Search Results (130)

This article extends models that connect religion and spirituality (R/S) to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems to the Indonesian context, which is highly religious while being dominated by secular psychological approaches. It is based on findings from a qualitative study that analyzed writings and speeches of 30 influential leaders from three religions in Indonesia (Buddhism, Islam and Protestant Christianity). While leaders from all three groups asserted that mental health problems have R/S causes, they differed on the extent to which they connected these causes with biophysical, psychological and social causes, largely based on multidisciplinary backgrounds and the context of their primary audience. The article proposes a new conceptual model to explain how religious leaders explain the connection between R/S and other factors through moral (healthy) living, moral thinking and moral behaving. This model contributes to a shared vocabulary for religious leaders and mental health professionals to collaborate in addressing a growing mental health crisis. Full article

This theoretical essay, inspired in part by the author’s own perplexities during fieldwork and post-conflict reconciliation efforts, draws on transdisciplinary studies of religion and peace science to trace the effects of religious actors and the causes of peace. The reoccurrence and determination of religiously inspired actors in post-conflict settings, where religion has historically influenced both war and peace, is rooted in the enduring effects of local religious systems. Yet the causes of these effects remain open questions. Answering them forces us to move beyond noting, for example, the interpretive association of religious actors and peaceful outcomes to inquiring whether and how religiously inspired actors cause peace. Since so much of contemporary peacebuilding depends on local religious leaders supporting peace efforts or re-traditionalizing rituals, scholars working in post-conflict settings often find themselves pulled into debates about the effects of religion on peace. An empirical task is therefore investigating the causal links between religion and peacebuilding, the effects of religious actors in their cultural context, and how to contribute to effective interreligious dialogue. To reach these ends, however, a theoretical path is needed. This essay offers such a path, firstly, by addressing faulty assumptions and residual problems in current scholarship, and, secondly, providing a pathway for making causal claims. That pathway includes aggregating commensurable data to distinguish sufficient-components in type and token cases, reconstructing the temporal order and likelihood of counterfactuals, and tracing biological universals and cultural knowledge from religious systems to peace events. Full article

Background: The role of religion and faith-based organisations in public health is increasingly examined through the framework of religious health assets (RHAs), defined as resources located in or held by religious entities that may be mobilised for health and development. Within this framework, church health assets (CHAs) are conceptualised as congregationally specific expressions of RHAs, namely, the tangible and intangible resources recognised within local church settings and interpreted by church leaders as relevant to adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH). Despite growing interest, there remains limited empirical work examining how such assets are perceived in relation to young people’s sexual and reproductive health, particularly from an emic perspective in sub-Saharan Africa. Aim: This study explored how pastors in South Africa’s Vaal Triangle perceive church assets relevant to AYSRH. Methods: The article presents findings from a qualitative study based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with eleven purposively selected pastors from Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, and Sasolburg. Data were collected between August 2019 and February 2020, prior to the COVID-19 restrictions that later altered face-to-face engagement in South Africa. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis informed by interpretive description, employing iterative coding, constant comparison, memoing, and a clearly defined audit trail. Results: The findings identified ten perceived CHAs, comprising five tangible assets, interaction spaces, community resources, normative teaching materials, networks and partnerships, and financial resources—and five intangible assets—reputation, voice on sexuality, mission and vision, a ready audience, and embodied messages. Across these themes, pastors predominantly framed AYSRH in moral and pedagogical terms, emphasising abstinence, guidance, and restoration, rather than a broader continuum encompassing information, prevention, care, rights, and service access. Conclusions: The study concludes that pastors perceive churches to possess substantial AYSRH-related assets; however, the analysis reflects perceptions rather than demonstrated implementation or measurable impact. The findings highlight both potential and limitation, indicating that the same assets may function as facilitators or barriers depending on their interpretation and application. The study contributes a pastor-centred, emic account of CHAs within a South African context and underscores the need for future multi-stakeholder research to assess how faith-sensitive AYSRH interventions operate in practice. Full article

The ability of religion to both unite and divide us is a central research topic across academic disciplines. There is important research on the conditions of religious pluralism and tolerance, violence and discrimination, yet disciplinary silos and disconnects between the academy and the public remain barriers to progress. To investigate these problems, we convened 56 scholars of religious pluralism and conflict from different national contexts over a two- year period and conducted focus groups around three broad questions: What are the key issues in defining religious pluralism and religious conflict? What are the most salient contexts in which to study religious pluralism and conflict, both geographically and institutionally? What tensions and opportunities are most important for advancing public scholarship on religious pluralism and conflict? We find that (1) religious pluralism is best conceptualized as an active interreligious engagement that honors differences, (2) achieving research clarity and focus requires specific interdisciplinary dialogue and tools, (3) identifying the conditions under which pluralism and conflict thrive demands diverse methods across sub-national, national, and global contexts, and (4) scholars must engage policymakers, religious leaders, and religious communities to advance religious pluralism. This study provides critical parameters for a future public facing research agenda. Full article

This paper examines the political instrumentalization of Islam under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, highlighting their distinct approaches to consolidating political authority. The concept of Sovereign Islam is introduced to describe how both leaders engaged with Islam, thereby shaping legitimacy, national identity, and state power. Atatürk, in establishing the secular Turkish Republic, sought to place religion under state supervision, viewing it as closely tied to the modernization project. In contrast, Erdoğan has expanded the public role of religion through Islamic and nationalist rhetoric, reintegrating it into political and social life. While their ideological orientations differ significantly, both leaders demonstrate how religion can become intertwined with state authority, influencing political loyalty, public discourse, and institutional structures. This paper suggests that Türkiye’s democratic challenges are better understood not as a consequence of Islam itself but through an analysis of how political actors have engaged with religion in state-building and governance. In doing so, it offers a perspective on the evolving relationship between religion, secularism, and political power in modern Türkiye. Full article

This study elucidates Luke’s analytical strategies for writing history in the book of Acts through comparison with the Roman historian Sallust, focusing on how both authors construct narratives of leadership. Although Sallust and Luke are rarely compared in New Testament scholarship due to conventional boundaries such as language, religion, and historical context, both authors deploy similar interpretive practices drawn from the broader milieu of Greco-Roman historiography. Sallust’s Bellum Catilinae presents Cicero as an ineffective leader who, despite suppressing Catiline’s conspiracy in 63 BCE, could not save Rome from moral decline. Conversely, Luke in the book of Acts, particularly in the Miletus Speech (Acts 20:17–38), depicts Paul as a leader whose tireless pastoral oversight caused the rise of Gentile Christianity across the Roman Empire. This comparative study reveals that Luke, like Sallust, shapes the past not merely by reporting events but by analyzing their significance through interpretive frameworks of leadership. Full article

This article examines the works of three iconic Iranian intellectuals of the 1960s—the Muslim thinker Jalál Ál-i-Aḥmad, the Islamist ideologue ‘Alí Sharí‘atí, and the Marxist theorist Iḥsán Ṭabarí—and argues that their shared underlying assumption is the claim that the Bahá’í religion has foreign roots and that its leaders maintain clandestine ties with foreign powers. By uncritically accepting the master narrative of Bahá’í espionage—shaped in large part by The Confessions of Dalgurúkí in the 1940s—these intellectuals, contrary to their role as agents of change and critics of authority, helped further consolidate and perpetuate this narrative. In doing so, and given their significant influence, they contributed to the distancing of their readers from their Bahá’í compatriots. Full article

This study examines educators’ perceptions of diversity prioritisation in leadership promotion practices within primary and post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland, with particular attention to generational differences informed by generational cohort theory. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, data were collected via an anonymous online survey (N = 123). Participants, comprising practising teachers and school leaders, rated their agreement with statements relating to the current prioritisation of diversity, the extent to which diversity should be prioritised, and the perceived impact of diversity on leadership effectiveness and school performance. Eight diversity dimensions were examined: age, disability, gender, national origin and culture, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, and religion. Descriptive analyses revealed broad support for diversity in leadership promotions across all age groups, with the strongest endorsement consistently expressed by the youngest cohort (20–29 years), suggesting a possible generational pattern within this exploratory sample. Overall, the findings point toward widespread but uneven support for diversity in leadership, shaped by generational shifts. This study highlights perceived support for more transparent, structured, and diversity-sensitive promotion frameworks within this sample to align practice with evolving professional values. Full article

Most primitive religions originated from the devout worship of celestial deities, earthly spirits, and ghosts. In oracle bone inscriptions, rituals related to praying for rain, temple worship, river deity worship, and the worship of great deities were referred to as “fang” 方 or “yi fang” 以方. The Supreme God was the paramount deity of the Yin Shang Dynasty people; by the early Zhou Dynasty, the Supreme God and ancestral spirits began to merge. The hexagram of Contemplation 觀卦 (guan gua) establishes instruction through the concept of “contemplation” fully presenting the entire process of shamans, sorcerers, or ritual hosts participating in temple sacrifices, and completing the hand-washing ritual 盥 (guan) and the sacrifice-offering ritual 薦 (jian). It emphasizes the sincere communication between humans and Heaven. When a monarch performs the guan ritual, he embodies inner “sincerity and clarity” 誠明 (chengming); in response, the celestial deities will “show trust” 有孚 (youfu). Thus, it can be verified that deities exist in Heaven, and an interactive, responsive relationship is formed between Heaven and humans. The nine in the fifth place (the dominant line) possesses great inspiring power. The two fundamental dimensions for interpreting the hexagram structure are “the great view is above” 大觀在上 (da guan zai shang) and “[t]hose below look toward him and are transformed” 下觀而化 (xia guan er hua). These dimensions not only highlight the infinite transcendence, charisma, and appeal of the worshipped deities but also underscore humans’ profound reverence and faith in deities and the absolute existence. Sages 聖人 (sheng ren), as intermediaries between humans and deities, established religion for the sake of human life but did not regard themselves as religious leaders. However, from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Spring and Autumn period, a transition occurred in the spiritual life of the Chinese people: from shamanism to ritual propriety 禮 (li), and from theistic culture to humanistic culture. This transition laid the fundamental direction for the development and evolution of Chinese culture over the following 2500 years. Confucius attempted to replace or eliminate the shamanistic elements in early Confucians with personalized moral experience and ethical consciousness. Full article

This paper explores the function of miracles in classical and modern Islamic theology, focusing particularly on Fethullah Gülen’s interpretation and its relevance to contemporary discussions on revelation, rationality, and science. Traditionally, miracles are viewed as divine signs confirming prophethood by surpassing natural laws and serving as challenges to disbelievers. While classical scholars upheld their evidentiary role, modern thinkers—under the influence of positivism and rationalism—have sought to reinterpret or dismiss their validity, particularly sensory or physical miracles. In this context, Gülen presents a distinctive perspective that reframes miracles not merely as supernatural phenomena, but as signs pointing to both spiritual truths and technological inspiration. Drawing from the insights of Said Nursi, Gülen highlights how prophetic miracles have anticipated and guided scientific advancements, thereby integrating material progress with spiritual wisdom. Gülen’s holistic understanding of human nature and prophetic guidance, rooted in the concept of human beings as the most refined creation (ahsani taqwīm), positions prophets as leaders of both spiritual and intellectual advancement. This dual role challenges the perceived conflict between revelation and reason, asserting that rationality reaches its full potential only when informed by prophetic insight. The paper also situates Gülen’s thought within broader modern theological discourses, particularly in response to critiques that Islam is incompatible with science. Gülen affirms the necessity of revelation not as a hindrance to rational inquiry but as its essential guide, likening prophets to expert physicians who administer the elixir of revelation to protect and elevate the human mind. By analysing Gülen’s approach to miracles and prophetic intellect (fatānah), this paper argues that his theology offers a balanced framework for reconciling religion and science, and contributes a meaningful response to contemporary debates surrounding the rationality of faith and the enduring relevance of prophethood. Full article

Since the 1990s, but especially in the early 21st century, a new family of right-wing populist parties has become a stable feature of Western European party systems. These parties, linked by several studies to new cleavages related to globalization processes and values changes which have happened since the late 20th century, are also marked by a new use of religion. In their worldview, this latter is indeed mainly an identity and civilization marker, related to the belonging, rather than believing or behaving, dimension. As a consequence, while they promote Christian symbols in the public sphere and are actively engaged in debates related to morality politics and multicultural society, they also contribute to processes of banalization and culturalization of faith, and to the delegitimization of religious leaders and institutions. For this reason, the scholarly community is divided about their role as promoters of religion, or, rather, as (maybe unintentional) agents of secularization. This article will try to contribute to this discussion by analyzing the Italian case. Italy is indeed an interesting laboratory for the study of right-wing populism, with the development over the past few decades of two state-wide parties belonging to the right-wing populist family, the League and Brothers of Italy, both currently part of the Meloni cabinet. The article will analyze the historical roots of the parties and their developments, their manifestos, their policy proposals, and their relations with religious institutions and symbols to reflect on the two parties’ uses of religion for political aims, and their meaning in relation to the above-mentioned theoretical debates. Full article

This study aims to understand how religious affective content in the digital realm influences epistemic authority, social imaginaries, and religious beliefs among young adults (individuals between 18 and 35) with a university education and who identify as Christian, Hindu, or Muslim in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Data indicate the growing role of digital platforms as epistemic sources for religious maintenance, while families, private sacred-text teachings, religious leaders, and the community continue to serve as primary sources. Cultural capital, such as higher education and social skills, does not necessarily make respondents psychologically or emotionally resilient to be able and effectively deal with moral distrust and hate speech on social media. In daily life individuals feel cross-pressured between their religious attitudes, and secular educational institutions and government agencies who promote liberal values while perceiving religion as a threat, despite not consistently adhering to those liberal values themselves. Hence, this experienced injustice in the city, enhanced by the negative framing of religion in digital media, may influence the social judgement of individuals and the processes of alienation, polarization and radicalization. Full article

Climate change is one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, with consequences that extend far beyond temperature rise. Its impacts include extreme weather events, sea level rise, biodiversity loss, and disruptions to food and water systems, all of which threaten ecosystems and human well-being. Addressing this crisis requires a broad understanding and engagement from society. However, climate change denial persists, often amplified through online platforms, slowing down effective action. Universities can play a critical role in this context, not only as spaces where scientific knowledge is produced and shared, but also as institutions that train future leaders to respond to environmental crises. In this study, we examined the prevalence of climate change denial among members of a Portuguese public university and explored its relationship with gender, religion, and political orientation. We collected 89 responses and analyzed the data. The findings indicate that individuals with right-leaning political views, certain religious affiliations, and male respondents were more likely to deny climate change. These results highlight the need for targeted educational approaches that address specific audiences, fostering a better understanding of the scientific and environmental realities of climate change, and ultimately promoting informed action toward sustainability. Full article

This article offers a comparative analysis of authoritarian governance in Egypt and Türkiye through the lens of two pivotal state–Islamist alliances: the early partnership and eventual rupture between Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), and the strategic collaboration followed by confrontation between Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Gülen Movement (GM). Despite operating in different historical and institutional settings—a postcolonial military regime in Egypt and an electoral, hybrid regime in Türkiye—both leaders allied with influential religious actors during moments of transition to gain popular support and dismantle entrenched power structures. These alliances were instrumental and temporary: once religious movements developed autonomous influence, they were recast as threats and suppressed through legal, institutional, and religious mechanisms. This study traces how religious institutions like Egypt’s al-Azhar and Türkiye’s Diyanet were co-opted to delegitimize these former allies and justify state repression. While the MB pursued overt political goals and the GM functioned through civic and technocratic channels, both were ultimately excluded from the political order once they had been considered as threats to the central authority of the regime. This comparison underscores the strategic use of religion in authoritarian statecraft and the enduring tension between religious autonomy and centralized political control in Muslim-majority polities. Full article

This study investigates the gendered effects of political violence on women (and children) from a church leader perspective. This paper critically examines the role of church leadership in protecting vulnerable groups in society (particularly women and children) and interrogates how church leadership has incorporated women and children into peacebuilding programmes. Using qualitative methods, in-depth interviews were conducted with church leaders affected by political violence in Zimbabwe. The results of this study show that women and children are disproportionately affected by political violence. The women and children are affected socially, economically, and psychologically as a result of political violence, which results in severe trauma, disruption, and loss of livelihoods, and, in severe cases, loss of lives. The results further indicate that the Church plays a crucial role in providing safe havens for the victims, offering spiritual guidance and counselling for the victims. However, the findings show that the Church continues to lack gender sensitivity and inclusivity in peacebuilding programmes. Women and children continue to be underrepresented in leadership roles in churches, as well as in driving the peacebuilding agenda. This paper argues for a transformative and gender-sensitive framework in church-led peace interventions, which prioritises the needs of women and children and incorporates them in the process. This paper argues that by adopting this approach, the Church harnesses its transformative capacity as a change agent for building sustainable peace and addressing political violence in a holistic manner. This interdisciplinary study contributes to the evolving scholarly debates on the intersections of gender, religion, and peacebuilding. Full article