Exploring the Relationship Between Religion and Science from a Historical Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

While historians have long recognized that the Conflict Thesis depicting the relationship between religion and science to be one of perpetual antagonism is overly reductionist, the idea certainly persists in the popular imagination. Public intellectuals such as Neil deGrasse Tyson continue to promote this notion in their published works, on line, and in other venues. Such views should always be balanced by those of scholars such as Ronald Numbers or Karen Armstrong, whose works The Warfare Between Science and Religion: The Idea That Wouldn't Die (2018) and The Case for God (2009) take a far more nuanced approach. For this reason, it is useful to analyze this topic and explore the historical, philosophical, and theological relationship between religion and science, from antiquity to the present. Therefore, we are pleased to invite you to submit an article exploring this relationship. The timeperiod for submissions is open, and articles approaching this topic that combine a historical with a theological or scientific perspective are certainly welcome. Furthermore, submissions dealing with both Western and non-Western religious perspectives are welcome.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The practice of science in Christian areas;
• The practice of science in Islamic areas;
• The practice of science and Judaism;
• The practice of science in areas where other religions are dominant;
• The views of religious leaders toward scientific theories;
• The practice of science or natural philosophy from a cross-cultural or interreligious perspective;
• Religion, science, and universities;
• Religion, science, and the economic climate of research.

We hope that this Special Issue will stimulate new research into the ways science and/or natural philosophy is  and has been practiced within different religious environments. The common idea that religious leaders and religious ways of thinking are always oppositional to the development of science is clearly too reductionist, so articles should explore the more nuanced ways in which religion and science interact.

We request that, prior 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 of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Scott E. Hendrix
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.