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

June 2026 Blog

June 2026 Blog

Medicine as Religion? Benjamin R. Doolittle, MD, MDIV Is the practice of medicine a religion? I have been a physician for 29 years and a church pastor for 35. I am struck by the similarities between my two vocations. Both disciplines require tell-tale vestments. In the hospital, I wear a long white coat; in church, a long black robe. In both, we enjoy poignant moments of gathering. On Sunday mornings, we gather in church with a spirit of reverence to reflect, ponder, grow together as a community. On Thursday mornings, for departmental grand rounds, our communal posture is no less reverent. In this weekly lecture, the learned professor elucidates the community of the latest scientific advances. In medicine, we even portray a devotion to sacred writ that

By Benjamin Doolittle|2026-06-16T01:05:21+01:00June 16th, 2026|Categories: Blog|Tags: Bioethics, Chaplaincy, faith, Healing Arts, Healthcare, Healthcare Professionals, Healthcare Systems, Humanism, Meaning in Medicine, Medical Education, Medical Ethics, Medical Humanities, Medical Practice, Medicine, Mental Health, Mental Health in Medicine, Pastoral Care, Philosophy of Medicine, Physician Advocacy, Physician Burnout, Physician Wellbeing, Physician Wellness, Professional Identity, religion, science and religion, Spirituality, Theology and Medicine, Work-Life Balance|

February 2026 Blog

India in the Science–Religion Conversation: Plurality, Tension, Promise Augustine Pamplany Director of the Institute of Science and Religion, Kochi, and Research Dean at the Xavier–Loyola Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. Email: apamplany@iaiss.com In 2006, Elon University (USA) and the Interdisciplinary University of Paris collaborated on a project titled Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality (GPSS), supported by the John Templeton Foundation. The initiative arose from a recognition that science–religion dialogue had been largely shaped by Euro-American questions and frameworks. Its aim was to broaden this conversation by bringing in intellectual, philosophical, and spiritual resources from other cultural worlds, especially South Asia. A few scholars from India participated in this project to examine how the Indian tradition conceptualises nature, mind, and ultimate reality, and how these

By Augustine Pamplany|2026-02-15T22:14:51+00:00February 15th, 2026|Categories: Blog|Tags: Aryabhata, Ayurveda, Contemporary Science-Religion Dialogue, Epistemic Frameworks, Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality, GPSS, Hindu Buddhist Jain Sikh Islamic Traditions, India, Indian Cosmology, Indian Intellectual Heritage, Indian Philosophical Traditions, Ontological Unity, religion, Science, Science and Meaning, Science and Religion in India, Science and Spirituality, Spirituality, The Tao of Physics, Yogic Consciousness|

October 2025 Blog

Spirituality, Religion, and Human Health: connecting the empirical and the profound at the intersection of science and religion Tobias Anker Stripp, Center for Science and Faith, University of Copenhagen Even though the discourse of modern biomedical healthcare appears to render little attention to questions of spirituality or religion, the relationship between spirituality, religion and human health has always been intricate and entangled. Prior to our era, the priest and medical doctor occupied one role: the shaman. With universal tropes in all global theologies, exemplified by the story of the Good Samaritan, the spiritual life of humans has always been linked to health and care for the ill (Gill, 2006; Stripp, 2023). The field of “religion and health” has emerged from the fringes of academic discourse to become

By Tobias Anker Stripp|2025-10-16T01:07:17+01:00October 16th, 2025|Categories: Blog|Tags: Clinical Practice, Definitional Challenges, Empirical Research, Epidemiological Tools, Ethical Considerations, Human Flourishing., Human Health, Measurement Instruments, Mortality, Public Health, religion, Spiritual Care, Spirituality|