Energy and Religion

Dear Colleagues,

We invite submissions for this Special Issue of Religions, entitled ‘Energy and Religion’. This Special Issue seeks to explore the many ways that religious traditions, practices, and worldviews engage with questions of energy, understood both as material power and as a spiritual, metaphysical, or divine force. Energy fuels human societies and ecological systems, but it also animates metaphors of vitality, spirit, and transcendence. As such, energy offers a unique pathway for examining the relationships between religion, culture, nature, and technology.

At a time when energy is at the center of global debates about climate change, sustainability, and justice, we aim to bring religious studies into dialog with energy studies, environmental humanities, and theological reflection. We also wish to broaden this scope of inquiry to include the ways that energy itself is imagined as divine, sacred, or life-giving across cultures and traditions.

We welcome contributions from diverse perspectives, including theology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, history, ethics, environmental studies, and science and technology fields. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Theological or philosophical reflections on divine energy, vital force, pneuma, qi, prana, ruach, mana, or other religious concepts of animating power.
• Cosmologies of light, fire, or electricity as metaphors for divine presence.
• Rituals and practices that mobilize or channel spiritual energy.
• Religious ethics and energy justice: How traditions respond to the moral challenges of fossil fuels, nuclear power, renewable energy, and energy access.
• The role of religious communities in debates over energy policy, infrastructure, and transition.
• Historical perspectives on religion and energy use (coal, oil, electricity, solar, wind).
• Indigenous and local religious perspectives on energy extraction, stewardship, and reciprocity.
• Comparative studies of religious responses to energy crises and transitions.
• Religion in the Anthropocene: Energy as both a physical resource and a metaphysical struggle.

We request to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, Prof. Michael Marder (michael.marder@gmail.com), and CC the Assistant Editor of Religions, Ms. Katarina Antonic (katarina.antonic@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

A tentative timeline:

Deadline for abstract submission: 15 December 2025

Deadline for full manuscript submission: 15 June 2026

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Michael Marder
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.