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Religions

Religions is an international, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, open access journal on religions and theology, published monthly online by MDPI.

Open Access— free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
High Visibility: indexed within Scopus, AHCI (Web of Science), ATLA Religion Database, Religious and Theological Abstracts, and other databases.
Journal Rank: CiteScore - Q1 (Religious Studies)
Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 20.1 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 4.8 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the second half of 2022).
Recognition of Reviewers: reviewers who provide timely, thorough peer-review reports receive vouchers entitling them to a discount on the APC of their next publication in any MDPI journal, in appreciation of the work done.

Imprint Information Journal Flyer Open Access ISSN: 2077-1444

Latest Articles

Open AccessArticle

Catholicism in the Changing Religious Field of Latin America: A Mapping

by

Jakob Egeris Thorsen

Religions 2023, 14(4), 461; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040461 (registering DOI) - 29 Mar 2023

This article presents a mapping of the changing religious landscape of Latin America, specifically focusing on the place of Catholicism therein. It explores how the varying forms of Catholicism in Latin America reflect a reality of mixed modernities, described as “tiempos mixtos” (Waldo [...] Read more.

This article presents a mapping of the changing religious landscape of Latin America, specifically focusing on the place of Catholicism therein. It explores how the varying forms of Catholicism in Latin America reflect a reality of mixed modernities, described as “tiempos mixtos” (Waldo Ansaldi), where elements of pre-modern, modern, and late modern worldviews and values are intertwined in ways very different from those of the North Atlantic West. By applying the modernization and secularization theories of David Martin and Charles Taylor and the sociology of religion of Pierre Bourdieu to the Latin American context, this article takes the first step to developing an explicatory map that can help us better understand changes within the religious field in Latin America today and the role of both popular and institutional Catholicism therein. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholicism in Latin America)

Open AccessArticle

Is the Black Church Dead?: Religious Resilience and the Contemporary Functions of Black Christianity

by

Shaonta’ E. Allen

Religions 2023, 14(4), 460; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040460 (registering DOI) - 29 Mar 2023

Recent sociological literature draws attention to the changes in religious affiliation and expression among younger generations. More specifically, extant research suggests that the increase in religious “nones” (those who no longer identify with a religion) and “dones” (those who no longer affiliate with [...] Read more.

Recent sociological literature draws attention to the changes in religious affiliation and expression among younger generations. More specifically, extant research suggests that the increase in religious “nones” (those who no longer identify with a religion) and “dones” (those who no longer affiliate with a religious congregation) substantiates the secularization thesis which contends that religion is becoming increasingly insignificant in modern society. However, when these trends are disaggregated across racial lines, religious affiliation remains high among Black Millennials. The present study explores this anomaly further, drawing on data from in-depth interviews with 65 Black Christian Millennials to assess how, if at all, the historic functions of the Black Church are still prevalent among Black Christians today. Findings suggest that while some functions have remained constant across generations (i.e., social–cultural), others have evolved (i.e., socio-political and socio-educational) or become defunct (i.e., socio-economic) and new functions have emerged (i.e., socio-emotional). As such, I introduce the concept religious resilience as a framework for understanding how and why a religion’s “afterlife” is sustained despite macro-level processes that might undermine its prominence. Altogether, this study has implications for how we conceptualize racialized religion and how we measure, operationalize, and understand religious expression across social locations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Functions of Religion for Human Society)

Open AccessReview

Religious Education in the Early Years: An Irish Perspective

by

Cora O’Farrell

Religions 2023, 14(4), 459; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040459 (registering DOI) - 29 Mar 2023

Ireland’s education system at primary level is renowned for its lack of diversity, with most schools falling under the patronage of the Catholic Church. This homogeneity of school type is problematic from a number of perspectives, not least the changed demographics in terms [...] Read more.

Ireland’s education system at primary level is renowned for its lack of diversity, with most schools falling under the patronage of the Catholic Church. This homogeneity of school type is problematic from a number of perspectives, not least the changed demographics in terms of religious affiliation in Ireland. There is a desire for change by all; however, the pace of change is slow. Whilst the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) determines the curriculum for all subject areas in primary schools, this body has no remit over the subject of religious education (RE). The responsibility for the provision of RE has rested with the patrons of schools since the inception of the national school system. This review focuses on the provision of early years’ Catholic RE in schools and pre-schools in the Republic of Ireland. In recent years, the importance afforded to the subject of RE and its status in schools has been eroded. The impact on early childhood religious education of this diminution is outlined. The review also addresses the training and support of teachers to work in the Catholic school sector and concurs with other writers in the field that current programmes of preparation require reform. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue International Perspectives and Practices for Religious Education in Early Childhood)

Open AccessArticle

Cyberterrorism and Religious Fundamentalism: New Challenges for Europe in the Age of Universal Internet Access

by

Silvia Baldassarre

Religions 2023, 14(4), 458; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040458 - 29 Mar 2023

Digital technology is now a fundamental and indispensable component of daily life. While the great opportunities offered by cyberspace are undoubted, the growing security challenges and threats it brings should not be overlooked. Cyberspace, by its nature transnational and elusive regarding forms of [...] Read more.

Digital technology is now a fundamental and indispensable component of daily life. While the great opportunities offered by cyberspace are undoubted, the growing security challenges and threats it brings should not be overlooked. Cyberspace, by its nature transnational and elusive regarding forms of control, is useful to terrorism because it allows not only the propaganda of fundamentalist doctrines but also the creation and manipulation of information; the apology and dissemination of information instrumental to the processes of radicalisation; the use of devices capable of transversally violating the security of technical and virtual infrastructures that are critical to the security of nations; the operational planning of terrorist activities; and the recruitment, financing, and training of recruits. The so-called “new terrorism”, religiously motivated, makes extensive use of the digital tool. After an excursus concerning the use of cyberspace by religious fundamentalist groups and the transformation of religiously motivated terrorism, this paper focuses on the analysis of the European legal response and on the need for global and shared European action. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Law and Religion in Europe in an Age of Fear and Insecurity)

Open AccessArticle

Through the Open Gate of Heavens: The Tōdaiji Objects and Salvation in Vairocana’s Lotus Treasury World

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Religions 2023, 14(4), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040457 - 28 Mar 2023

The set of eighth-century objects known as the “Tōdaiji Golden Hall Platform Pacifying Objects” (Tōdaiji Kondō chindangu 東大寺金堂鎮壇具; “Tōdaiji objects”) is among the earliest concrete evidence of ritual practice in the Nara period. This study reveals how the Tōdaiji objects transformed the [...] Read more.

The set of eighth-century objects known as the “Tōdaiji Golden Hall Platform Pacifying Objects” (Tōdaiji Kondō chindangu 東大寺金堂鎮壇具; “Tōdaiji objects”) is among the earliest concrete evidence of ritual practice in the Nara period. This study reveals how the Tōdaiji objects transformed the space inside the temple’s colossal central statue of the Vairocana Buddha into a symbolic heavenly realm where the deceased would traverse to arrive at Vairocana’s Pure Land. Close analysis of the Tōdaiji objects within Sovereigns Shōmu’s and Kōken’s religiopolitical applications of the Kegon teaching strengthens Okumura Hideo’s argument that Kōken orchestrated the emplacement of these objects in the year 757 as part of commemorating the one-year anniversary of Shōmu’s death. I argue that the Tōdaiji objects encapsulated Kōken’s filial piety towards her father, Shōmu, by praying for his swift ascension to Vairocana’s Pure Land. The objects furthermore served as a reenactment of Buddhist repentance that not only ensured Shōmu’s salvation, but also the prosperity of Kōken’s new reign. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhist Doctrine and Buddhist Material Culture)

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Open AccessArticle

Ornament of Reality: Language Ideology in a Tantric Śākta Text

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Jackson Barkley Stephenson

Religions 2023, 14(4), 456; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040456 - 28 Mar 2023

The Mahānayaprakāśa of Śitikaṇṭha is an understudied text within Kashmir Śaivism, notable for its rich description of the inner structure of consciousness vis-à-vis the body and the natural world, and esotericization of Left-Handed Tantric Practice. Furthermore, it is also significant in its form; [...] Read more.

The Mahānayaprakāśa of Śitikaṇṭha is an understudied text within Kashmir Śaivism, notable for its rich description of the inner structure of consciousness vis-à-vis the body and the natural world, and esotericization of Left-Handed Tantric Practice. Furthermore, it is also significant in its form; like the Buddhist dohākoṣas it consists of Apabhraṃśa verses with accompanying Sanskrit commentary. However, in the sporadic scholarship on this text it is consistently portrayed as an early attestation of “Old Kashmiri,” and siloed off into obscurity. This article demonstrates that these verses are definitively composed in Apabhraṃśa, and argues that they should be examined alongside their Buddhist counterparts, which also articulate a mystical cosmology of the sacred realm Uḍḍiyāna located within the body. Afterwards the fourth chapter of this text is translated and presented, in which the human body takes center stage as the pīṭha, the pilgrimage destination and practice space of Tantric ritual. Ultimately this article argues that within medieval Tantric traditions the Apabhraṃśa verse form served as a privileged vehicle of esoteric teachings, and that it commands a unique linguistic value by indexing mystical states of consciousness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tantric Studies for the Twenty-First Century)

Open AccessArticle

Sites of Solitude: Situating the Wilderness of Nature in Wei-Jin Dark Learning and Emerson

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Religions 2023, 14(4), 455; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040455 - 28 Mar 2023

For Daoism, the wilderness of nature beyond human society has often been viewed as a site for eremitic retreat in spiritual solitude, a realm where an individual can transcend the limits of social existence. While this tradition flourished in the early medieval Wei-Jin [...] Read more.

For Daoism, the wilderness of nature beyond human society has often been viewed as a site for eremitic retreat in spiritual solitude, a realm where an individual can transcend the limits of social existence. While this tradition flourished in the early medieval Wei-Jin period, Daoism-inspired Dark Learning thinkers of the time also explored ways in which such a realm of solitude could be attained and enjoyed without the necessity of leaving behind the mundane world, an endeavor that has clear parallels with the function of solitude in Emerson’s Transcendentalism. This paper focuses on three sites where both Emerson and Dark Learning thinkers located such access to solitude: aesthetic appreciation of nature, metaphysical speculation, and authentic social relationships. In both Emerson and Dark Learning, the universal implications of metaphysical speculation provided a path by which the solitude and independence attainable in the wilderness of nature could be connected to individuals in social life, providing a foundation for ethics outside of traditional authority that led both Emerson and Dark Learning to face similar criticisms from more conservative contemporaries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nature, Spirituality and Place: Comparative Study between American Transcendentalism and Chinese Religions)

Open AccessArticle

Love as Consolidation of the Self-in-the-World: Martin d’Arcy’s Speculation on Love as a Metaphysical Supplement to Phenomenology

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Religions 2023, 14(4), 454; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040454 - 28 Mar 2023

In his seminal work The Mind and the Heart of Love. A Study in Eros and Agape, Martin d’Arcy shows that self-sacrificial love (agape) and desire (eros) express the mystery of selfhood. Using the method of phenomenology, he demonstrates that eros [...] Read more.

In his seminal work The Mind and the Heart of Love. A Study in Eros and Agape, Martin d’Arcy shows that self-sacrificial love (agape) and desire (eros) express the mystery of selfhood. Using the method of phenomenology, he demonstrates that eros and agape encompass a range of affectations, emotions and existential modes. All these make sense when seen as stages in the process of self-giving. Thus, eros and agape do not pertain to two opposing aspects of the soul. Rather, they are modes of manifestation of the entire person. In answering to the agapeic love of God, human agapeic love comes to a state which reason cannot grasp. At this point the erotic impulse steps in in order for the human soul to take the path of unknowing. Through this interplay the true hierarchy of being is perceived and the human person enters into loving exchange with the world. This happens within a three-tier process of loving knowledge whose structure is similar to the model of self-knowledge developed in the early Byzantine theological compendium Corpus dionysiacum. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Change)

Open AccessArticle

Contribution of Islamic Religious Education to Intercultural Values in Pluralistic European Cultures: Insights from Bosnia and Herzegovina

by

Dina Sijamhodžić-Nadarević

Religions 2023, 14(4), 453; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040453 - 28 Mar 2023

This article aims to highlight how Islamic Religious Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country of rich cultural and religious diversity, promotes and advocates intercultural values of diversity, tolerance, solidarity, peace and dialogue in the context of contribution to intercultural values in pluralistic [...] Read more.

This article aims to highlight how Islamic Religious Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country of rich cultural and religious diversity, promotes and advocates intercultural values of diversity, tolerance, solidarity, peace and dialogue in the context of contribution to intercultural values in pluralistic European cultures. This article also emphasizes the growing need to raise inclusive religious and intercultural awareness. Further, this article provides a content analysis of the BH unified curriculum of confessional Islamic Religious Education (IRE), a subject that is incorporated in all state-maintained schools, as well as the analyses of intercultural values embedded in Islamic higher education programs of the Faculty of Islamic Studies at the University of Sarajevo, which prepares religious education teachers and mu’allims. The purpose of this article is also to review the practices and projects which center around the intercultural and interreligious development of teachers and students through practical experience with intercultural dialogue. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Islamic Education in Western Contexts: Visions, Goals and Practices)

Open AccessArticle

Newspaper Leaders as Moral Exhortation: Understanding the Rhetoric of Civil Religion in Colonial Australia

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Chavura Stephen

Religions 2023, 14(4), 452; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040452 - 28 Mar 2023

This article argues that the leading article, or leader, of a newspaper played a role in the ‘secular’ society of colonial Australia not unlike that of the sermon in the religious sphere. One of its primary objectives was moral exhortation to encourage Australian [...] Read more.

This article argues that the leading article, or leader, of a newspaper played a role in the ‘secular’ society of colonial Australia not unlike that of the sermon in the religious sphere. One of its primary objectives was moral exhortation to encourage Australian colonists to follow a path that would enable the colony to fulfil providence and create an appropriate moral order. Their celebration of the British political order was a form of civil theology that matched the more dogmatic theology to be found in church sermons. This similarity was also assisted by the fact that a significant number of clergy either edited newspapers or wrote for them. This article considers several expressions of this civil theology, and then concentrates on the Rev John West who edited the Sydney Morning Herald and who used his leading articles to castigate his fellow colonists for their failure to live up to the ideals of their British political heritage. He was particularly harsh on the workings of colonial democracy which led him into conflict with another cleric, the Rev John Dunmore Lang. Full article

Open AccessArticle

Whence the 8th Day of the 4th Lunar Month as the Buddha’s Birthday

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Religions 2023, 14(4), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040451 - 27 Mar 2023

Two dates, the 8th day of the 4th lunar month (Date A) and the 8th day of the 2nd lunar month (Date B), are found in Chinese Buddhist translations as the Buddha’s birthday. However, how to understand the simultaneous existence of both of [...] Read more.

Two dates, the 8th day of the 4th lunar month (Date A) and the 8th day of the 2nd lunar month (Date B), are found in Chinese Buddhist translations as the Buddha’s birthday. However, how to understand the simultaneous existence of both of these dates remains an unresolved problem. This paper proposes a rather new interpretation to try to solve this puzzle, and provide an answer to the question: whence the 8th day of the 4th lunar month as the Buddha’s birthday? It is argued that: (1) The date of the Buddha’s conception and the date of his birth were both translated variously as Date A or Date B in early Chinese Buddhist literature. However, many later texts referring to the Buddha’s birthday do not include reference to an auspicious junction star (puṣyanakṣatra), which is critical for understanding these dates; (2) Both the Indian and Chinese traditions regard an individual’s life to begin at the moment of conception; therefore, the so-called Buddha’s birthday could be argued as the date of his conception; (3) The date of conception of the Buddha was specified as the 8th day of the śuklapakṣa of the month Vaiśākha, the day of the vernal equinox. This corresponds to Date A in the Chinese Xia calendar. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Life History of Chinese Buddhist Monks)

Open AccessArticle

Congregational Care: Philosophical Reflection on a Case Study

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Joyce E. Bellous

Religions 2023, 14(4), 450; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040450 - 27 Mar 2023

Congregational care strengthens relationships and supports spiritual growth. This article establishes groundwork for developing congregational care at First Baptist in Edmonton (FBC) by introducing a spiritual needs approach to engage people in conversation and by using a Spiritual Styles Assessment that has 36 [...] Read more.

Congregational care strengthens relationships and supports spiritual growth. This article establishes groundwork for developing congregational care at First Baptist in Edmonton (FBC) by introducing a spiritual needs approach to engage people in conversation and by using a Spiritual Styles Assessment that has 36 questions to foster communication among congregational members. The article has four parts. The first introduces the congregation and a list of spiritual needs. The second part includes information about the Spiritual Styles Assessment and spirituality research. Parts three and four describe attitudes, skills and practices that enhance communicative action by helping people talk together and practice radical welcome as a foundation for congregational care. The purpose for establishing a foundation for congregational care is to suggest a way forward for a congregation that faces significant differences in values, beliefs, expectations, personal experience, and faith assumptions, even among people who have known each other for years. FBC is trying to find ways to reach understanding and offer care to all who enter the Sanctuary. The purpose of the article is to reflect philosophically on what congregants need from each other as signs of respect, inclusion and caring. The article outlines attitudes, skills, and practices that create communicative communities that are capable of nurturing congregational care by developing human understanding based on faith experience and communicative action. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christian Congregations as Communities of Care)

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Of Cosmological Visions and Creativity: Shaping Animism, Indigenous Science, and Forestry in Southwest China

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Katherine Swancutt

Religions 2023, 14(4), 449; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040449 - 27 Mar 2023

How do cosmological visions unsettle animistic and scientific ways of approaching the world? Whereas ‘cosmovisions’ have the narrow meaning of ‘worldviews’, people unleash new ‘cosmological visions’ through the creative act of relating to—and simultaneously dismantling—their constructs of the world at large. Drawing on [...] Read more.

How do cosmological visions unsettle animistic and scientific ways of approaching the world? Whereas ‘cosmovisions’ have the narrow meaning of ‘worldviews’, people unleash new ‘cosmological visions’ through the creative act of relating to—and simultaneously dismantling—their constructs of the world at large. Drawing on my ethnography of the Nuosu, a Tibeto-Burman group of Southwest China, I show how an ethnohistorian and a priest set out, at the request of a local official, to address deforestation with a cosmological vision built upon animistic, indigenous scientific, social scientific, and natural scientific sensibilities. Holding sacrifices to land spirits across the Liangshan mountains of Yunnan province in the mid-2000s, they urged Nuosu to refrain from cutting down trees. Many Nuosu in the lumber trade responded with a counter vision that showed respect for land spirits but an unprecedented detachment from the world in animistic-cum-scientific terms. Cosmological visions like these proliferate among Nuosu, encouraging them to experiment with everything from testing the patience of land spirits to undercutting the science behind China’s forest protection policies. Here, creativity opens up new ways of envisioning indigenous autonomy and what it means to be alive to the world as an animist, a scientist, or both. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Science and Technology in Pantheism, Animism and Paganism)

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Open AccessArticle

Mesopotamian Synchronistic Chronography and the Book of Kings

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Kristin Weingart

Religions 2023, 14(4), 448; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040448 - 27 Mar 2023

The Book of Kings uses a particular synchronistic framework to present the parallel histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in 1 Kings 14–2 Kings 17. Some Ancient Near Eastern chronographic compositions (synchronistic king lists, the Neo-Babylonian chronicle, the so-called Synchronistic History) [...] Read more.

The Book of Kings uses a particular synchronistic framework to present the parallel histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in 1 Kings 14–2 Kings 17. Some Ancient Near Eastern chronographic compositions (synchronistic king lists, the Neo-Babylonian chronicle, the so-called Synchronistic History) also record chronological relationships between ruler sequences in neighboring kingdoms. This paper distinguishes between synchronized dating and synchronistic compositions, offers a comparison between these compositions and the Book of Kings, and discusses aspects of the latter’s characteristics and pragmatics. The extant Mesopotamian synchronistic compositions presuppose and express a special connection between Assyria and Babylonia. It seems that a similar idea—applied to Israel and Judah—also stands behind the synchronistic composition in 1 Kings 14–2 Kings 17. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The History of Literature and Theology in the Hebrew Bible)

Open AccessArticle

Notes on the Laozi and Yan Fu’s Theory of Dao

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Religions 2023, 14(4), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040447 - 25 Mar 2023

In his Notes on the Laozi, Yan Fu constructs a new and unique theory of Dao that incorporates ideas from both Chinese and Western philosophies. Yan’s Dao is a unity of the physical and the metaphysical. It not only inherits the characteristics [...] Read more.

In his Notes on the Laozi, Yan Fu constructs a new and unique theory of Dao that incorporates ideas from both Chinese and Western philosophies. Yan’s Dao is a unity of the physical and the metaphysical. It not only inherits the characteristics of Dao in the Laozi, as the origin and destination of all things, but also adds materiality by being equated to Aether. Yan further draws on the principles of calculus to bridge the physical and metaphysical sides of Dao. However, his infusion of evolution into his Dao conception is incompatible with the cycles of reversion that are the characteristic motion of Laozi’s Dao and this leads to internal contradictions in Yan Fu’s vision. When applied to realpolitik, the principles of void and non-being expounded in Yan’s theory of Dao become embodied in democracy. It can be said that democracy is the ultimate result of applying this new theory of Dao to politics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Laozegetics: Engaging the Multiplicity of Laozi Interpretations and Translations)

Open AccessArticle

The Literary and Theological Function of the Philistines and Arameans in Chronicles

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Stephen Germany

Religions 2023, 14(4), 446; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040446 - 25 Mar 2023

The book of Chronicles is a well-known example of how theological developments in Judah during the Persian and Hellenistic periods played a role in reshaping the received literary traditions of the Hebrew Bible. This study focuses specifically on Chronicles’ narratives of violent conflicts [...] Read more.

The book of Chronicles is a well-known example of how theological developments in Judah during the Persian and Hellenistic periods played a role in reshaping the received literary traditions of the Hebrew Bible. This study focuses specifically on Chronicles’ narratives of violent conflicts between Israel/Judah and the Philistines and Arameans and their relationship to the portrayal of the Philistines and Arameans in Samuel–Kings. It discusses five case studies pertaining to violent encounters between Israelite/Judahite kings and the Philistines (Saul in 1 Chr 10; Jehoshaphat in 2 Chr 17; Jehoram in 2 Chr 21; Uzziah in 2 Chr 26; Ahaz in 2 Chr 28) and five pertaining to the Arameans (Asa in 2 Chr 16; Jehoshaphat in 2 Chr 18–19; Ahaziah in 2 Chr 22; Joash in 2 Chr 24; Ahaz in 2 Chr 28). Among other new findings, the study highlights how Chronicles repeatedly depicts the Philistine threat in tandem with conflicts with the Edomites (a phenomenon not found in Samuel–Kings) and, furthermore, casts the Arameans as an instrument of divine punishment not only against northern Israelite kings but also against Judahite kings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The History of Literature and Theology in the Hebrew Bible)

Open AccessArticle

Does Workplace Spirituality Increase Self-Esteem in Female Professional Dancers? The Mediating Effect of Positive Psychological Capital and Team Trust

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Religions 2023, 14(4), 445; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040445 - 25 Mar 2023

Based on the self-transcendence theory and immaturity-maturity theory, this study empirically tested the influence of female professional dancers’ workplace spirituality on positive psychological capital, team trust, and self-esteem. The subjects of this study were female professional dancers. We conducted the surveys in two [...] Read more.

Based on the self-transcendence theory and immaturity-maturity theory, this study empirically tested the influence of female professional dancers’ workplace spirituality on positive psychological capital, team trust, and self-esteem. The subjects of this study were female professional dancers. We conducted the surveys in two countries—the United States and the United Kingdom—and ultimately obtained 441 samples. To test the hypotheses, we performed a structural equation model analysis using three statistical programs: SmartPLS, GSCA Pro, and jamovi. (1) The workplace spirituality of female professional dancers showed a statistically significant positive influence on positive psychological capital, team trust, and self-esteem. (2) The positive psychological capital of female professional dancers showed a statistically significant positive influence on team trust and self-esteem. (3) The team trust of female professional dancers showed a statistically significant positive influence on self-esteem (except when using jamovi). This study found that fostering workplace spirituality was paramount for female professional dancers in an organization. Accordingly, we outlined four recommendations for the organizations: (1) convey the importance of the organization’s mission and values to organizational members; (2) increase each organizational member’s decision-making and autonomy; (3) encourage members to cooperate while working in the domains of their specific positions; and (4) discourage members from neglecting their organizational responsibilities and resorting to egoism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spirituality and Positive Psychology)

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Open AccessArticle

How Do Religious “Ask the Expert Sites” Shape Online Religious Authorities? From Clerics to Online Influencers

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Ayelet Baram-Tsabari

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Religions 2023, 14(4), 444; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040444 - 24 Mar 2023

Over the past two decades, religious websites have gained immense popularity and have become dynamic platforms for sparking discourse, practice, and modes of leadership. The internet has allowed religious leaders to reach more believers than ever before and compete for online followership. How [...] Read more.

Over the past two decades, religious websites have gained immense popularity and have become dynamic platforms for sparking discourse, practice, and modes of leadership. The internet has allowed religious leaders to reach more believers than ever before and compete for online followership. How do religious leaders negotiate their authority through online information outlets? This study explores religious “Ask the Rabbi” websites specializing in religious Jewish knowledge. The corpus is composed of 50,799 Q&A public messages between rabbis and laypeople, asked and posted from 2005 to 2019. The findings point to a shift in the authority of religious Q&A websites from the initial authority endowed to the websites through the institutionally well-known rabbis who participated on the platform. Over time, however, these websites became public spheres of learning where little-known rabbis could establish their popularity. Textual analysis revealed that the writing style evolved from short answers with few cited sources to richly sourced essays. This may suggest that online religious Q&As have shifted from being viewed as a way to contact well-known rabbis to a legitimate forum for religious discourse and selecting spiritual guidance. The discussion centers on this socio-religious change in the information age where clerics harness the web to hone their craft, recruit their flock, and ultimately, constitute their authority. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Society, Politics and Digital Technologies)

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Open AccessArticle

Adat Law, Ethics, and Human Rights in Modern Indonesia

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I Ketut Ardhana

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Ni Wayan Radita Novi Puspitasari

Religions 2023, 14(4), 443; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040443 - 24 Mar 2023

The fact that legal issues support local wisdom, ethics, and human rights and the way in which they operate in the nation-state are not well-understood; however, this is a significant issue. Indonesian independence, achieved on 17 August 1945, initiated substantial changes in the [...] Read more.

The fact that legal issues support local wisdom, ethics, and human rights and the way in which they operate in the nation-state are not well-understood; however, this is a significant issue. Indonesian independence, achieved on 17 August 1945, initiated substantial changes in the religious life of Indonesians. While most of Indonesia is Islamic, other religious beliefs include Hinduism and Christianity. Indonesia did not consider the Balinese a formal religious group in 1945. However, because of the Mount Agung eruption in Bali, many Balinese migrated outside the island. They lived in Lampung (Sumatra), certain places in Java, Palangkaraya (Borneo), Palu (Celebes), and other areas in the Indonesian archipelago, and have lived there for a long time. The total number of Balinese at the present day is around three million, but outside Bali, their number is 10 million. Their number increased throughout the Old Regime, the New Order, and the Reformation periods until the present time. They face many significant problems regarding the marriage and divorce laws juxtaposed with national law, as is the case with other religious communities, such as the Islamic community in Indonesia. Several important questions need to be addressed in this paper. First, what is adat law, or customary law, in Bali and outside Bali regarding the concept of Hindu Nusantara? Second, how should customary law be implemented, for example, relating to marriage and divorce issues in the building of the nation-state? Third, what is the customary law relating to the present situation of the Hindu communities in Indonesia? These are some significant questions. By using interdisciplinary approaches to customary laws, religious history, anthropology, and sociology, we expect to have a better understanding of how the Balinese customary law can become part of the formal law in modern Indonesia. By understanding these issues, it will be possible to strengthen national regulations by adopting certain values of customary law in modern Indonesia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Dignity in Religious Traditions: Foundations for Ethics and Human Rights)

Open AccessArticle

Dimensions of Religion Associated with Suicide Attempt and Ideation: A 15-Month Prospective Study in a Dutch Psychiatric Population

by

Bart van den Brink

,

Matthias Jongkind

,

Ralph C. A. Rippe

,

Nathan van der Velde

,

and

Hanneke Schaap-Jonker

Religions 2023, 14(4), 442; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040442 - 24 Mar 2023

Dimensions of religion contribute in different ways to the in general protective effect of religiosity and spirituality (R/S) against suicidality. Few studies have included a substantial number of dimensions, and even fewer a follow-up, to clarify the stability and contribution of R/S over [...] Read more.

Dimensions of religion contribute in different ways to the in general protective effect of religiosity and spirituality (R/S) against suicidality. Few studies have included a substantial number of dimensions, and even fewer a follow-up, to clarify the stability and contribution of R/S over the course of psychopathology. In this follow-up study among 155 religiously affiliated in- and outpatients with major depression, religious service attendance, frequency of prayer, type of God representation, moral objections to suicide, and social support were re-assessed in 59 subjects. Diverse statistical analyses show a partial change in R/S parameters. Supportive R/S is persistently associated with lower suicidality. R/S at T0 or change in R/S is not associated with additional changes in suicidality over time. The results suggest that the most important change in suicidality can be understood as an effect of a decline in depressive symptomatology, not of changes in R/S. Despite the limited follow-up and sample size, these results emphasize the importance of longitudinal and dynamic evaluation of especially affective and supportive aspects of R/S in suicidal persons. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relevance of Religion and Spirituality for Suicide Prevention)

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