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With roots in the early 1960s, decoloniality as a sub-sect of postcolonial studies made successful attempts at redefining and unearthing essentially Western conceptualizations of knowledge and knowledge formation across different fields of endeavor. Many academic disciplines have benefited from decolonial studies' self-reflective theories and deconstructive approaches, and religion and science should not be an exception. Within religion and science as an academic field, Western and European intellectual frames have been overwhelmingly presented as definitive of globalized perspectives and knowledge, especially the definition of "religion" and "science" within the academic field. The subtle but evident impact of adopting Western epistemology as 'the' definitive reference frame for all peoples and cultures is the transposition of colonial and overtly Eurocentric conceptualizations and definitions of what religion and science mean as perfunctory for what religion and science should mean within non-Western frames as well as a disregard for the latter. This has led to the presentation (or overrepresentation, according to Sylvia Wynter) of a single homogenized perspective for meaning-making and interpretation of topics and themes within the field, a decision which has not only significantly impacted the field, in terms of ongoing dialectics about the relationship between religion and science, but which has also seen the exclusion of other forms of beneficial epistemic reference frames, which have been viewed as subaltern. Drawing from Wynter's epistemic disobedience, this paper highlights decolonial approaches for engaging in the academic study of science and religion, and which will advance the path towards delinking the field from Euro-Western conceptualizations. This will unravel the rich epistemic formation within non-Western knowledge frames and the inclusion of which will greatly enrich and redefine the academic study of religion and science in the days ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New Atheist movement has been called “fundamentalist” in its allegiance to science. While true that New Atheism is remarkable among the various historical formations of atheism for its championing of the sciences, it is not fundamentalist. Where it does share a resemblance to Christian fundamentalism is in their respective attachments to a salvific epistemology either of science or of faith. For New Atheists, science “saves” as it provides order against chaos. This paper focuses on the writings of the New Atheist Sam Harris, drawing attention not just to the ordering function of science generally but also the ways in which Harris deploys science to engulf 1) morality, 2) the Buddhist belief that the self is an illusion, and 3) Buddhist practices of meditation. This study illuminates some affective potencies of science (or other potential epistemologies) as an ordering, and therefore “salvific,” way of navigating the world.

This paper presents a literature review of science teaching approaches that seek to support equity in science classrooms, focusing on marginalization based on (i) race/ethnicity, (ii) social class/socioeconomic background, and (iii) religion. Considered were approaches that science teachers can use in science classes in secondary schools. They were analyzed and discussed against the backdrop of critical pedagogy by Paulo Freire and the educational theory by Hannah Arendt, which constitutes a novelty in science education research. The review used meta interpretation combined with systematic searches in the ERIC database. It is, thus, limited to works published in English. A total of 930 articles (2013–2021) were identified out of which 64 were fully analyzed. The analysis shows that most approaches strive to provide more equal access to the existing science knowledge and structures of the community. This corresponds to the introduction to the "old world" in a conservative interpretation of Arendt's term. I argue that in addition, it is necessary to employ a more radical interpretation of the "old world" as fundamentally plural which is done in translanguaging and grappling with racism. Further, the transformative nature of science education needs to be strengthened in terms of Freire's critical pedagogy and Arendt's concept of natality. This means allowing students to become aware of oppressive structures to induce change. Only youth participatory science, youth participatory action research, and grappling with racism explicitly aim for this. This shows that nuanced perspectives on equity in science education are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Netflix show Ancient Apocalypse revolves around British writer Graham Hancock's claim that he has uncovered evidence indicating that there was an advanced, spiritually attuned civilization during the last Ice Age that brought key elements of culture to peoples around the world. Critics, professional archaeologists in particular, characterize Hancock as a pseudoarchaeologist and a pseudoscientist. A less commonly explored perspective is to see Hancock as a bricoleur who creates a myth from a motley selection of cultural elements. A quintessentially modern feature of his Ice Age myth is its tension in relation to scientific archaeology. A story that has the characteristics of a culture hero myth is presented as evidence- based and empirically more valid than the accounts of professional archaeologists. A narrative analysis based on the work of literary theorist Algirdas Greimas shows how this claim results, on the one hand, in a pervasive vagueness in the account of the Ice Age heroes and, on the other, in a far more sharply drawn story of Hancock as a present- day Promethean culture hero who fights the dogmatism of academics and reveals the insights of the ancient Ice Age sages to a world afflicted with amnesia about its true history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the integration of knowledge in the practice of ijtihad in contemporary Islamic law at State Islamic Religious Universities in North Sumatra and Aceh. Based on the analysis of integration of science in contemporary Islamic law research by students in Indonesian universities, this article formulates a design of integration of science as a trend in the method of ijtihad in contemporary Islamic law. The qualitative research in this article is based on data from 40 theses submitted to the Postgraduate Programmes at the North Sumatra State Islamic University, Medan, al-Raniry State Islamic University, Banda Aceh, and Syahada State Islamic University, Padang Sidimpuan. Research data was obtained by interviewing the theses supervisors and observing and analysing the theses contents. The results of this research show that the theses written by postgraduate students in the last three years have integrated science in the process of ijtihad but were conducted at the interdisciplinary level of connecting the concepts of science with Islamic law. The formulation model for science integration used in writing a thesis is vertical and horizontal integration, not yet moral and actual integration. The solution to implementing science integration in thesis writing is the need for collaboration in thesis research writing between students and lecturers and a government policy regarding guidelines for writing theses based on science integration, which refers to guidebooks published by Islamic Religious Universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an analysis of the science-religion relationship in the thought and practice of two influential chemists: F. Wilhelm Ostwald and Charles A. Coulson, who lived during the formative period Of modern chemistry (18705-19505). I examine Ostwald's program for an "allgemeine Chemie" and Coulson's program for quantum chemistry, explore the deeper implications/basic beliefs at stake in these developments, and suggest why the "received" interpretation of the relation of science and religion may be inadequate for an understanding of their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With roots in the early 1960s, decoloniality as a sub-sect of postcolonial studies made successful attempts at redefining and unearthing essentially Western conceptualizations of knowledge and knowledge formation across different fields of endeavor. Many academic disciplines have benefited from decolonial studies’ self-reflective theories and deconstructive approaches, and religion and science should not be an exception. Within religion and science as an academic field, Western and European intellectual frames have been overwhelmingly presented as definitive of globalized perspectives and knowledge, especially the definition of “religion” and “science” within the academic field. The subtle but evident impact of adopting Western epistemology as ‘the’ definitive reference frame for all peoples and cultures is the transposition of colonial and overtly Eurocentric conceptualizations and definitions of what religion and science mean as perfunctory for what religion and science should mean within non-Western frames as well as a disregard for the latter. This has led to the presentation (or overrepresentation, according to Sylvia Wynter) of a single homogenized perspective for meaning-making and interpretation of topics and themes within the field, a decision which has not only significantly impacted the field, in terms of ongoing dialectics about the relationship between religion and science, but which has also seen the exclusion of other forms of beneficial epistemic reference frames, which have been viewed as subaltern. Drawing from Wynter’s epistemic disobedience, this paper highlights decolonial approaches for engaging in the academic study of science and religion, and which will advance the path towards delinking the field from Euro-Western conceptualizations. This will unravel the rich epistemic formation within non-Western knowledge frames and the inclusion of which will greatly enrich and redefine the academic study of religion and science in the days ahead.

EDWARD FESER has written very intelligent things about religion and science. However, Feser's history of the nouvelle theologie begs the question of what was really at issue in its contestation [...]

This essay examines pantheism within the framework of the 'faith and reason' field in the philosophy of religion, with an emphasis on the question of the relationship between pantheism and empirical–scientific rationality. I address this question from what I call the Wittgensteinian Nonoverlapping Magisteria (WNOMA) approach to religion and science. WNOMA affirms a categorial difference between religious and scientific language and attitudes. This difference is interpreted with the help of Wittgenstein's distinction between religious and scientific beliefs and van Fraassen's distinction between religious and empiricist stances. This means that WNOMA is antievidentialist regarding religious beliefs and sees the experiential and instinctive aspects of religion as more fundamental than the systematic–intellectual aspect. Part of the variety in contemporary pantheism relates to the question of whether the emphasis is on the experiential–spiritual side of pantheism or its intellectual side, i.e., whether pantheism is 'hot' or 'cold'. I examine a few telling examples: Spinoza, Einstein, the World Pantheism Movement and a recent awe-some argument for pantheism by Ryan Byerly. The main contribution of this paper is a critical reading of these versions of pantheism from a WNOMA perspective, through which I hope to establish the plausibility and show some of the persuasive force of the WNOMA approach to pantheism, focusing on the relation of pantheism to scientific rationality on the one hand and felt experience on the other. I argue that hotter kinds of pantheism can be intellectually virtuous if they find a way to combine the empiricist stance and pantheist religious stance, even without a developed philosophical or theological system. I also argue that colder and philosophically rigorous pantheism can be problematic if it assumes religious evidentialism, neglects the experiential part of pantheism in favor of intellectualism or/and confuses the spheres of science and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Religious practices and experiences are thought to involve a variety of thoughts and behaviors, and various studies hypothesize the relationship between religion and changes in the brain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the corpus callosum (CC) of prayers by statistical shape analysis (SSA) and compare it with healthy ones who did not. Methods The study group consisted of 13 healthy people who pray regularly and the control group consisted of 14 healthy people who did not pray. Participants were scanned with a 1.5 T scanner and a high-resolution structural image of the entire brain was obtained with sagittal 3D spiral fast spin echo. In mid-sagittal images of each individual, the CC was marked using landmarks. The mean of 'Procrustes' points was calculated and shape deformations were evaluated using thin plate spline analysis. Results There was no significant difference between the CC area of prayers and controls. Maximum CC deformation was observed in the body and rostrum region markings during prayers. There was no significant difference in the other parameters of the individuals who performed regular prayers compared to the controls. Conclusions Corpus callosum analysis with SSA revealed differences between prayers and healthies. The study findings highlighted the abnormal distribution of white matter in the CC and the variable subregional nature of CC in prayers. The study findings showed that shape analysis could be a useful technique to show variations in the corpus callosum using MRI images.

This paper presents a Twelver Shīʿī defence of human evolution. It was written in dialogue with Shoaib Ahmed Malik's, Islam and Evolution: Al-Ghāzālī and the Modern Evolution Paradigm. It synthesises classical Twelver Shīʿī exegesis, hadith, doctrines, and philosophy with contemporary exegesis and scientific thought. Rather than taking the approach of scientific exegesis, it focuses on the origins of the human being in the immaterial realm, and is one of the few Islamic defences of evolution to be hadith-based. It also considers the possible role of hadith as cultural memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roles of women in STEM fields, including social and natural sciences, have changed significantly since IM/VII. Studying the inclusion of women in the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) provides a distinctive gender-based case study related to Christian mission and the evangelical Christian community. Analysis of fifty years of newsletters, time. The history of women in the ASA parallels the larger advancement of women, leadership statistics, and membership numbers illuminates the story of women over while also illuminating unique challenges within the evangelical Christian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a high-profile subject these days. In its brief history it has undergone several highs and lows and suffered from significant degrees of hype as well as antagonism and fear. One thing is clear: we are no closer to the goal of producing a truly sentient being than when it started. Nonetheless, the tools developed by AI researchers are here to stay and as with all technological advances it has its good and bad aspects. In this article I will present a brief overview of the field of AI looking at what it is, how it developed, what are its specialism as well as some of its well-publicised successes, and failures, as well as pointing out some key Christian participants in the story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since time immemorial, humans have wondered about the Universe, where it came from, and how it got to be the way it is today. The science of cosmology is advancing every day. Although some Sikh scientists and theologians have tried to represent cosmology in Sikhism, their interpretation of Bani (Words) from the Aad Guru Granth Sahib is based on creation by God. This article discusses cosmology in today’s science compared with that found in the Nanakian Philosophy of the 15th century. Copernicus, a contemporary of Nanak, and Galileo were working on Astronomy through observations of Nature, the use of Mathematics, and the newly invented telescope in 1609 in Europe, while Nanak was studying Cosmology in South Asia just by observation of Nature and phenomena in the Universe happening under specific laws. Nanakian philosophy briefly provides the key similarities with today’s Cosmology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Religious practices and experiences are thought to involve a variety of thoughts and behaviors, and various studies hypothesize the relationship between religion and changes in the brain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the corpus callosum (CC) of prayers by statistical shape analysis (SSA) and compare it with healthy ones who did not. Methods: The study group consisted of 13 healthy people who pray regularly and the control group consisted of 14 healthy people who did not pray. Participants were scanned with a 1.5 T scanner and a high-resolution structural image of the entire brain was obtained with sagittal 3D spiral fast spin echo. In mid-sagittal images of each individual, the CC was marked using landmarks. The mean of 'Procrustes' points was calculated and shape deformations were evaluated using thin plate spline analysis. Results: There was no significant difference between the CC area of prayers and controls. Maximum CC deformation was observed in the body and rostrum region markings during prayers. There was no significant difference in the other parameters of the individuals who performed regular prayers compared to the controls. Conclusions: Corpus callosum analysis with SSA revealed differences between prayers and healthies. The study findings highlighted the abnormal distribution of white matter in the CC and the variable subregional nature of CC in prayers. The study findings showed that shape analysis could be a useful technique to show variations in the corpus callosum using MRI images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ibn Khaldūn has achieved an eternal place among the great historical philosophers and is considered to be the best of all as he was the first one to treat history as a science and not merely as a narrative. Ibn Khaldūn was a famous historian, a great philosopher, and also an incredible educationist. His views on education and the deep psychological insight in the educational process and development of human mind and body tagged him as a great educator too. His contribution in education is considered to be worthwhile and valuable across the world in the field of education because he emphasized on the social efficiency as an aim of education and also promoted professional and vocational subjects along with academic subjects in education. This article is focusing the following discussions in the light of Ibn Khaldun’s view, namely are; Ibn Khaldun’s view of Education, methods of teaching, contribution in education, concept of integration of knowledge, integration between religion and science, theoretical dimensions and practical contributions and establishing the educational system with integrated approach.

This essay examines pantheism within the framework of the ‘faith and reason’ field in the philosophy of religion, with an emphasis on the question of the relationship between pantheism and empirical–scientific rationality. I address this question from what I call the Wittgensteinian Nonoverlapping Magisteria (WNOMA) approach to religion and science. WNOMA affirms a categorial difference between religious and scientific language and attitudes. This difference is interpreted with the help of Wittgenstein’s distinction between religious and scientific beliefs and van Fraassen’s distinction between religious and empiricist stances. This means that WNOMA is antievidentialist regarding religious beliefs and sees the experiential and instinctive aspects of religion as more fundamental than the systematic–intellectual aspect. Part of the variety in contemporary pantheism relates to the question of whether the emphasis is on the experiential–spiritual side of pantheism or its intellectual side, i.e., whether pantheism is ‘hot’ or ‘cold’. I examine a few telling examples: Spinoza, Einstein, the World Pantheism Movement and a recent awe-some argument for pantheism by Ryan Byerly. The main contribution of this paper is a critical reading of these versions of pantheism from a WNOMA perspective, through which I hope to establish the plausibility and show some of the persuasive force of the WNOMA approach to pantheism, focusing on the relation of pantheism to scientific rationality on the one hand and felt experience on the other. I argue that hotter kinds of pantheism can be intellectually virtuous if they find a way to combine the empiricist stance and pantheist religious stance, even without a developed philosophical or theological system. I also argue that colder and philosophically rigorous pantheism can be problematic if it assumes religious evidentialism, neglects the experiential part of pantheism in favor of intellectualism or/and confuses the spheres of science and religion.