ISSR Archives - International Society for Science & Religion (ISSR)

September 2026 Blog

September 2026 Blog

The Science and Theology of Chanting Fraser Watts Scientific research on spiritual practices is very unevenly distributed. So far there has been most research on yoga and mindfulness, but relatively little on many other spiritual practices. Correcting that was the motivation behind the series of grants given by TWCF for research on the Science of Religious and Spiritual Exercises (SORSE). ISSR received one of those grants, with a particular focus on comparing practices that use human psychological resources in different ways. ISSR has also helped with the administration of another SORSE grant to Miguel Farías, From the Heart: Testing the Efficacy of Heart-Centered Contemplation. Chanting is a widely used spiritual practice, found in almost every faith tradition (e.g. Sheldrake, 2017, chapter 6). Until recently there was

ISSR 2026 Book Prize Winners

ISSR 2026 Book Prize Winners

For the seventh year, the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) has continued to run the ISSR Book Prize, which began with a generous donation from the Templeton World Charity Foundation. The Prize was established to understand ‘religion’ and ‘science’ broadly and to seek excellence in both content and communication. We aim to reward books from the past two years that make a major contribution to the field, especially those with the potential to take it in new directions. We offer prizes for one book in each of three categories: (1) suitable for a general audience (‘the public’); (2) for an academic audience; and (3) for a professional audience (e.g. ministers/pastors or school teachers). For 2026, ISSR is pleased to award the following prizes: In

By Anthony K Nairn|2026-09-03T21:07:16+01:00September 3rd, 2026|Categories: ISSR Statements|Tags: academic book awards, best science and religion books, book prizes 2026, Cambridge University Press, deep incarnation, eco-theology, ecological trauma, Fordham University Press, Helen De Cruz, history of science and religion, International Society for Science and Religion, ISSR, ISSR 2026 Book Prize, ISSR Book Prize, Peter Harrison, philosophy of science and religion, philosophy of wonder, Princeton University Press, psychology of awe, religion and science, science and faith, science and religion, science and theology, science communication, secular age, secularisation, Some New World, Some New World Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age, supernatural belief, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Timothy Middleton, trauma theology, Witnessing a Wounded World, Witnessing a Wounded World A Theology of Ecological Trauma, Wonderstruck, Wonderstruck How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think|

September 2025 Blog

September 2025 Blog

Why inter-contextual engagement is essential for the science and religion relationships Rt Revd Dr Richard Cheetham Co-Director for Global Engagement ECLAS Member of the Anglican Communion Science Commission On the home page of the ISSR website the president, Prof Niels Gregersen, states that, “the landscape of science and religion is dynamic and ever changing”, and that, “As an international society, we are very conscious that we live in a pluralistic world, including a great diversity of religions, as well as many different sciences. We aim to make the Society as representative of this cultural diversity as possible”. The interesting challenge is how this more pluralistic conversation might be achieved in practice. As a relatively new Fellow of the ISSR, I am grateful for the opportunity via this

By Richard Cheetham|2025-09-16T00:06:25+01:00September 16th, 2025|Categories: Blog|Tags: AI and theology, Anglican Communion, Anglican Communion Science Commission, Augustine of Hippo, biodiversity and spirituality, Christianity and science, climate change and faith, community of truth, contextual theology, cultural diversity, dialogue on science ethics and religion, Durham University, ECLAS, ecumenical dialogue, faith and science, feminist theology, Francis Bacon, genetics and ethics, global perspectives, global theology, indigenous knowledge, inter-contextual dialogue, intercultural engagement, interfaith science dialogue, ISSR, King’s College London, Lambeth Conference, liberation theology, non-Western theology, pluralism, Pope Francis, postmodernism and truth, religion and science engagement, science and religion, Science for Seminaries, scientific literacy in faith communities, Scientists in Congregations, socio-economic and ethical perspectives on science, Templeton Foundation, theology and science, theology in context|

September 2024 Blog

September 2024 Blog

ISSR After More than 20 Years: Where We Came From, and Where We are Going Niels Henrik Gregersen, ISSR President ISSR from 2002 to Today: Three Developments When I was elected as President of ISSR in 2023, I had the feeling of coming home to the fruitful atmosphere of the early days of the society. Much remained the same. There is a strong sense of the overall purpose of the Society as an active learned society, and there is a well-functioning institutional structure as well—even though we can no longer afford to rent property, as we earlier had it in St Edmund’s College in Cambridge. Over the last twenty years, ISSR has been in a process of development through different Executive Committees and Presidents—from John Polkinghorne

By Niels Henrik Gregersen|2024-09-15T17:36:11+01:00September 15th, 2024|Categories: Blog|Tags: acadmic, Arthur Peacocke, Cambridge, grenada, Heidelberg, Holmes Rolston III, Ian Barbour, ISSR, john polkinghorne, Niels Henrik Gregersen, princeton, religion, Science|

June 2024 Blog

June 2024 Blog

A New ISSR Research Grant from TWCF Fraser Watts ISSR has received a large grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF 2023-32537) as part of the TWCF initiative on The Science of Religious and Spiritual Exercises (SORSE). Religious and spiritual traditions contain repositories of ancient practical wisdom about how to live well, and they often prescribe practices that help people to foster deeper connections with themselves, with other people, with the world around them, and with the transcendent. Such practices are often recommended simply because they are proper, rather than because of their effects, but there is increasing evidence that religious and spiritual exercises have considerable well-being benefits. The overall SORSE program has three main objectives: Focus on expanding our understanding of the science of

By Fraser Watts|2024-06-15T18:52:35+01:00June 15th, 2024|Categories: Blog|Tags: blog, christian, ISSR, mindfulness, Qigong, religion, Science, spirit, spiritual, Tai chi, Templeton, trinity, TWCF, yoga|

December 2022 Blog

December 2022 Blog

Wentzel van Huyssteen (1942-2022) in memoriam Niels Henrik Gregersen, University of Copenhagen The prominent member of ISSR, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, sadly died February 18 this year, a few months before his 80th birthday. At the 2022 Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Denver, the ISSR arranged a session on “The Legacy of J Wentzel van Huyssteen: Commemoration and Critiques” on November 19 with panelists including Danie Veldsman, Nancy Howell, Kirk Wechter-McNelly, Andrew Rick-Miller, and myself. The point of the session was to take stock of van Huyssteen’s work up from his early career to his mature work, epitomized in his Gifford Lectures, Alone in the World? From 2006. The session turned out to be moving by including also personal reflections from the panelists and

By Anthony K Nairn|2022-12-15T22:33:14+00:00December 15th, 2022|Categories: Blog|Tags: AAR, Alone in the World?, American Academy of Religion, Andrew Rick-Miller, Arthur Peacocke, Critical Realism, Danie Veldsman, Dutch Reformed Church, Epistemic Convictions, Ernan McMullin, Free University of Amsterdam, Gifford Lectures, god, Huguenot Colle, Ian Barbour, ISSR, James J. McCord Professor in science and theology, john polkinghorne, Kenneth A. Reynhout, Kirk Wechter-McNelly, Nancy Howell, Niels Henrik Gregersen, philosophy, princeton, Princeton Theological Seminary, Professor, religion, Religious Studies, sciences, South Africa, The Shaping of Rationality: Towards Interdisciplinarity in Theology and Science, theology, Theology and the Justification of Faith: Constructing Theories in Systematic Theology, University of Copenhagen, University of Port Elizabeth, Wentzel van Huyssteeen, Wolfhart Pannenberg|