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11 pages, 271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hospes venit, Christus venit: Hospitality, Healing, and the Opera Misericordiae in the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala

by Cory Andrew Labrecque

Religions 2024, 15(9), 1065; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091065 - 2 Sep 2024

Viewed by 645

Abstract

For almost a thousand years (1090–1990), Santa Maria della Scala in Siena—arguably one of the oldest surviving hospitals in the world—opened its doors to pilgrims, travelers, the sick, the poor, and the gittati (children who were “cast off” and left on its steps). [...] Read more.

For almost a thousand years (1090–1990), Santa Maria della Scala in Siena—arguably one of the oldest surviving hospitals in the world—opened its doors to pilgrims, travelers, the sick, the poor, and the gittati (children who were “cast off” and left on its steps). Making manifest the traditional adage of hospitality, all the guests who presented themselves there were to be welcomed as Christ himself. In this paper, I explore this broadening of the Church’s vision of its healing ministry (that is, beyond care for the sick) alongside the increasing dedication of the laity to the opera misericordiae (the works of mercy) in the late and high Middle Ages with the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala in Siena as a case in point. I will make reference to the mid-fifteenth century fresco cycle in the Pellegrinaio of the hospital that bears witness to its celebrated functions and speaks to how and by whom these were carried out. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

11 pages, 236 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“Relief of Man’s Estate”: The Theological Origins of the Modern Biomedical Project

by Todd T. W. Daly

Religions 2024, 15(6), 729; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15060729 - 14 Jun 2024

Viewed by 744

Abstract

In recent years, medicine has been increasingly described as “Baconian”, in reference to the scientific methodology laid out by Francis Bacon (1561–1626), who, in criticizing Aristotle’s natural philosophy, called for cultivating useful knowledge in order to eradicate disease and extend human life by [...] Read more.

In recent years, medicine has been increasingly described as “Baconian”, in reference to the scientific methodology laid out by Francis Bacon (1561–1626), who, in criticizing Aristotle’s natural philosophy, called for cultivating useful knowledge in order to eradicate disease and extend human life by attenuating aging. Contemporary medicine is often described as “Baconian” insofar as it is devoted to the relief of suffering and the expansion of choice. These two features continue to exert pressure on medicine to expand understandings of both suffering and wellness. Recent attempts to reclassify human aging as a disease, for instance, bear witness to the Baconian impulse. In this article, I discuss and critique the religious origins of Bacon’s call for a new kind of practical rationality in service of improving humanity, showing that they were deeply theological and considerably informed by events recorded in the biblical book of Genesis. I will also argue that the theological nature of Bacon’s program, while theocentric in nature, suffers from inattention to Christology, which challenges Bacon’s theology and the Baconian Project. Attending to Christological concerns modifies Bacon’s approach to bioethics, which recognizes both the fallenness of creation and the power of medicine to address the human condition, especially human aging. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

13 pages, 317 KiB

Open AccessArticle

AI and East Asian Philosophical and Religious Traditions: Relationality and Fluidity

by Tracy J. Trothen, Pui Lan Kwok and Boyung Lee

Religions 2024, 15(5), 593; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15050593 - 11 May 2024

Viewed by 2348

Abstract

This article examines aspects of the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and religion, challenging Western Christian perspectives that warn against playing God and ascribing human and God-like characteristics to AI. Instead of a theistic emphasis, East Asian religious perspectives emphasize concern for the [...] Read more.

This article examines aspects of the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and religion, challenging Western Christian perspectives that warn against playing God and ascribing human and God-like characteristics to AI. Instead of a theistic emphasis, East Asian religious perspectives emphasize concern for the potential implications of AI on communities and relationships. This article argues for the inclusion of perspectives from Chinese and Korean traditions in the growing discourse on AI and religion to adequately address the potential social impacts of AI technologies. First, we describe some of the questions and concerns being posed regarding AI and consider how certain normative interpretations of Western Christianity may influence some of these issues. Second, we discuss the contributions of Asian philosophies and religious traditions, which emphasize relationality and fluidity, to provide alternative approaches to AI. Third, we outline the discussion of AI from Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions, which see the cosmos as an interwoven whole and both humans and the cosmos as evolving. Lastly, we introduce the example of digital resurrection (e.g., deadbots) and consider how the philosophical and theological Korean concept of Jeong might refocus our understanding of the potential impacts of this AI technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

15 pages, 241 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Psychedelics, the Bible, and the Divine

by Jaime Clark-Soles

Religions 2024, 15(5), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15050582 - 7 May 2024

Viewed by 8191

Abstract

The current psychedelic renaissance intersects with Christian practices in two key ways. First, as psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) becomes more common, Christians undergoing therapeutic medical treatment may seek outside support for integrating into their religious lives mystical experiences that occur during psychedelic sessions. Second, [...] Read more.

The current psychedelic renaissance intersects with Christian practices in two key ways. First, as psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) becomes more common, Christians undergoing therapeutic medical treatment may seek outside support for integrating into their religious lives mystical experiences that occur during psychedelic sessions. Second, with increasing legal access to psychedelics, more Christians may explore their spiritual potential outside of a medical context, either individually with spiritual guides or collectively in organized retreats. Many will have mystical encounters related to the Divine. Whether the experience involves the overwhelming presence or absence of the Divine, these Christians, too, will seek integration support. This essay argues that the Bible can serve as a rich source for such integration, because it contains significant material about mystical experiences marked by altered states of consciousness. First, I summarize the importance of the psychedelic renaissance, especially the scientific studies being conducted, as it relates to Christian practices of spiritual formation. Second, I explore new work being conducted by biblical scholars regarding embodied religious experiences with the Divine (and others), including mystical experiences. Third, I consider the Apostle Paul’s embodied mystical experience, with special attention to 2 Corinthians 12:1–10, as one example of biblical material that might intersect with or inform psychedelic mystical encounters that contemporary Christians might experience (whether in a medical therapeutic or non-medical spiritual formation setting). Finally, I indicate directions for further research and discussion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

14 pages, 298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

There’s a Basilisk in the Bathwater: AI and the Apocalyptic Imagination

by Avery Isbrücker

Religions 2024, 15(5), 560; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15050560 - 30 Apr 2024

Viewed by 1193

Abstract

Deciding what to make of secular, religious, and spiritual speculations about AI and digital technologies can be overwhelming, and focusing on the extreme utopic or dystopic outcomes may be obscuring the larger facts. Is this technology a beautiful blessing or a damning curse? [...] Read more.

Deciding what to make of secular, religious, and spiritual speculations about AI and digital technologies can be overwhelming, and focusing on the extreme utopic or dystopic outcomes may be obscuring the larger facts. Is this technology a beautiful blessing or a damning curse? What can paying close attention to these technologies and the discourse surrounding them show? How founded are our anxieties? By following the apocalyptic throughline in this rhetoric across fields in recent years, this essay seeks to consider the effect of apocalyptic thought on recent developments in tech, and consider how this worldview orients our future. The deterministically utopic, dystopic, and apocalyptic rhetoric surrounding these technologies obscures their function and efficacy, giving agency to what is functionally still just a tool, the use for which depends on its designers and users. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

20 pages, 329 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Challenges of Using Artificial Intelligence in the Process of Shi’i Ijtihad

by Hasan Latifi

Religions 2024, 15(5), 541; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15050541 - 28 Apr 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1352

Abstract

This article aims to explore the potential challenges that may arise when employing generative AI models in the process of Shi’i ijtihad. By drawing upon academic literature and relevant primary sources, the essay surveys the most critical AI-related hurdles in this field, [...] Read more.

This article aims to explore the potential challenges that may arise when employing generative AI models in the process of Shi’i ijtihad. By drawing upon academic literature and relevant primary sources, the essay surveys the most critical AI-related hurdles in this field, including issues of accessibility, privacy concerns, the problem of “AI hallucination” and the generative nature of AI models, biases in AI systems, the lack of transparency and inexplicability, the intricacies of interpreting and understanding sensitive topics, accountability, authority, trust and acceptance among lay believers. Using discourse and content analysis as method, the article concludes that, given these challenges, generative AI models are not yet suitable for utilization in this process. However, the rapid progress in AI may eventually make it an effective tool for this purpose. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

11 pages, 201 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Psychedelic Mysticism and Christian Spirituality: From Science to Love

by Ron Cole-Turner

Religions 2024, 15(5), 537; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15050537 - 26 Apr 2024

Viewed by 3384

Abstract

The scientific claim that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin reliably occasion mystical experiences was justified using the Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (the MEQ), a survey first developed in the 1960s by Walter Pahnke using W.T. Stace’s Mysticism and Philosophy. Scholars in Christian mysticism reject [...] Read more.

The scientific claim that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin reliably occasion mystical experiences was justified using the Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (the MEQ), a survey first developed in the 1960s by Walter Pahnke using W.T. Stace’s Mysticism and Philosophy. Scholars in Christian mysticism reject the adequacy of Stace’s work for Western theistic mysticism, especially Christianity. One objection is that Stace follows William James in focusing on intense and unusual moments of mystical experience rather than the somewhat more ordinary mystical life. A greater concern is that Stace more adequately reflects non-Western traditions than Western theistic traditions like Christianity. For Stace, mysticism centers on the concept of union with external reality or with the absolute, a union in which the human creature is absorbed or fused. Christian mysticism, by contrast, involves a sense of presence rather than union, experienced in a most intimate relationship as a felt loving closeness with the divine, but not as fusion or absorption into the divine. While love of God is central to the Christian view, it is ignored in Stace and the MEQ30. Finally for Christianity, mysticism is not found in the momentary experience, but in the lifelong interpretation that leads to transformation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

12 pages, 216 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Scientific Wonder, Artificial Intelligence, and Awe of the Divine

by Joyce Ann Konigsburg

Religions 2024, 15(4), 442; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040442 - 31 Mar 2024

Viewed by 2572

Abstract

Science employs wonder and its associated emotions to explore unknown mysteries in the pursuit of knowledge about the natural world. Discovering scientific truth may inspire awe—a transcendent, indescribable experience of enhanced awareness and astonishment at the extensive interconnectedness of reality. The emotion of [...] Read more.

Science employs wonder and its associated emotions to explore unknown mysteries in the pursuit of knowledge about the natural world. Discovering scientific truth may inspire awe—a transcendent, indescribable experience of enhanced awareness and astonishment at the extensive interconnectedness of reality. The emotion of awe expands human consciousness and also mediates possible spiritual encounters with the Divine. Prompted by wonder and curiosity, scientific studies of the human mind and cognition yield insights that contribute to artificial intelligence research, especially the potential development of conscious artificial general intelligence. Yet, emerging artificial intelligence technologies raise religious and sociological questions about consciousness, personhood, and whether conscious artificial general intelligence is capable of expressing wonder and experiencing awe of the Divine. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

13 pages, 454 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wholeness for Life and Life Eternal: A Perspective from Ubuntu, Paul’s Reconciliation Theology, and the New Cosmology

by Augustin Kassa SMA

Religions 2024, 15(2), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020202 - 6 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1680

Abstract

The idea of cosmos unity is not recent. It has been proposed from various viewpoints throughout human history as the locus of life. To begin with, the African worldview of Ubuntu tells the story of life from the experience of a cosmic perspective [...] Read more.

The idea of cosmos unity is not recent. It has been proposed from various viewpoints throughout human history as the locus of life. To begin with, the African worldview of Ubuntu tells the story of life from the experience of a cosmic perspective that upholds the primacy of the community and asserts that a truly fulfilling and complete life is attainable only by those who belong to the cosmic whole. There is no ‘I’ without ‘we’; “Because we are, I am”. And, unless the “I” belongs to “we”, there is no life, biological or ancestral, after death. On its part, Paul’s cosmology, generally understood as proposing a two/three-tiered cosmos, has a different viewpoint when seen from a closer look. Even if he would have agreed with his religious ancestors that sin had divided reality and that diastema is to blame for the cosmos fragmentation, Paul still recounts the story of a cosmic whole. His theology of reconciliation makes that unity more evident when he suggests that through Christ, the cosmos is reconciled, and life is restored. To belong to the cosmic whole is to be reconciled with God and have eternal life. From a third perspective, today’s new cosmological investigations have uncovered the unfolding story of the grand unity and complexity of the universe, which is the only locus of life known to humanity. In this universe of connectivity and entanglement, one can scientifically appreciate the absence of fragments and observe the complexified unity of all things indispensable for living. These three stories reveal that togetherness and the experience of the cosmic whole are fundamental for life and the taste of eternal life. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Science: Loving Science, Discovering the Divine)

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