distinct intellectual traditions shape theological responses to catastrophe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modern Jewish Thought and Philosophy)
16 pages, 7271 KB  
Article
Family-Borne Efficacy: Shamanic Healing in Contemporary Xibo Households in Xinjiang
by Haiyan Xing, Shuyi Jia and Dongzhi Sangji
Religions 2026, 17(8), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080972 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 414
Abstract
This article examines how patients and their relatives in contemporary Xibo families come to understand whether shamanic healing has “worked.” Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2026 in Qapqal Xibo Autonomous County, Yili, Xinjiang, it analyzes two closely observed healing [...] Read more.
This article examines how patients and their relatives in contemporary Xibo families come to understand whether shamanic healing has “worked.” Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2026 in Qapqal Xibo Autonomous County, Yili, Xinjiang, it analyzes two closely observed healing rituals performed by the same shaman for two members of one family: a mother suffering from severe emotional distress and her adolescent son during a period of intense educational pressure. Drawing on Thomas Csordas’s tripartite framework of procedure, process, and outcome, the article relocates the analysis of ritual efficacy from the individual patient to the family as a relational unit. Three arguments follow. First, participation in healing is driven less by individual belief than by family responsibility, obligation, and affective reciprocity. Second, the family does not merely host the ritual but actively organizes, sustains, and helps confirm it. Third, efficacy is recognized incrementally through shared observation, retrospective interpretation, and everyday relational adjustment in the months and years following the ritual, rather than being determined now the ritual ends. Understood in this way, contemporary Xibo shamanic healing persists not as a survival of premodern medicine, but as a family-borne mode of acting, waiting, and making sense of uncertainty. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Ritual, and Healing—2nd Edition)
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19 pages, 304 KB  
Article
Religious Opposition, Communication Strategies and Ecumenical Approaches in Augustine
by Carl O’Brien
Religions 2026, 17(8), 971; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080971 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 773
Abstract
Augustine’s writings are characterized by his opposition to (primarily) three heretical and schismatic groups: the Manichaeans, the Donatists and the Pelagians (although De Haeresibus addresses a much greater range of heresies), as well as criticism of Jerome (within his own communion). This provides [...] Read more.
Augustine’s writings are characterized by his opposition to (primarily) three heretical and schismatic groups: the Manichaeans, the Donatists and the Pelagians (although De Haeresibus addresses a much greater range of heresies), as well as criticism of Jerome (within his own communion). This provides the opportunity to demonstrate that Augustine did not adopt a consistent approach towards different heretical groups. Starting with his determination of what constitutes a heretic in De Haeresibus, this article analyzes Augustine’s concept of the Church’s unity and the ecumenical approaches which he adopts towards certain heretical groups to preserve that unity. The article analyses a range of Augustine’s writings, including his correspondence with Jerome, considering the manner in which he engages with his religious opponents, the communication strategies which he adopts in order to further his agenda and how this functions against the background of Augustine’s view of ecclesiastical unity (particularly his understanding of the Church as the body of Christ). The article demonstrates Augustine’s ecumenical overtures to his opponents and his pursuit of “charitable correction” and how this relates to his attempts to employ religious coercion against them with support from the secular authorities, while also demonstrating how Augustine subjected himself to the type of rigorous self-examination which he demanded from his opponents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Faith, Communication, and Culture: Ecumenism in Religion and Theology)
14 pages, 225 KB  
Article
Sounds Across Time: Black Prophetic Soundwork and Ancestral Disruption
by Lionnell Smith
Religions 2026, 17(8), 970; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080970 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 791
Abstract
This essay theorizes Black prophetic soundwork as a rhetorical framework through which sonic Blackness operates prophetically—not merely as cultural expression or aesthetic resistance, but as a sacred technology of ancestral communion and communal transformation. Drawing on scholarship centered on sonic Blackness, African cosmological [...] Read more.
This essay theorizes Black prophetic soundwork as a rhetorical framework through which sonic Blackness operates prophetically—not merely as cultural expression or aesthetic resistance, but as a sacred technology of ancestral communion and communal transformation. Drawing on scholarship centered on sonic Blackness, African cosmological frameworks, and the Black prophetic tradition, the author argues that Black sound, music, and musical instruments function as prophetic vessels that transgress linear time, invoke ancestral presence, and contest the spiritual colonization enacted by white Christian hegemony. Through an analysis of Malcolm Washington’s The Piano Lesson (2024) and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025), the essay demonstrates how Black prophetic soundwork enacts two defining rhetorical moves: prophetic rupture, through which sound collapses colonial temporality and makes ancestral presence experientially real, and prophetic witness, through which sound contests white Christian hegemony and affirms African spiritual traditions as living, authoritative forms of Black agency. Ultimately, the author introduces Black prophetic soundwork as an original contribution to Black rhetorical theory that expands existing scholarship on Black prophetic rhetoric into the sonic domain, offering scholars a heuristic for examining how Black sonic practices function prophetically across diverse cultural contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Meeting at the Crossroads: Understanding the Intersection of Rhetoric, Race, and Religion)
14 pages, 248 KB  
Article
The Question of “Home Wisdom”: A Contextual Study of Luke 15:11–32
by Alexander G. K. Salakpi
Religions 2026, 17(8), 969; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080969 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 261
Abstract
It has become taboo for a parent today to say “no” to a child. Children grow in this “supposed” freedom and child rights, and then some assume an attitude of always having their own way, a character devoid of “home wisdom”, also called [...] Read more.
It has become taboo for a parent today to say “no” to a child. Children grow in this “supposed” freedom and child rights, and then some assume an attitude of always having their own way, a character devoid of “home wisdom”, also called “common sense”. It is only their way that matters; others must bow to them. They become arrogant, proud, selfish, insensitive, irresponsible, and lack initiative; simply put, they mold themselves into “beasts”. It is only when this beast of a child turns on their parents that they realize something went wrong and needs to be corrected, which is often too late. This adage has already applied: “it is easier to bend a tender tree than an old one”. In this sacred text, Luke 15:11–32, a father displayed an attitude, which causes the mind to inquire why he consented. Why did the father allow the son to have his way, knowing quite well that the son’s reasoning was wrong? Unfortunately, this is becoming the norm of the day. In the text, the son returned, but today, many children are so consumed in pride, self-righteousness, and arrogance that even when confronted, they will not agree that they are wrong. Others, who realize their abject situation, fail to make amends for fear of being laughed at, which is pride, and they perish in the process. This paper uses narrative criticism within the context of African biblical hermeneutics to explore the reason behind the father’s attitude and the wisdom behind the son’s final acceptance of his situation that motivates him to return. These reasons, this paper hopes, will help serve as a remedy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)
15 pages, 362 KB  
Article
Jigan and Jizhao: The Convergence of Yi Learning of Song Dynasty and Sinicized Buddhism
by Menghang Yang and Kuifeng Zhai
Religions 2026, 17(8), 968; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080968 - 17 Aug 2026
Viewed by 337
Abstract
Jigan (寂感), derived from the Book of Changes, which states “when remaining in serene stillness without stirring, it attains universal penetration once stirred by resonance (jiran budong ganer suitong 寂然不動感而遂通).” It describes the profound subtlety of the Zhouyi. On the [...] Read more.
Jigan (寂感), derived from the Book of Changes, which states “when remaining in serene stillness without stirring, it attains universal penetration once stirred by resonance (jiran budong ganer suitong 寂然不動感而遂通).” It describes the profound subtlety of the Zhouyi. On the other hand, Jizhao (寂照) is a Sinicized Buddhist interpretation denoting the non-dual integration of true suchness and prajñā wisdom. Jigan developed into an ontological framework during the Song Dynasty (960–1279), while jizhao took shape during the Wei-Jin period. Philosophically, both manifest a non-dual substance-function structure “quiescence as resonance” and “quiescence as illumination.” They jointly serve as the foundational model for mind-nature cultivation and spiritual transcendence. From this theory of cultivation, however, divergent spiritual aspirations of Confucianism and Buddhism. Confucianism elucidates the principle of universal oneness of all things through quietude-resonance, pursuing the spiritual realm of sagehood. By contrast, Buddhism penetrates through self-attachment and dharma-attachment via quiescent illumination, thereby detaching from all karmic conditions, and manifests Prajñā. Confucianism integrates the practice of jigan into its ritual education, sacrificial ceremonies and daily disciplinary norms, rendering it a practical pathway for sustaining the cosmic-ethical order and generating ritual authority. Buddhism implements jizhao in meditation, precepts, and monastic life, constructing an enlightenment-oriented sacred community. Jigan and jizhao represent two distinct paths of religious transformation and spiritual attainment. This paper compares how both emanate from the ontological state of “serene stillness without stirring” into practical cultivation manifested as “resonance penetrating all things” or “simultaneity of illumination and function”, and ultimately shape divergent modes of sacredness and forms of social integration. While jigan and jizhao reveal a structural convergence in the cultivation theories of Confucianism and Buddhism, they also demonstrate disparate orientations in their spiritual aspirations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religionizing Confucianism: Ritual, Transcendence, and Social Formations in East Asia)
18 pages, 657 KB  
Article
On the Art of Ta’wil: The Pedagogy of Hermeneutics for Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue
by Wisam Kh. Abdul-Jabbar
Religions 2026, 17(8), 967; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080967 - 16 Aug 2026
Viewed by 371
Abstract
While intercultural and interfaith dialogue in education is often framed in terms of tolerance, mutual understanding, active listening, and coexistence, these approaches often remain pedagogically underdeveloped. They do not sufficiently address the interpretive processes through which individuals negotiate meaning across cultural and religious [...] Read more.
While intercultural and interfaith dialogue in education is often framed in terms of tolerance, mutual understanding, active listening, and coexistence, these approaches often remain pedagogically underdeveloped. They do not sufficiently address the interpretive processes through which individuals negotiate meaning across cultural and religious differences. This article explores Ta’wil (تأويل) as a pedagogical hermeneutic for intercultural and interfaith dialogue. Rooted in Arabic Islamic intellectual traditions, Ta’wil is reconceptualized not merely as a method of textual interpretation but as a hermeneutics of return that seeks to recover the underlying purpose, first principle, or Ḥaqiqa that gives coherence to meaning. Through conceptual analysis, the study traces the etymological, philosophical, and Qur’anic foundations of Ta’wil. It draws on classical Muslim scholars, including Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd, as well as the Qur’anic narrative of Moses and Al-Khiḍr. It argues that Ta’wil functions as a dialogical practice that moves beyond literalism by negotiating ambiguity and reconciling competing perspectives. How can Ta’wil be reconceptualized as a pedagogical hermeneutic for intercultural and interfaith dialogue in higher education? The article further situates Ta’wil within broader intercultural and interfaith conversations by identifying its resonance with parallel philosophical and theological traditions concerned with first principles, teleology, and the pursuit of truth. The paper advances a pedagogical model that operationalizes Ta’wil for higher education through three epistemological anchors: textual evidence, contextual teleological coherence, and intended meaning. The article proposes a pedagogical model with learning outcomes, implementation guidelines, and an assessment rubric. It concludes that Ta’wil contributes to a culturally responsible pedagogy through which educational encounters can move from the narrow paths of tension and misunderstanding toward the open terrains of deliberation, negotiated meaning, and deeper forms of understanding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interfaith Dialogue and Transformation)
18 pages, 284 KB  
Article
From the Council to Synodality: The Role of Medellín and the Theology of the People
by Euclides Eslava and Jonathan Acosta
Religions 2026, 17(8), 966; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080966 - 15 Aug 2026
Viewed by 441
Abstract
This article reconstructs the historical–theological genealogy linking the Second Vatican Council to the synodality promoted by Francis and continued by Leo XIV, through two fundamental mediations: the conciliar reception carried out at the Second General Conference of CELAM, held in Medellín in 1968, [...] Read more.
This article reconstructs the historical–theological genealogy linking the Second Vatican Council to the synodality promoted by Francis and continued by Leo XIV, through two fundamental mediations: the conciliar reception carried out at the Second General Conference of CELAM, held in Medellín in 1968, and the development of the Theology of the People within the Argentine Episcopal Conference. The central thesis holds that the contemporary origins of synodality—understood as a way of being Church rather than a management method—can be traced back to Vatican II and have taken on distinctive features in the Latin American pastoral and theological itinerary. The study employs two complementary methodological approaches: a genealogical historical–theological method for the first two sections, based on intertextual criticism of primary sources, and a theological-systematic method for the third, oriented toward analyzing the challenges of the synodal process in its dimensions of sensus fidei fidelium, decision-making, and structural conversion. The results show that the categories of the Theology of the People—people, culture, history, and popular piety—offer specific hermeneutical resources for articulating the participation of the faithful in ecclesial processes of discernment that inform decision-making within the Church, and that the Latin American tradition constitutes a contribution to the contemporary ecclesiological debate on synodality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Latin American Theology of Liberation in the 21st Century—2nd Edition)
19 pages, 342 KB  
Article
The Transcendental and the Political: The Secular Dilemma in the Narratives of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Members
by Doha S. Abdelgawad
Religions 2026, 17(8), 965; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080965 - 15 Aug 2026
Viewed by 321
Abstract
Is an Islamic modern polity attainable? How is it perceived, and how is it possible to accommodate a transcendental reference within modern political structures? Where is the line between the political and the religious to be drawn? This article examines these puzzles through [...] Read more.
Is an Islamic modern polity attainable? How is it perceived, and how is it possible to accommodate a transcendental reference within modern political structures? Where is the line between the political and the religious to be drawn? This article examines these puzzles through the narratives of 48 members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. With reference to a growing literature on the notion of secularism and post-Islamism, the article examines two critical issues that are at the heart of the debate over the secularization of Islamists: (1) the stance towards the limits of the state’s legal intervention in the personal sphere, and (2) the notion of popular sovereignty and the transcendental reference of the state. By shifting attention from movement ideologues to grassroots actors, the article shows how “post-Islamist” adaptation can reflect an internally reasoned negotiation of sovereignty, morality, and authority rather than a retreat of religion from public life. It also examines that participants’ political reasoning functions not merely as an internalization of Islamic imperatives, but as a critical engagement with the limits of modern secular-democratic governance itself. Full article
15 pages, 296 KB  
Article
AI-Assisted Visuals in Indonesian Muslim Digital Religious Communication
by Kris Ramlan and Nuriyatul Lailiyah
Religions 2026, 17(8), 964; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080964 - 15 Aug 2026
Viewed by 403
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is entering religious communication not only through chatbots and generated text, but also through images and reels on social media. Yet research in this field has paid limited attention to what images contribute beyond their accompanying words. This article [...] Read more.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is entering religious communication not only through chatbots and generated text, but also through images and reels on social media. Yet research in this field has paid limited attention to what images contribute beyond their accompanying words. This article examines how AI-assisted visuals are incorporated into Indonesian Muslim Instagram accounts linked to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and what communicative work they perform. Informed by the Religious Social Shaping of Technology framework and visual-culture scholarship, the study combines qualitative digital observation with content and multimodal analysis of eleven posts from three accounts and sampled comments. The visuals were adopted selectively within established organisational, humour-oriented, and preacher-led modes of address. AI functioned through amplification: synthetic construction gave bodily and spatial form to themes of national belonging, moral criticism, santri conduct, and interreligious engagement, while enabling encounters that could not readily be photographed. These moral positions became legible through familiar signs, but authority remained with the organisation, collective voice, or public persona through which the images were framed and circulated. AI-assisted imagery is therefore best understood as situated visual mediation: it expands what religious communicators can picture without independently determining the meaning or authority of what is pictured. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Communities and Artificial Intelligence)
20 pages, 436 KB  
Article
The Provisional and Substantive Genbei: On the Similarities and Differences Between the Nine Stages of Heart–Mind Cultivation and the Confucian System of Heart–Mind Cultivation in the San-yi Teaching
by Weixi Li
Religions 2026, 17(8), 963; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080963 - 14 Aug 2026
Viewed by 393
Abstract
Lin Chao-en founded the San-yi Teaching (三一教) during the late Ming Dynasty, passing down the unique Inner Alchemy practice known as “the Nine Stages of Heart–Mind Cultivation” (九序心法), also referred to as “the Confucian System of Heart–Mind Cultivation” (孔門心法). Analysis shows that the [...] Read more.
Lin Chao-en founded the San-yi Teaching (三一教) during the late Ming Dynasty, passing down the unique Inner Alchemy practice known as “the Nine Stages of Heart–Mind Cultivation” (九序心法), also referred to as “the Confucian System of Heart–Mind Cultivation” (孔門心法). Analysis shows that the Nine Stages of Heart–Mind Cultivation and the Confucian System of Heart–Mind Cultivation both overlap and differ, with the latter covering a broader scope. Centered on the genbei (艮背, stilling the back), the Nine Stages of Heart–Mind Cultivation and the Confucian System of Heart–Mind Cultivation present a relationship of convergence and dispersion. The cultivation method of the San-yi Teaching takes the Confucian System of Heart–Mind Cultivation as its framework and the Nine Stages of Heart–Mind Cultivation as its specific operational approach, which is a creative interpretation of the classic Confucian maxim “(the superior man) does not allow his thoughts to go beyond his position.” 思不出其位. The Nine Stages of Heart–Mind Cultivation distinctly resonates with the characteristics of Inner Alchemy in the Ming Dynasty, providing an important sample for understanding the diversity of Inner Alchemy forms during this period and a valuable reference for academic research on Ming Dynasty Inner Alchemy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Daoist Inner Alchemy Atlas: Practice and Related Medicine, Thunder Rites and Iconology)
34 pages, 508 KB  
Article
The Debate on Meaning of Life in the Tamil Minor Epic Neelakesi: Drawing Some Inspirations to Engage the Gen Z in Religious Matters
by Santhosh-Kumar Appu
Religions 2026, 17(8), 962; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17080962 - 14 Aug 2026
Viewed by 475
Abstract
There is a widespread interest in Gen Z today. From a religious perspective, Gen Z tend to, firstly, disaffiliate themselves from institutionalized religion, secondly, find it incompatible with reason, and thirdly, find it exclusivist. In this context, the Tamil epic Neelakesi can be [...] Read more.
There is a widespread interest in Gen Z today. From a religious perspective, Gen Z tend to, firstly, disaffiliate themselves from institutionalized religion, secondly, find it incompatible with reason, and thirdly, find it exclusivist. In this context, the Tamil epic Neelakesi can be read hermeneutically alongside the three phenomena mentioned above. Firstly, this epic can provide inspiration to Gen Z, who live in a quick-paced world that deprives them of inner peace. Secondly, it inspires religions to intellectually engage with the youth. Thirdly, Neelakesi calls for social justice, overcoming casteism and patriarchal demons that commodify women. This interdisciplinary study uses the hermeneutical method. Firstly, the three elements are drawn from Neelakesi. Secondly, theological foundations, reasonable to the public, are given. Lastly, the discussion is taken up to provide perspectives on how Catholic parishes, and youth groups in particular, can foster better religious practices among Gen Z. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Life-and-Death Education at the Intersection of Public Theological and Secular Sciences)
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