FAITH AND DOUBT IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Abstract One of the contexts in which religion and science come into conflict is with regard to faith and doubt. Generally speaking, we associate faith with religion, which is opposed to doubt, and doubt with science, which is opposed to faith. Some critics of science have argued that science is also based on faith; others have shown that there is doubt in the religious context also. In this essay I clarify these positions by defining different types of faith and different types of doubt.     

试论信仰与行为之间的关系

伊玛尼是伊斯兰教的根基,是一个人成为穆斯林的前提。对于伊玛尼,学者们有不同的见解。本文旨在通过对伊玛尼一词的文字意义进行解释,对相关《古兰经》文和圣训进行分析,理清信仰与行为之间的关系,供国内学界参考。     

城乡结合部教会信徒的经济状况调查——以S市D教会为例

位于大都市城乡结合部的S市D教会是农民工占多数的教会。调查表明该会信徒的受教育程度较低。其经济状况特点是临时工合同工自谋生计者占多数,收入低于该市平均水平。参加教会活动对其经济活动并未产生明显的影响,但基督教信仰对其经济道德和诚信度有正面意义。同时宗教信仰对处于经济不确定性风险中的信徒有明显的慰藉功能。文章认为D教会并未出现如韦伯所说的新教伦理与经济发展间的促进作用。城乡结合部民工教会信徒经济水平的提高仍有赖于非宗教因素的推动。     

QUESTIONING SCIENTIFIC FAITH IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The late nineteenth century was not only a time in which religious faith was questioned in light of increasing claims of natural science. It is more accurate to see the familiar Victorian crisis of faith as but one aspect of a larger historical phenomenon, one in which the methods of both religion and science came under scrutiny. Among several examinations of the status of scientific knowledge in the waning decades of the century, the treatment of the subject by the German theologian Wilhelm Herrmann and philosopher Hans Vaihinger rejected its objective nature and denied that either scientists or theologians had access to the truth of nature. Although this stance regarding the nature of science, religion, and their relationship was limited to intellectuals in German society at the time, it foreshadowed developments in our own day in which the traditional search for truth has been problematized.     

Religiosity and Spirituality: A Psychometric Evaluation of the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire

The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF) was administered to 124 undergraduate college students attending a private Catholic university and the result was compared to measures of spirituality, religious behavior, religious coping, and affect. The present study found that the SCSORF was strongly related to spirituality, in particular, seeking support from one's spirituality. However, the SCSORF was not correlated with an openness to new spiritual experiences. The SCSORF was also related to religious behavior and religious coping. The SCSORF was not related to affect, indicating that scores on the SCSORF were not affect-dependent. Results from this study provide additional evidence that the SCSORF is a reliable and valid measure of religious faith.     

Age and Gender Differences in Adaptation and Subjective Well-being of Older Adults Residing in Monastic Religious Communities

The purpose of this study was to explore age and gender differences in the adaptation and well-being of older adults residing in Catholic monasteries. Participants included 235 members, age 64 and older, from the Order of St. Benedict. 2 (Age) × 2 (Gender) analyses of variance were computed to determine significant differences. Young-old persons reported greater friendship, coping behaviors, and personal growth, however, old-old individuals reported greater engagement in religious coping and greater depression. In addition, women reported greater coping behaviors, life satisfaction, and personal growth, but men reported greater depression. The results have implications on how pastoral care providers and counselors can improve quality of life among older adults living in contemplative religious settings.     

Lutherans in Public—Four Lively Options

Abstract : The basic question regarding faith and the public square is not whether religion should become public. Rather, we should ask: how ought religion to become public? This article reviews four models: (1) the ethics of character, according to which ethically formed individuals exert indirect and unintentional influence on the public square; (2) the ethics of conscience with its indirect and intentional influence: (3) the church as social conscience with direct and intentional influence; and (4) the church with power exerting direct and intentional action. Generally, it is best for Lutherans to let direct action be carried on by the laity according to the first two models; yet, when rare yet extraordinary circumstances call for it, the church as an institution may resort to models three and four and take direct action.     

In God We Distrust: Christian Nationalism and Anti-Atheist Attitude

Prior research found that Christian nationalism, a belief that integrates Christian identity with American national identity, was associated with more negative views toward marginalized groups, such as religious minorities. Relatively less known is the relationship between Christian nationalism and attitudes toward atheists. Specifically, even less is known about whether or not Christian nationalism that is above individuals at the macro, geographic level may influence individual views of atheists. Using nationally representative multilevel data, this study found that higher individual Christian nationalism was associated with more negative views toward atheists. No robust state-level Christian nationalism influence was found for anti-atheist attitude. However, Blacks, relative to Whites, were less likely to view atheists negatively in states where Christian nationalism was higher. Meanwhile, in states where Christian nationalism was higher, Black Protestants were less prejudiced against atheists compared to Evangelical Protestants.     

Counselling the dead!

The paper discusses the author's meeting and a counselling encounter in Varanasi (formerly known as Banaras) with a former High Court Judge, who has renounced the material world, excised all his attachments, abandoned his wife, his children, his grandchildren and a luxurious and prestigious life-style, and taken on the mantle of a sanyasi in search of enlightenment and nirvana. He has left his hometown and for the past two to three years has been living on the banks of the river Ganges in Varanasi, the holiest of holy cities in India, leading the life of a mendicant, living off the charity of the hordes of pilgrims who come to Varanasi all around the year.     

Did Paul Get Luther Right?

Abstract : Did Paul and Luther proclaim the same gospel? Although Luther's understanding of the work of Christ and his idea of the “joyous exchange” between Christ and believers reflect many ideas that are foreign to Paul's thought, both agree on the heart of the gospel, namely, that justification is by faith alone, since “faith alone fulfills the law.” In Christ God graciously accepts sinners just as they are, so that as they live out of faith, trusting solely in God for forgiveness and new life, they may become the righteous people God desires that they be, not for God's sake, but for the sake of human beings themselves.