Orthodoxy and Popular Culture: Editorial for the March 2025 issue
Posted by Arthur C. Petersen on 2025-06-21
In this Editorial for the March 2025 issue [click here browse the issue online; click here to view and download a PDF of the entire issue; and to order a printed copy for $9.99 (no-profit-to-journal price) through Amazon, choose for instance one of the following market places: US, UK, DE, FR, ES, IT, NL, PL, SE, JP, CA or AU], you will find a brief overview of the articles included in this issue, both in the general section and in two thematic sections, as well as an overview of books reviewed in the latest edition of Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology.
Articles
This issue contains four general articles. Jaime Tatay localizes and contextualizes the science-and-religion debate by examining the growing literature on sacred natural sites; he shows how mutual engagement between religious studies and conservation biology on this topic will benefit both. Junghyung Kim flags the importance in discussions on highly advanced artificial intelligences (AIs) to move beyond a focus on human–AI interaction; he emphasizes humility and pushes for ethical–political consideration from a planetary perspective. David Jalajel and Shoaib Malik assess the role of classical Sunnī theology in Islam-and-science; they propose that many perceived conflicts between Islam and science stem from misunderstandings, and that classical Islamic theology holds untapped potential for constructive engagement with scientific developments. Finally, Zachery Moffatt provides a study of miracles; he challenges philosophical and theological orthodoxy and argues that Augustine’s alternative conception of miracles upholds an intimate connection between God and nature while respecting the intrinsic wonder of miracles.
Popular Culture and Science and Religion (by Anthony Nairn)
Popular culture plays a significant role in most of our lives. Whether we are children developing interests, teenagers learning about the greater world, or adults navigating our way through an increasingly changing world, popular culture surrounds and informs us. We see examples of it waiting for the bus or the train, and we hear examples of it on the radio, in the car, or the shop. We are ever surrounded by popular culture in its many mediums, directly or indirectly. The fact that the music, film, video game, and social media industries are some of the largest, most lucrative, and pervasive, amounting to around half a trillion dollars combined, should not be a surprise. It has long been understood that popular culture influences, informs, and shapes the psychophysical profiles of people all across the globe. Yet, this powerful, pervasive area of study is still relegated to the outskirts of the academic arena.
This thematic section was brought together over the course of the summer of 2023, where I organized two panels at two separate conferences, one in America and one in the UK. I aimed to bring together scholars who work on popular culture and touch upon areas of our field of science and religion. Having a rather direct role in the field of science and religion, given my role with the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), I wanted to bring popular culture more visibility than I felt it had received, while simultaneously broadening the horizons of what constitutes avenues of engagement with “science” and “religion.”
In my own article, I aim to present a helpful source of instruction for our field of science and religion, highlighting important texts that have influenced my thinking on science and religion. Although scholarship on science and religion has expanded, its insights remain estranged from popular culture. I use Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar to show how theological motifs such as the Trinity, resurrection, and divine intervention coexist with hard-science frameworks, exemplifying a nuanced bridge between secular and spiritual narratives. I urge scholars to engage critically with popular culture.
Mark Alan Lokensgard looks at the CBS/Paramount program Evil, a horror genre show that draws dramatic and sometimes comic tension from the clashes among psychologist Kristen Bouchard, seminarian-in-training David Acosta, and tech expert Ben Shakir, whose divergent faith journeys shape their investigations of Church-commissioned paranormal cases. By staging their conflicting epistemologies against popular notions of science and religion, the series critiques rigid dogmas and, via its minor characters, intimates a more courageous, undogmatic way of confronting the unknown.
Emma St. Lawrence offers a unique perspective for science and religion scholars, showing that while the COVID-19 pandemic’s upheaval dissolved once-stable social frameworks, the “reality shifters” collective experiments at the nexus of science and spirituality reconfigure experience from the inside out, using intentional techniques to traverse and mold alternative worlds. Eschewing debates over empirical proof, the article frames reality shifting within a wider cultural pivot toward epistemic fluidity, positioning it as a liberatory prompt to reconsider how we construct and may reimagine our reality.
Ademola Kazeem Fayemi, Akinmayowa Akin-Otiko, and Emmanuel Ofuasia combine conceptual reasoning with thematic analysis of interviews with seven priests in southwestern Nigeria to scrutinize the moral and epistemic quandaries that arise when sacred oracular knowledge meets algorithmic mediation amid mounting ambitions to digitize Ifá divination. The respondents are sharply divided: while some praise computerized Ifá as a progressive confluence of technology and spirituality, others warn that automation risks corpus misuse, spiritual dilution, and indiscriminate public dissemination, leaving the tradition’s future uncertain.
I hope that with this collection of articles, a door opens that was previously closed, that more time is directed towards understanding the ways that popular culture is central to the role of perceptions of science and religion, broadly conceived, on the broader public.
Science and Orthodoxy around the World
(by Gayle Woloschak, Perry Hamalis, and Elizabeth Theokritoff)
The relationship of science and Orthodox Christianity has been shaped by theological, cultural, and historical contexts that have influenced scientific and religious inquiry. This relationship has been explored by different groups, among the most prominent of which has been the “Science and Orthodoxy around the World” project (SOW), funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation. This program was led by Efthymios Nicolaidis and his team at the National Hellenic Research Foundation in Athens and ran from 2016–2023. Scholars interested in the relationship between Orthodoxy and science were brought together to present their work and discuss a broad range of topics including bioethics, creation and evolution, anthropology, physics, and more. SOW’s efforts resulted in four edited books published by Brepols, two documentaries, a series of videos and podcasts, and several regional conferences that could be used to introduce new scholars to the discussion. More information is available at project-sow.org.
The collection of articles in this thematic section represents the results of one such regional conference held at North Central College in Naperville, IL, USA on June 6 and 7, 2022. The conference focused predominantly on biological, ethical, and environmental themes similar to those that had been discussed at the larger scale conferences in Athens. Parallel regional conferences on themes relating to physics were also conducted at approximately the same time.
The first set of articles deals with approaches to handling disease using modern technologies. Ana Iltis examines stem cell sciences from a bioethical perspective, exploring questions about how stem cell research should be conducted and what limitations should be placed on the use of stem cells in biomedical situations. Related to this, Katarina Trajković considers stem cell biology and the eventual transplantation of stem cells including transplantation to oneself. Gayle Woloschak’s article considers an earlier step in the process of therapy, the use of new gene therapy technologies to treat or even prevent the development of particular diseases that have a genetic component. Katherine McCray considers the question of how best to respond to those who are disabled and particularly working to develop a theology of disability built upon an ontology of dependence. The final article in the set on ethical concerns in the area of health is by Carrie Frederick Frost, who engages with the theology of motherhood and childbearing.
The second set of articles in this series is focused on issues related to evolution and environment. Andrew Nosal examines how one should regard animals whose natural behavior is “offensive”—animals who eat their young, kill their mates, etc. How should such species and behaviors be viewed theologically in a “good” creation? Tatjana Paunesku explores the biology of evolution from the perspective of sexual reproduction and natural selection, inviting the community to think about biology as a mystery. Kalliopi Stara et al. take a turn toward the intersection of spirituality and ecology, discussing the tradition of “sacred forests” in parts of central Greece and its continuing role in the preservation of centuries-old trees and habitats. She discusses the importance of preserving these not only on environmental grounds, but also for theological and cultural reasons. Crina Gschwandtner considers the theological and philosophical concept of “decay” and its importance in the traditional Orthodox Christian understanding of salvation and the problems in reconciling it with a scientific understanding of the physical world. Bruce Foltz takes a poetic approach as he introduces a novel symbolic ontology of creation that is grounded in the Orthodox patristic tradition. Finally, Paul Ladouceur continues the theme of how modern Orthodox thought envisions the natural world by exploring the debates among theologians over the concept of panentheism.
By examining how Orthodox thought engages with scientific development, these articles provide valuable insights into the developing discourse between the disciplines. Whether addressing the role of Orthodox theology in shaping scientific approaches or investigating how modern scientific discoveries challenge traditional doctrines, the articles in this thematic section highlight the dynamic interplay between faith and science, providing a broader understanding of how science and Orthodox Christianity continue to shape cultures and intellectual traditions around the world.
Books reviewed in Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology
Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology is a quarterly joint publication of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT) and the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) and is distributed free to all members of ESSSAT and ISSR. In order to give readers of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science an overview of recent publications, we include the list of books reviewed in the latest Reviews issue (in this case, December 2024):
- Hans Madueme, Defending Sin: A Response to the Challenges of Evolution and the Natural Sciences, Ada, MI: Baker Academic, 2024
- Mark Harris, La naturaleza de la creación: Un estudio de la relación entre la Biblia y la ciencia, Madrid: Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, 2019 (Spanish translation of The Nature of Creation: Examining the Bible and Science, 2013)
- Finlay Malcolm and Michael Scott, A Philosophy of Faith: Belief, Truth and Varieties of Commitment, New York and London: Routledge, 2023