# kb

id: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology-9.md
category: reference
title: List of Christians in science and technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:01.455026+00:00
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parent: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-0
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=== Biological and biomedical sciences === Nii Addy: American neuroscientist who is an associate professor of Psychiatry and of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the Yale School of Medicine. His research considers the neurobiological basis of substance abuse, depression and anxiety. He has worked on various initiatives to mitigate tobacco use and addiction. Denis Alexander (born 1945): Emeritus Director of the Faraday Institute at the University of Cambridge and author of Rebuilding the Matrix – Science and Faith in the 21st Century. He also supervised a research group in cancer and immunology at the Babraham Institute. Werner Arber (born 1929): Swiss microbiologist and geneticist. Along with American researchers Hamilton Smith and Daniel Nathans, he shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of restriction endonucleases. In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Arber as president of the Pontifical Academy—the first Protestant to hold that position. Robert T. Bakker (born 1945): paleontologist who was a leading figure in the "dinosaur renaissance" and known for the theory some dinosaurs were warm-blooded. He is also a Pentecostal preacher who advocates theistic evolution and has written on religion. Dan Blazer (born 1944): American psychiatrist and medical researcher who is Professor of


id: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology-10.md
category: reference
title: List of Christians in science and technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:01.455026+00:00
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parent: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-0
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He is also known for the research he has done related to the Isthmus of Panama and its historical significance on the evolution of South American species. Raina MacIntyre (born 1964): Sri Lankan epidemiologist and Professor of Global Biosecurity and NHMRC Principal Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales, where she leads a research program on the prevention and control of infectious diseases. She is an expert media advisor and commentator on Australia's response to COVID-19. Noella Marcellino (born 1951): American Benedictine nun with a doctorate in microbiology. Her field of interests include fungi and the effects of decay and putrefaction. Joel W. Martin (born 1955): American marine biologist and invertebrate zoologist who is currently Chief of the Division of Invertebrate Studies and Curator of Crustacea at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC). His main area of research is the morphology and systematics of marine decapod crustaceans. Paul R. McHugh (born 1931): American psychiatrist whose research has focused on the neuroscientific foundations of motivated behaviors, psychiatric genetics, epidemiology, and neuropsychiatry. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and former psychiatrist-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Kenneth


id: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology-11.md
category: reference
title: List of Christians in science and technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:01.455026+00:00
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parent: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-0
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=== Chemistry === Peter Agre (born 1949): American physician, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, and molecular biologist at Johns Hopkins University who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (which he shared with Roderick MacKinnon) for his discovery of aquaporins. Agre is a Lutheran. Peter Budd (born 1957): British chemist and a professor in the Department of Chemistry at The University of Manchester. His research in general is based on polymer chemistry, energy and industrial separation processes, specifically on the areas of Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs), energy storage, polyelectrolytes and separation membranes. Andrew B. Bocarsly (born 1954): American chemist known for his research in electrochemistry, photochemistry, solids state chemistry, and fuel cells. He is a professor of chemistry at Princeton University. Gerhard Ertl (born 1936): 2007 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry. He has said in an interview that "I believe in God. (...) I am a Christian and I try to live as a Christian (...) I read the Bible very often and I try to understand it." Brian Kobilka (born 1955): American Nobel Prize winner of Chemistry in 2012, and is professor in the departments of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Kobilka attends the


id: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-12
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology-12.md
category: reference
title: List of Christians in science and technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:01.455026+00:00
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parent: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-0
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=== Physics and astronomy === Edgar Andrews (born 1932): British physicist, founder and former head of the Department of Materials and emeritus Professor of Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London; author of "Who made God? Searching for a theory of everything" and "What is Man? Adam, alien or ape?" Preacher and author of the podcast and former president of the Biblical Creation Society, UK. Stephen Barr (born 1953): physicist who worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory and contributed papers to Physical Review as well as Physics Today. He also is a Catholic who writes for First Things and wrote Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. He teaches at the University of Delaware. Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943): astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. She is currently visiting professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford. Arnold O. Benz (born 1945): Swiss astrophysicist, currently professor emeritus at ETH Zurich. He is known for his research in plasma astrophysics, in particular heliophysics, and received honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Zurich and The University of the South for his contributions to the dialog with theology. Katherine Blundell: British astrophysicist who is a professor of astrophysics at


id: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-13
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology-13.md
category: reference
title: List of Christians in science and technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:01.455026+00:00
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parent: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-0
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He is the former Goldsmiths' Professor of Materials Science and a current director of research at the University of Cambridge, professor of experimental physics at the Royal Institution in London and a Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge. Humphreys also "studies the Bible when not pursuing his day-job as a materials scientist." Ian Hutchinson (scientist): physicist and nuclear engineer. He is currently Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Christopher Isham (born 1944): theoretical physicist who developed HPO formalism. He teaches at Imperial College London. In addition to being a physicist, he is a philosopher and theologian. Stephen R. Kane (born 1973): Australian astrophysicist who specializes in exoplanetary science. He is a professor of Astronomy and Planetary Astrophysics at the University of California, Riverside and a leading expert on the topic of planetary habitability and the habitable zone of planetary systems. Ard Louis: professor in theoretical physics at the University of Oxford. Prior to his post at Oxford he taught theoretical chemistry at the University of Cambridge where he was also director of studies in Natural Sciences at Hughes Hall. He has written for The BioLogos Forum. Jonathan Lunine (born 1959):


id: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-14
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology-14.md
category: reference
title: List of Christians in science and technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:01.455026+00:00
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parent: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-0
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An aerial of the center is shown. In addition she is a co-discoverer of 114P/Wiseman-Skiff. In religion is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation and on June 16, 2010, became the new director for the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion. Antonino Zichichi (born 1929): Italian nuclear physicist and former president of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. He has worked with the Vatican on relations between the Church and Science.


id: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-15
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology-15.md
category: reference
title: List of Christians in science and technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:01.455026+00:00
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parent: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Earth sciences === Katey Walter Anthony (born 1976): American aquatic ecologist and biogeochemist researching carbon and nutrient cycling between terrestrial and aquatic systems, and the cryosphere and atmosphere. She is a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Lorence G. Collins (born 1931): American petrologist, best known for his extensive research on metasomatism. He is known for his opposition to creationism and has written several articles presenting his Christian philosophy. Katharine Hayhoe (born 1972): atmospheric scientist and professor of political science at Texas Tech University, where she is director of the Climate Science Center. Mike Hulme (born 1960): professor of human geography in the department of geography at the University of Cambridge. He was formerly professor of Climate and Culture at King's College London (2013–2017) and is the author of Why We Disagree About Climate Change. He has said of his Christian faith, "I believe because I have not discovered a better explanation of beauty, truth and love than that they emerge in a world created – willed into being – by a God who personifies beauty, truth and love." John Suppe (born 1942): professor of geology at National Taiwan University, Geosciences Emeritus at Princeton University. He has written


id: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-16
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology-16.md
category: reference
title: List of Christians in science and technology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:01.455026+00:00
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parent: list-of-christians-in-science-and-technology-20260505-0
summary:
=== Others === Justin L. Barrett (born 1971): American experimental psychologist and director of the Thrive Center for Human Development and Professor of Psychology at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology after being a researcher at the University of Oxford, Barrett is a cognitive scientist specializing in the cognitive science of religion. He has published "Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology" (Templeton Press, 2011). Barrett has been described by the New York Times as "an observant Christian who believes in 'an all-knowing, all-powerful, perfectly good God who brought the universe into being,' as he wrote in an e-mail message. 'I believe that the purpose for people is to love God and love each other.'" David A. Booth (born 1938): British applied psychologist whose research and teaching centre on the processes in the mind that situate actions and reactions by people, members of other species, and socially intelligent engineered systems. He is an honorary professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex. John Lennox (born 1943): Northern Irish mathematician (Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford), bioethicist, and Christian apologist. He has written many books on religion, ethics, the relationship between science and God. Robert A. Emmons (born


id: clergy-letter-project-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project-0.md
category: reference
title: Clergy Letter Project
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:02.701609+00:00
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parent: clergy-letter-project-20260505-0
summary:
The Clergy Letter Project is a project that maintains statements in support of the teaching of evolution and collects signatures in support of letters from American Christian, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, Buddhist, and Humanist clergy. The letters make reference to points raised by intelligent design proponents. There are five separate letters: A Christian Clergy Letter, a Rabbi Letter, a Unitarian Universalist Clergy Letter, a Buddhist Clergy Letter, and a Humanist Clergy Letter. As of October, 2022, there were 15,679 signatures from Christian clergy, 839 signatures from Jewish rabbis, 688 signatures from Unitarian Universalist clergy, 75 signatures from Buddhist clergy, and 58 signatures from Humanist clergy. This effort was initiated in 2004 by the biologist Michael Zimmerman, past vice president for academic affairs and provost at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. The letter was written by John McFadden, pastor of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Appleton, Wisconsin. The project also encourages congregations to participate in Religion and Science Weekend by sponsoring events in which clergy and congregations are encouraged to learn about and discuss the positive intersections of religion and science. The weekend chosen is the closest Sunday to Charles Darwin's birthday, February 12. Evolution Sunday events first


id: clergy-letter-project-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project-1.md
category: reference
title: Clergy Letter Project
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:02.701609+00:00
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parent: clergy-letter-project-20260505-0
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The Clergy Letter - from Unitarian Universalist Clergy – An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science As Unitarian Universalists, we draw from many sources, including "Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life," and "Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit." While most Unitarian Universalists believe that many sacred scriptures convey timeless truths about humans and our relationship to the sacred, we stand in solidarity with our Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters who do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook. We believe that religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts. Fundamentalists of various traditions, who perceive the science of evolution to be in conflict with their personal religious beliefs, are seeking to influence public school boards to authorize the teaching of creationism. We see this as a breach in the separation of church and state. Those who believe in a literal interpretation of the Biblical account of creation are free to teach their perspective


id: clergy-letter-project-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project-2.md
category: reference
title: Clergy Letter Project
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:02.701609+00:00
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parent: clergy-letter-project-20260505-0
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We believe that evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. Omitting evolution from science teaching, or treating it dismissively as “only a theory,” miscommunicates its centrality in modern biology and threatens students’ understanding of the very nature of science. Along with our religious allies of other traditions, we ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion. We urge public education authorities to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by affirming the teaching of evolutionary theory as a core component of human knowledge. == History == The project was organized in 2004 by Michael Zimmerman, then a biology professor and dean of the College of Science and Letters at University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh. He was motivated to create a petition by the actions of the school board in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, which had passed some anti-evolution policies in the summer of 2004. Zimmerman was a veteran of similar disputes in Ohio, when he was a professor at Oberlin College. After Zimmerman watched Christian fundamentalist clergy from Dover, Pennsylvania, on the television program Nightline insisting that decisions about teaching evolution in schools was equivalent


id: clergy-letter-project-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project-3.md
category: reference
title: Clergy Letter Project
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_Letter_Project
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:02.701609+00:00
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parent: clergy-letter-project-20260505-0
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== Reaction from creationists == The creationist Discovery Institute, which arranged its own anti-evolution petition called A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism in 2001 criticized the project. Discovery Institute communications director Rob Crowther asserted that the disputes about evolution was "purely a scientific debate" and that clergy petitions are irrelevant, stating that clergy "don't make any difference," since "We don't think there is anything religious at all to the theory of intelligent design." Zimmerman described this argument as part of the problem, as intelligent design tried to undermine science by changing it from a study of the natural world to include supernatural explanations, and it was important for clergy to defend science against these attacks. Ken Ham and Mark Looy of the creationist organization Answers in Genesis have repeatedly condemned Evolution Sunday/Evolution Weekend activities as a "Darwin praise service" and expressing dismay that "over 10,200 clergy had signed this awful letter." Ham and Looy also criticized Zimmerman's fundraising efforts through the Christian Alliance for Progress. Answers in Genesis published a list of "modern scientists who have accepted the biblical account of creation." The majority are not biologists. The group has also organized "Creation Sunday" in response to Evolution Weekend, and has


id: cognitive-science-of-new-religious-movements-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_new_religious_movements-0.md
category: reference
title: Cognitive science of new religious movements
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_new_religious_movements
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:04.040141+00:00
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parent: cognitive-science-of-new-religious-movements-20260505-0
summary:
Cognitive science of new religious movements is the study of new religious movements (NRMs) from the perspective of cognitive science. The field employs methods and theories from a variety of disciplines, including cognitive science of religion, sociology of religion, scientific study of religion, anthropology, and artificial life. Scholars in the field seek to explain the origin and evolution of new religious movements in terms of ordinary universal cognitive processes. == History == The field traces its roots to the beginnings of the field of cognitive science of religion in the 1990s, especially in Harvey Whitehouse's work on 'cargo cults' in Papua New Guinea and cognitivist work by sociologists of religion William Sims Bainbridge and Rodney Stark. In a 2005 article titled "Towards a Cognitive Science of New Religious Movements", Afzal Upal conceptualized the field and proposed agent-based social simulation as a good complement for Whitehouse's anthropological approach to investigate the origin of new religious movements. Upal developed an information entrepreneurship model-based social simulation to study the origin and evolution of new religious movements. In 2008, Kimmo Ketola used an anthropological case study of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda (1896–1977), the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, the Hare Krishna


id: cognitive-science-of-religion-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_religion-0.md
category: reference
title: Cognitive science of religion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_religion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:05.238737+00:00
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parent: cognitive-science-of-religion-20260505-0
summary:
Cognitive science of religion is the study of religious thought, theory, and behavior from the perspective of the cognitive sciences. Scholars in this field seek to explain how human minds acquire, generate, and transmit religious thoughts, practices, and schemas by means of ordinary cognitive capacities. == History == Although religion has been the subject of serious scientific study since at least the late nineteenth century, the study of religion as a cognitive phenomenon is relatively recent. While it often relies upon earlier research within anthropology of religion and sociology of religion, cognitive science of religion considers the results of that work within the context of evolutionary and cognitive theories. As such, cognitive science of religion was only made possible by the cognitive revolution of the 1950s and the development, starting in the 1970s, of sociobiology and other approaches explaining human behaviour in evolutionary terms, especially evolutionary psychology. While Dan Sperber foreshadowed cognitive science of religion in his 1975 book Rethinking Symbolism, the earliest research to fall within the scope of the discipline was published during the 1980s. Stewart E. Guthrie's "A cognitive theory of religion" was significant for examining anthropomorphism in religion. This work ultimately led to the development of


id: cognitive-science-of-religion-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_religion-1.md
category: reference
title: Cognitive science of religion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_religion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:05.238737+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: cognitive-science-of-religion-20260505-0
summary:
=== Pro-social adaptation === According to the prosocial adaptation account of religion, religious beliefs and practices should be understood as having the function of eliciting adaptive prosocial behaviour and avoiding the free rider problem. Within the cognitive science of religion this approach is primarily pursued by Richard Sosis. David Sloan Wilson is another major proponent of this approach and interprets religion as a group-level adaptation, but his work is generally seen as falling outside the cognitive science of religion. === Costly signaling === Practices that, due to their inherent cost, can be relied upon to provide an honest signal regarding the intentions of the agent. Richard Sosis has suggested that religious practices can be explained as costly signals of the willingness to cooperate. A similar line of argument has been pursued by Lyle Steadman and Craig Palmer. Alternatively, D. Jason Slone has argued that religiosity may be a costly signal used as a mating strategy insofar as religiosity serves as a proxy for "family values". === Dual inheritance === In the context of cognitive science of religion, dual inheritance theory can be understood as attempting to combine the cognitive byproduct and prosocial adaptation accounts using the theoretical approach developed by


id: conflict-thesis-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis-0.md
category: reference
title: Conflict thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:06.685537+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conflict-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
The conflict thesis is a historiographical approach in the history of science that originated in the 19th century with John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White. It maintains that there is an intrinsic intellectual conflict between religion and science, and that it inevitably leads to hostility. The consensus among historians of science is that the thesis has long been discredited, which explains the rejection of the thesis by contemporary scholars. Into the 21st century, historians of science widely accept a complexity thesis. The lack of engagement with the advancements in the history of science perpetuates belief in the thesis. Global studies on scientists show that most scientists do not see religion and science in conflict and studies on the views of the general public indicate that the conflict perspective is not prevalent either. == Historical conflict thesis == Before the 19th century, no one had pitted "science" against "religion" or vice versa in writing. The relationship between religion and science became an actual formal topic of discourse in the 19th century. More specifically, it was around the mid-19th century that discussion of "science and religion" first emerged because before this time, the term science still included moral and metaphysical dimensions,


id: conflict-thesis-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis-1.md
category: reference
title: Conflict thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:06.685537+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conflict-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
[T]he story of the supposed opposition of the Church and the Popes and the ecclesiastical authorities to science in any of its branches, is founded entirely on mistaken notions. Most of it is quite imaginary. Much of it is due to the exaggeration of the significance of the Galileo incident. Only those who know nothing about the history of medicine and of science continue to harbor it. That Dr. White's book, contradicted as it is so directly by all serious histories of medicine and of science, should have been read by so many thousands in this country, and should have been taken seriously by educated men, physicians, teachers, and even professors of science who want to know the history of their own sciences, only shows how easily even supposedly educated men may be led to follow their prejudices rather than their mental faculties, and emphasizes the fact that the tradition that there is no good that can possibly come out of the Nazareth of the times before the reformation, still dominates the intellects of many educated people who think that they are far from prejudice and have minds perfectly open to conviction. In God and Nature (1986), David Lindberg and


id: conflict-thesis-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis-2.md
category: reference
title: Conflict thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:06.685537+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conflict-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
=== Academic === Historians of science today have moved away from a conflict model, which is based mainly on two historical episodes (those involving Galileo and Darwin) in favor of a "complexity" model, because religious figures took positions on both sides of each dispute and there was no overall aim by any party involved in discrediting religion. Biologist Stephen Jay Gould said: "White's and Draper's accounts of the actual interaction between science and religion in Western history do not differ greatly. Both tell a tale of bright progress continually sparked by science. And both develop and use the same myths to support their narrative, the flat-earth legend prominently among them". In a summary of the historiography of the conflict thesis, Colin A. Russell, the former President of Christians in Science, said that "Draper takes such liberty with history, perpetuating legends as fact that he is rightly avoided today in serious historical study. The same is nearly as true of White, though his prominent apparatus of prolific footnotes may create a misleading impression of meticulous scholarship". In Science & Religion, Gary Ferngren proposes a complex relationship between religion and science: While some historians had always regarded the Draper-White thesis as oversimplifying


id: conflict-thesis-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis-3.md
category: reference
title: Conflict thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:06.685537+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conflict-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
In 1559, Pope Paul IV promulgated the Pauline Index which is also known as Index Librorum Prohibitorum. While it has been described by some as "the turning-point for the freedom of enquiry in the Catholic world", the effects of the Index were actually minimal and it was largely ignored. After less than a year, it was replaced by the Tridentine Index which relaxed aspects of the Pauline Index that had been criticized and had prevented its acceptance. It is inaccurate to describe the Index as being an enduring and definitive statement of Catholic censorship. It contained a list of "heretical" or "amoral" publications that were forbidden for Catholics to read or print and included not just heretics but anti-clerical authors and Protestant Christians. === Scientists and public perceptions === The conflict thesis is still held to be true in whole or in part by some scientists, including the theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who said "There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works." Others, such as Steven Weinberg, grant that it is possible for science and religion to be compatible


id: conflict-thesis-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis-4.md
category: reference
title: Conflict thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:06.685537+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conflict-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
Antireligion – Opposition to religion Antitheism – Opposition to theism, and usually to religion Boundary object – Sociology of information science Boundary-work – Study of boundaries between disciplines Continuity thesis – Hypothesis regarding European intellectual history Faith and rationality – Two approaches that exist in varying degrees of conflict or compatibility Fideism – Epistemological theory that faith is independent of reason Flat Earth – Archaic conception of Earth's shape Non-overlapping magisteria – Concept created by Stephen Jay Gould Relationship between religion and science Religious intolerance – Intolerance of another's religious beliefs or practices Trading zones (metaphor) – Metaphor applied to collaborations in science == References == == Further reading == Barbour, Ian G. When Science Meets Religion. HarperSanFrancisco, 2000. Brooke, John H., Margaret Osler, and Jitse M. van der Meer, (editors). "Science in Theistic Contexts: Cognitive Dimensions," Osiris, 2nd ser., vol. 16 (2001), ISBN 0-226-07565-6 Mahner, M., Bunge, M. Is religious education compatible with science education?. Sci Educ 5, 101–123 (1996) Ferngren, Gary (editor). Science & Religion: A Historical Introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8018-7038-0 Jones, Richard H., For the Glory of God: The Role of Christianity in the Rise and Development of Modern Science. Lanham, Maryland:


id: continuity-thesis-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_thesis-0.md
category: reference
title: Continuity thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:07.979707+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: continuity-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
In the history of ideas, the continuity thesis is the hypothesis that there was no radical discontinuity between the intellectual development of the Middle Ages and the developments in the Renaissance and early modern period. Thus the idea of an intellectual or scientific revolution following the Renaissance is, according to the continuity thesis, a myth. Some continuity theorists point to earlier intellectual revolutions occurring in the Middle Ages, usually referring to the European Renaissance of the 12th century as a sign of continuity. The continuity thesis has been seen by Paul Freedman and Gabrielle M. Spiegel as characteristic of Medieval studies in North America in the twentieth century. Despite the many points that have been brought up by proponents of the continuity thesis, however, a majority of scholars still support the traditional view of the Scientific Revolution occurring in the 16th and 17th centuries. == Duhem == The idea of a continuity, rather than contrast between medieval and modern thought, begins with Pierre Duhem, the French physicist and philosopher of science. It is set out in his ten-volume work on the history of science, Le système du monde: histoire des doctrines cosmologiques de Platon à Copernic. Unlike many former historians


id: continuity-thesis-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_thesis-1.md
category: reference
title: Continuity thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:07.979707+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: continuity-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
There was a sudden dawning of a new outlook on the world after 1000 years of darkness. Ancient learning was rediscovered. New ideas about intellectual inquiry and freedom replaced reliance on authority. Scientific investigation replaced the sterile disputes of the schools. He claims that the Renaissance was in fact a period when thought declined significantly and brought to an end a period of advance in the Late Middle Ages and that the twelfth century was the "real, true, and unqualified renaissance". For example, the rediscovery of ancient knowledge, which the later Italian humanists claimed for themselves, was actually accomplished in the 12th century. Franklin cites many examples of scientific advances in the medieval period that predate or anticipate later 'discoveries'. For example, the first advances in geometrical optics and mechanics were in the 12th century. The first steps in understanding motion, and continuous variation in general, occurred in the 14th century with the work of the scientists of the Merton School, at Oxford in the 1330s and 1340s. (Franklin notes that there is no phrase in ancient Greek or Latin equivalent to "kilometres per hour"). Nicole Oresme, who wrote on theology and money, devoted much of his effort to science


id: continuity-thesis-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_thesis-2.md
category: reference
title: Continuity thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:07.979707+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: continuity-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
== Hatfield == Gary Hatfield, in his "Was the Scientific Revolution Really a Revolution of Science?", argues that while the "Scientific Revolution" of the 17th century did have several individual "revolutions", he does not consider the period to be a "scientific" revolution. Some of his reasons include science still being tied to metaphysics at the time, experimental physics not being separated from natural philosophy until the end of the 18th century, and comparable individual "revolutions" in different sciences continued occurring before and after the 17th century, such as the optical revolution of Faraday and Maxwell. == Bala == Another contrary view has been recently proposed by Arun Bala in his dialogical history of the birth of modern science. Bala proposes that the changes involved in the Scientific Revolution — the mathematical realist turn, the mechanical philosophy, the atomism, the central role assigned to the Sun in Copernican heliocentrism — have to be seen as rooted in multicultural influences on Europe. He sees specific influences in Alhazen's physical optical theory, Chinese mechanical technologies leading to the perception of the world as a machine, the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, which carried implicitly a new mode of mathematical atomic thinking, and the heliocentrism rooted


id: conversion-therapy-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy-0.md
category: reference
title: Conversion therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:09.241296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conversion-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Conversion therapy is ineffective at changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity and frequently causes significant long-term psychological harm. The position of evidence-based medicine and clinical guidance is that sexualities like homosexuality and bisexuality as well as gender variance are natural and healthy aspects of human sexuality and gender identity. When performed, conversion therapy may constitute fraud; when performed on minors it is considered to be a form of child abuse. It has been described by experts as torture; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and contrary to human rights. Laws on conversion therapy vary, ranging from constitutional protection to a criminal offense. Conversion therapy often consists of methods that involve, but are not limited to: talk therapy, aversion therapy, brain surgery, chemical castration, surgical castration, hypnosis, psychoanalysis, corrective rape, and various religious practices, including prayer and exorcism. == Terminology == Medical professionals and activists consider "conversion therapy" a misnomer, as it does not constitute a legitimate form of therapy. Alternative terms include "sexual orientation change efforts" (SOCE) and "gender identity change


id: conversion-therapy-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy-1.md
category: reference
title: Conversion therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:09.241296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conversion-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
=== Sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) === The term homosexual was coined by German-speaking Hungarian writer Karl Maria Kertbeny and was in circulation by the 1880s. Into the middle of the twentieth century, competing views of homosexuality were advanced by psychoanalysis versus academic sexology. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, viewed homosexuality as a form of arrested development. Later psychoanalysts followed Sandor Rado, who argued that homosexuality was a "phobic avoidance of heterosexuality caused by inadequate early parenting". This line of thinking was popular in psychiatric models of homosexuality based on the prison population or homosexuals seeking treatment. In contrast, sexology researchers such as Alfred Kinsey argued that homosexuality was a normal variation in human development. In 1970, gay activists confronted the American Psychiatric Association, persuading the association to reconsider whether homosexuality should be listed as a disorder. The APA delisted homosexuality in 1973, which contributed to shifts in public opinion on homosexuality. Despite their lack of scientific backing, some socially or religiously conservative activists continued to argue that if one person's sexuality could be changed, homosexuality was not a fixed class such as race. Borrowing from discredited psychoanalytic ideas about the cause of homosexuality, some of these individuals offered


id: conversion-therapy-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy-2.md
category: reference
title: Conversion therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:09.241296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conversion-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Aversion therapy used on homosexuals and bisexuals included electric shock and nausea-inducing drugs during presentation of same-sex erotic images. Cessation of the aversive stimuli was typically accompanied by the presentation of opposite-sex erotic images, with the objective of strengthening heterosexual feelings. Another method used is the covert sensitization method, which involves instructing recipients to imagine vomiting or receiving electric shocks. Proponents often write that only single-case studies have been conducted to support their methods and that their results cannot be generalized. For example, Haldeman writes that behavioral conditioning studies tend to decrease homosexual feelings but do not increase heterosexual feelings, citing Rangaswami's "Difficulties in arousing and increasing heterosexual responsiveness in a homosexual: A case report", published in 1982, as typical in this respect. Other methods of aversion therapy, in addition to electric shock, included ice baths, freezing, burning via metal coils, and hard labor. The intent was for the subject to associate homosexual feelings with pain and thus result in them being reduced. These methods have been concluded to be ineffective. Aversion therapy was developed in Czechoslovakia between 1950 and 1962 and in the British Commonwealth from 1961 into the mid-1970s. In the context of the Cold War, Western psychologists


id: conversion-therapy-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy-3.md
category: reference
title: Conversion therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:09.241296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conversion-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
Haldeman writes that psychoanalytic treatment of homosexuality is exemplified by the work of Irving Bieber and colleagues in Homosexuality: A Psychoanalytic Study of Male Homosexuals. They advocated long-term therapy aimed at resolving the unconscious childhood conflicts that they considered responsible for homosexuality. Haldeman notes that Bieber's methodology has been criticized because it relied upon a clinical sample, the description of the outcomes was based upon subjective therapist impression, and follow-up data were poorly presented. Bieber reported a 27% success frequency from long-term therapy, but only 18% of those deemed successful were exclusively homosexual initially, while 50% had been bisexual. In Haldeman's view, this makes even Bieber's unimpressive claims of success misleading. Haldeman discusses other psychoanalytic studies of attempts to change homosexuality. Curran and Parr's "Homosexuality: An analysis of 100 male cases", published in 1957, reported no significant increase in heterosexual behavior. Mayerson and Lief's "Psychotherapy of homosexuals: A follow-up study of nineteen cases", published in 1965, reported that half of the 19 subjects included were exclusively heterosexual in behavior four and a half years after treatment; its outcomes were based on patient self-report and had no external validation. In Haldeman's view, those participants in the study who reported change were


id: conversion-therapy-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy-4.md
category: reference
title: Conversion therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:09.241296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conversion-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
== Effects and evaluation == There is a scientific consensus that conversion therapy is ineffective at changing a person's sexual orientation. Conversion therapy can cause significant, long-term psychological harm. This includes significantly higher rates of depression, substance abuse, and other mental health issues in individuals who have undergone conversion therapy than their peers who did not, including a suicide attempt rate nearly twice that of those who did not. After conversion therapy has failed to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity, participants often feel increased shame that they already felt over their sexual orientation or gender identity. Modern-day practitioners of conversion therapy—primarily from a conservative religious viewpoint—disagree with evidence-based medicine and clinical guidance that does not view homosexuality and gender variance as unnatural or unhealthy. Advocates of conversion therapy rely heavily on testimonials and retrospective self-reports as evidence of effectiveness. Studies purporting to validate the effectiveness of efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity have been criticized for methodological flaws. According to Bailey et al., claims of successful conversion therapy rely upon self reports of success, however these are unreliable and lack objective evidence, and participants in conversion therapy "may be especially susceptible to believing and reporting that


id: conversion-therapy-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy-5.md
category: reference
title: Conversion therapy
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:09.241296+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: conversion-therapy-20260505-0
summary:
National health organizations around the world have uniformly denounced and criticized sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts. They state that there has been no scientific demonstration of "conversion therapy's" efficacy. They find that conversion therapy is ineffective, risky and can be harmful. Anecdotal claims of cures are counterbalanced by assertions of harm, and the American Psychiatric Association, for example, cautions ethical practitioners under the Hippocratic oath to do no harm and to refrain from attempts at conversion therapy. Furthermore, they state that conversion therapy is harmful and that it often exploits individuals' guilt and anxiety, thereby damaging self-esteem and leading to depression and even suicide. A 2025 study completed by the American Medical Association found that 42% of those subjected to conversion therapy attempted suicide, compared to 5% of those not subjected to these practices. For transgender individuals in particular, exposure to conversion therapy before age 10 is associated with a fourfold increase in the risk of lifetime suicide attempts compared to peers who received other forms of therapy. There is also concern in the mental health community that the advancement of conversion therapy can cause social harm by disseminating inaccurate views about gender identity, sexual orientation, and the


id: dei-filius-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dei_Filius-0.md
category: reference
title: Dei Filius
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dei_Filius
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:15.906944+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: dei-filius-20260505-0
summary:
Dei Filius is the incipit of the dogmatic constitution of the First Vatican Council on the Catholic faith, which was adopted unanimously, and issued by Pope Pius IX on 24 April 1870. The constitution set forth the teaching of "the holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church" on God, revelation and faith. == Content == The dogmatic constitution "deals with faith, reason, and their interrelations". The document begins by observing that "God, the principle and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of human reason from created things". However, it then explains that, through divine revelation, this knowledge can more easily be attained "with firm assurance, and with no admixture of error". Faith and reason are seen as complementary. Following Thomas Aquinas, whose guiding thought Philip Egan paraphrases as that "it is the same God who grounds all truth, whether secular or divine, and the truth is ultimately one", Dei Filius saidthere can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason, since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind; and God can not deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth. The false


id: demarcation-problem-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_problem-0.md
category: reference
title: Demarcation problem
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_problem
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:17.130830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: demarcation-problem-20260505-0
summary:
In philosophy of science and epistemology, the demarcation problem is the question of how to distinguish between science and non-science. It also examines the boundaries between science, pseudoscience and other products of human activity, like art and literature and beliefs. The debate continues after more than two millennia of dialogue among philosophers of science and scientists in various fields. The debate has consequences for what can be termed "scientific" in topics such as education and public policy. == The ancients == An early attempt at demarcation can be seen in the efforts of Greek natural philosophers and medical practitioners to distinguish their methods and their accounts of nature from the mythological or mystical accounts of their predecessors and contemporaries. Aristotle described at length what was involved in having scientific knowledge of something. To be scientific, he said, one must deal with causes, one must use logical demonstration, and one must identify the universals which 'inhere' in the particulars of sense. But above all, to have science one must have apodictic certainty. It is the last feature which, for Aristotle, most clearly distinguished the scientific way of knowing. G. E. R. Lloyd noted that there was a sense in which the


id: demarcation-problem-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_problem-1.md
category: reference
title: Demarcation problem
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_problem
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:17.130830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: demarcation-problem-20260505-0
summary:
== Kuhnian postpositivism == Thomas Kuhn, an American historian and philosopher of science, is often associated with what has been termed postpositivism or postempiricism. In his 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn divided the process of doing science into two different endeavors, which he termed normal science and extraordinary science (sometimes known as "revolutionary science"), the latter of which introduces a new "paradigm" that solves new problems while continuing to provide solutions to the problems solved by the preceding paradigm. Finally, and this is for now my main point, a careful look at the scientific enterprise suggests that it is normal science, in which Sir Karl's sort of testing does not occur, rather than extraordinary science which most nearly distinguishes science from other enterprises. If a demarcation criterion exists (we must not, I think, seek a sharp or decisive one), it may lie just in that part of science which Sir Karl ignores. Kuhn's view of demarcation is most clearly expressed in his comparison of astronomy with astrology. Since antiquity, astronomy has been a puzzle-solving activity and therefore a science. If an astronomer's prediction failed, then this was a puzzle that he could hope to solve for instance


id: demarcation-problem-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_problem-2.md
category: reference
title: Demarcation problem
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_problem
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:17.130830+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: demarcation-problem-20260505-0
summary:
== Laudan == Larry Laudan concluded, after examining various historical attempts to establish a demarcation criterion, that "philosophy has failed to deliver the goods" in its attempts to distinguish science from non-science—to distinguish science from pseudoscience. None of the past attempts would be accepted by a majority of philosophers nor, in his opinion, should they be accepted by them or by anyone else. He stated that many well-founded beliefs are not scientific and, conversely, many scientific conjectures are not well-founded. He also stated that demarcation criteria were historically used as machines de guerre in polemical disputes between "scientists" and "pseudo-scientists". Advancing a number of examples from everyday practice of football and carpentry and non-scientific scholarship such as literary criticism and philosophy, he considered the question of whether a belief is well-founded or not to be more practically and philosophically significant than whether it is scientific or not. In his judgment, the demarcation between science and non-science was a pseudo-problem that would best be replaced by examining the distinction between reliable and unreliable knowledge, without bothering to ask whether that knowledge is scientific or not. He would consign phrases like "pseudo-science" or "unscientific" to the rhetoric of politicians or sociologists. ==


id: efficacy-of-prayer-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficacy_of_prayer-0.md
category: reference
title: Efficacy of prayer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficacy_of_prayer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:18.538677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: efficacy-of-prayer-20260505-0
summary:
The efficacy of prayer has been studied since at least 1872, generally through experiments to determine whether prayer or intercessory prayer has a measurable effect on the health of the person for whom prayer is offered. First-person studies suggest that praying can affect the person praying—sometimes improving physiological measures (like cardiovascular responses) and mental health, though results are mixed and often limited by self-report bias. Third-party studies on intercessory prayer (praying for others) have produced inconsistent results, with the largest and most rigorous trials generally finding no significant effect. While some religious groups argue that the power of prayer is obvious, others question whether it is possible to measure its effect. Dr. Fred Rosner, an authority on Jewish medical ethics, has expressed doubt that prayer could ever be subject to empirical analysis. Basic philosophical questions bear upon the question of the efficacy of prayer – for example, whether statistical inference and falsifiability are sufficient to "prove" or to "disprove" anything, and whether the topic is even within the realm of science. According to The Washington Post, "...prayer is the most common complement to mainstream medicine, far outpacing acupuncture, herbs, vitamins and other alternative remedies." In comparison to other fields that


id: efficacy-of-prayer-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficacy_of_prayer-1.md
category: reference
title: Efficacy of prayer
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficacy_of_prayer
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:18.538677+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: efficacy-of-prayer-20260505-0
summary:
=== Medical views === Most scientists dismiss "faith healing" practitioners. Believers assert that faith healing makes no scientific claims and thus should be treated as a matter of faith that is not testable by science. Critics reply that claims of medical cures should be tested scientifically because, although faith in the supernatural is not in itself usually considered to be the purview of science, claims of reproducible effects are nevertheless subject to scientific investigation. Scientists and doctors generally find that faith healing lacks biological plausibility or epistemic warrant, which is one of the criteria used to judge whether clinical research is ethical and financially justified. A Cochrane review of intercessory prayer found "although some of the results of individual studies suggest a positive effect of intercessory prayer, the majority do not". The authors concluded: "We are not convinced that further trials of this intervention should be undertaken and would prefer to see any resources available for such a trial used to investigate other questions in health care". An article in the Medical Journal of Australia says that "One common criticism of prayer research is that prayer has become a popular therapeutic method for which there is no known plausible mechanism."


id: european-society-for-the-study-of-science-and-theology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Society_for_the_Study_of_Science_and_Theology-0.md
category: reference
title: European Society for the Study of Science and Theology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Society_for_the_Study_of_Science_and_Theology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:19.872130+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: european-society-for-the-study-of-science-and-theology-20260505-0
summary:
ESSSAT is a scholarly, non-confessional organization, based in Europe, which aims to promote the study of relationships between the natural sciences and theological views. ESSSAT has members from almost every European country as well as members from other continents. They have different confessional backgrounds, and may include believers as well as non-believers and atheists. Every two years, ESSSAT organizes an international conference, each time on a different venue in Europe. Two prizes for outstanding research are awarded on these conferences: the ESSSAT Student Prize and the ESSSAT Research Prize. ESSSAT publishes three series: Issues in Science and Theology (IST), Studies in Science and Theology (SSTh), and ESSSAT-News (a quarterly newsletter). The organization was founded in the mid-1980s. Its current president is Dirk Evers, who succeeded Antje Jackelén, leading ESSSAT from 2008 to 2014. ESSSAT's president from 2002 to 2008 was Dutch theologian Willem B. Drees. == See also == Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (A similar American organization) Zygon Center for Religion and Science (Chicago) (A similar American organization) Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (Berkeley) (A similar American organization) Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science (a related journal) Theology and Science (a related journal) Issues


id: fact-value-distinction-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fact–value_distinction-0.md
category: reference
title: Fact–value distinction
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fact–value_distinction
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:22.389309+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fact-value-distinction-20260505-0
summary:
The fact–value distinction is a fundamental epistemological distinction between: Statements of fact (positive or descriptive statements), which are based upon reason and observation, and examined via the empirical method. Statements of value (normative or prescriptive statements), such as good and bad, beauty and ugliness, encompass ethics and aesthetics, and are studied via axiology. This barrier between fact and value, as construed in epistemology, implies it is impossible to derive ethical claims from factual arguments, or to defend the former using the latter. The fact–value distinction is closely related to, and derived from, the is–ought problem in moral philosophy, characterized by David Hume. The terms are often used interchangeably, though philosophical discourse concerning the is–ought problem does not usually encompass aesthetics. == History == === David Hume's skepticism === In A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), David Hume discusses the problems in grounding normative statements in positive statements; that is, in deriving ought from is. It is generally regarded that Hume considered such derivations untenable, and his 'is–ought' problem is considered a principal question of moral philosophy. Hume shared a political viewpoint with early Enlightenment philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and John Locke (1632–1704). Specifically, Hume, at least to some


id: fact-value-distinction-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fact–value_distinction-1.md
category: reference
title: Fact–value distinction
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fact–value_distinction
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:22.389309+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: fact-value-distinction-20260505-0
summary:
=== Moralistic fallacy === The fact–value distinction is also closely related to the moralistic fallacy, an invalid inference of factual conclusions from purely evaluative premises. For example, the invalid inference "Unfaithfulness is immoral, and so it is unnatural to feel desire for others when in a monogamous relationship" is an instance of the moralistic fallacy. Where the naturalistic fallacy attempts to move from an "is" to an "ought" statement, the moralistic fallacy attempts to move from an "ought" to an "is" statement. == Criticisms == Virtually all modern philosophers affirm some sort of fact–value distinction, insofar as they distinguish between science and "valued" disciplines such as ethics, aesthetics, or the fine arts. However, philosophers such as Hilary Putnam argue that the distinction between fact and value is not as absolute as Hume envisioned. Philosophical pragmatists, for instance, believe that true propositions are those that are useful or effective in predicting future (empirical) states of affairs. Far from being value-free, the pragmatists' conception of truth or facts directly relates to an end (namely, empirical predictability) that human beings regard as normatively desirable. Other thinkers, such as N. R. Hanson among others, talk of theory-ladenness, and reject an absolutist fact–value distinction by


id: faith-and-rationality-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_and_rationality-0.md
category: reference
title: Faith and rationality
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_and_rationality
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:24.295216+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: faith-and-rationality-20260505-0
summary:
Faith and rationality exist in varying degrees of conflict or compatibility. Rationality is based on reason or facts. Faith is belief in inspiration, revelation, or authority. The word faith sometimes refers to a belief that is held independently or in spite of reason or empirical evidence, or it can refer to belief based upon a degree of evidential warrant. == Relationship between faith and reason == Rationalists point out that many people hold irrational beliefs, for many reasons. There may be evolutionary causes for irrational beliefs—irrational beliefs may increase our ability to survive and reproduce. One more reason for irrational beliefs can perhaps be explained by operant conditioning. For example, in one study by B. F. Skinner in 1948, pigeons were awarded grain at regular time intervals regardless of their behaviour. The result was that each of the pigeons developed their own idiosyncratic response which had become associated with the consequence of receiving grain. Believers in the value of faith—for example those who believe salvation is possible through faith alone—frequently suggest that everyone holds beliefs arrived at by faith, not reason. One form of belief held "by faith" may be seen existing in a faith as based on warrant. In


id: faraday-institute-for-science-and-religion-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Institute_for_Science_and_Religion-0.md
category: reference
title: Faraday Institute for Science and Religion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Institute_for_Science_and_Religion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:25.527202+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: faraday-institute-for-science-and-religion-20260505-0
summary:
The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion is an interdisciplinary academic research institute based in Cambridge, England. It is named after the 19th-century English scientist Michael Faraday, the pioneer of electromagnetic induction. It was established in 2006 by a $2,000,000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation to carry out academic research, to foster understanding of the interaction between science and religion, and to engage public understanding in both these subject areas. The institute also leads debate on wider issues such as sustainability and education. == Senior staff == The institute's Executive Director is Graham Budd, and its Associate Director is Sarah Perrett. The emeritus directors are Denis Alexander and Robert (Bob) White. == Activities == The institute organises a wide range of activities, including: Free, regular lectures and seminars on a range of science and religion topics. Providing access to resources such as downloadable audio and video recordings of over 350 Faraday Institute courses, lectures and seminars. The website also includes a wide range of written material, and an online shop featuring heavily discounted books. Short, intensive weekend, and midweek courses. These are open to graduates or undergraduates from any university in the world, of any faith or none. Discounts


id: steve-fuller-sociologist-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fuller_(sociologist)-0.md
category: reference
title: Steve Fuller (sociologist)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fuller_(sociologist)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:26.979527+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: steve-fuller-sociologist-20260505-0
summary:
Steve William Fuller (born July 12, 1959) is an American social philosopher and philosopher of science in the field of science and technology studies. He is the Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology at the University of Warwick. He served as the president of the British Science Association's sociology division from 2008 to 2009. He has published in the areas of social epistemology, academic freedom, and in support of intelligent design and transhumanism. == Early life and education == Fuller was born on July 12, 1959, in New York City. He attended Regis High School in Manhattan. After high school, Fuller graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University with a B.A. in history and sociology in 1979. As an undergraduate at Columbia College, he was a John Jay Scholar. After graduation, Fuller was awarded a Kellett Fellowship to complete graduate studies in England at the University of Cambridge, where he earned an M.Phil. in the history of science and philosophy of science in 1981. He then earned his Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1985, where he was an Andrew Mellon Pre-Doctoral Fellow. Fuller's doctoral dissertation, "Bounded Rationality in Law and Science",


id: steve-fuller-sociologist-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fuller_(sociologist)-1.md
category: reference
title: Steve Fuller (sociologist)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fuller_(sociologist)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:26.979527+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: steve-fuller-sociologist-20260505-0
summary:
=== Intelligent design === Fuller has made many statements about his support for the teaching of intelligent design (ID) and authored two books on the subject. In 2005, in the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, he testified on behalf of a local school system in the United States that required the teaching of intelligent design. The decision of the U.S. District Court held that intelligent design was a form of creationism and that its inclusion in the curriculum violated the U.S. Constitution's prohibition on the establishment of religion. The decision repeatedly cited Fuller's testimony to undermine the school system's position. Some of Fuller's critics within the Science and Technology Studies community described his participation in the trial as "naïve" and suggested that the field needs further development before it can constructively engage the legal community on the nature of science. Fuller has said that he does not support intelligent design "but feels that it should have a 'fair run for its money'". In his book Dissent over Descent, he says he sees religion in general as a motivating influence in scientific pursuits and believes that the difference between science and religion is more institutional than intellectual. Critics


id: steve-fuller-sociologist-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fuller_(sociologist)-2.md
category: reference
title: Steve Fuller (sociologist)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fuller_(sociologist)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:26.979527+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: steve-fuller-sociologist-20260505-0
summary:
=== Dissent Over Descent === In 2008, Fuller's book on the intelligent design controversy, Dissent Over Descent: Intelligent Design's Challenge to Darwinism was published. Steven Poole of The Guardian wrote: "book is an epoch-hopping parade of straw men, incompetent reasoning and outright gibberish, as when evolution is argued to share with astrology a commitment to "action at a distance", except that the distance is in time rather than space. It's intellectual quackery like this that gives philosophy of science a bad name." Michael Ruse, Philosopher of Science at Florida State University wrote in the journal Science that Fuller's book "is completely wrong and is backed by no sound scholarship whatsoever. In at least one case, Fuller makes his case by an egregious misreading—of something I wrote about the role of genetic drift in Sewall Wright's shifting balance theory. For the record, Charles Darwin set out to provide a cause, what he called—following his mentors like William Whewell (who in turn referred back to Newton)—a true cause or vera causa. Darwin felt, and historians and philosophers of science as well as practicing evolutionary biologists still feel, that he succeeded…" In a "book of the week" review by retired Divinity Professor Keith


id: steve-fuller-sociologist-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fuller_(sociologist)-3.md
category: reference
title: Steve Fuller (sociologist)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Fuller_(sociologist)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:26.979527+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: steve-fuller-sociologist-20260505-0
summary:
=== Journal articles === Fuller, Steve (November 1990). "They shoot dead horses, don't they?: Philosophical fear and sociological loathing in St Louis". Social Studies of Science. 20 (4): 664–681. doi:10.1177/030631290020004005. S2CID 146531717. Fuller, Steve (2005). "Kuhnenstein: or, the importance of being read". Philosophy of the Social Sciences. 35 (4): 480–498. doi:10.1177/0048393105280868. S2CID 54546035. Fuller, Steve; Haworth, Alan (2007). "Academic freedom". The Philosophers' Magazine. 38 (2): 72–77. doi:10.5840/tpm20073864. Debating the "statement of academic freedom" made by Academics for Academic Freedom (AFAF). == References == == Further reading == Two essays written as part of a debate on the Sokal hoax and published in The Independent on 28 June 1998: Who's Afraid of Science Studies by Steve Fuller, defending science studies. an annotated bibliography of nonsense Archived 23 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine by Kenan Malik, takes a contrary view to Fuller's (but does not refer to him), criticizing what he considers to be the unrealistically excessive relativism of science studies. Special Issue of Social Epistemology (2003) on Fuller's Kuhn thesis. Remedios, F. (2003). Legitimizing Scientific Knowledge: An Introduction to Steve Fuller's Social Epistemology, Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, USA. Fuller, Steve (2004). "The case of Fuller vs Kuhn". Social Epistemology: A


id: god-gene-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_gene-0.md
category: reference
title: God gene
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_gene
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:29.566934+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: god-gene-20260505-0
summary:
The God gene hypothesis proposes that human spirituality is influenced by heredity and that a specific gene, called vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), predisposes humans towards spiritual or mystic experiences. The idea has been proposed by geneticist Dean Hamer in the 2004 book called The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes. The God gene hypothesis is based on a combination of behavioral genetic, neurobiological and psychological studies. The major arguments of the hypothesis are: (1) spirituality can be quantified by psychometric measurements; (2) the underlying tendency to spirituality is partially heritable; (3) part of this heritability can be attributed to the gene VMAT2; (4) this gene acts by altering monoamine levels; and (5) spirituality provides an evolutionary advantage by providing individuals with an innate sense of optimism. == Proposal == According to the God Gene hypothesis, spirituality has a genetic component, of which (VMAT2) comprises one component by contributing to sensations associated with mystic experiences, including the presence of God and feelings of connection to a larger universe. The research uses the self-transcendence scale developed by psychologist Robert Cloninger to quantify spirituality using three sub-scales: "self-forgetfulness" (as in the tendency to become totally absorbed in some activity,


id: god-of-the-gaps-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps-0.md
category: reference
title: God of the gaps
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:30.815858+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: god-of-the-gaps-20260505-0
summary:
"God of the gaps" is a theological concept that emerged in the 19th century, and revolves around the idea that gaps in scientific understanding are regarded as indications of the existence of God. This perspective has its origins in the observation that some individuals, often with religious inclinations, point to areas where science falls short in explaining natural phenomena as opportunities to insert the presence of a divine creator. The term itself was coined in response to this tendency. This theological view suggests that God fills in the gaps left by scientific knowledge, and that these gaps represent moments of divine intervention or influence. This concept has been met with criticism and debate from various quarters. Detractors argue that this perspective is problematic as it seems to rely on gaps in human understanding and ignorance to make its case for the existence of God. As scientific knowledge continues to advance, these gaps tend to shrink, potentially weakening the argument for God's existence. Critics contend that such an approach can undermine religious beliefs by suggesting that God only operates in the unexplained areas of our understanding, leaving little room for divine involvement in a comprehensive and coherent worldview. The "God of


id: god-of-the-gaps-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps-1.md
category: reference
title: God of the gaps
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:30.815858+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: god-of-the-gaps-20260505-0
summary:
== General usage == The term "God of the gaps" is sometimes used in describing the incremental retreat of religious explanations of physical phenomena in the face of increasingly comprehensive scientific explanations for those phenomena. Dorothy Dinnerstein includes psychological explanations for developmental distortions leading to a person believing in a deity, particularly a male deity. R. Laird Harris writes of the physical science aspect of this: The expression, "God of the Gaps," contains a real truth. It is erroneous if it is taken to mean that God is not immanent in natural law but is only to be observed in mysteries unexplained by law. No significant Christian group has believed this view. It is true, however, if it be taken to emphasize that God is not only immanent in natural law but also is active in the numerous phenomena associated with the supernatural and the spiritual. There are gaps in a physical-chemical explanation of this world, and there always will be. Because science has learned many marvelous secrets of nature, it cannot be concluded that it can explain all phenomena. Meaning, soul, spirits, and life are subjects incapable of physical-chemical explanation or formation. == Usage in referring to a type


id: heart-of-the-matter-tv-series-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_the_Matter_(TV_series)-0.md
category: reference
title: Heart of the Matter (TV series)
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_the_Matter_(TV_series)
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:37.203178+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: heart-of-the-matter-tv-series-20260505-0
summary:
Heart of the Matter is a British television debate series that aired on BBC One from 1979 to 2000. Presented variously by Joan Bakewell, Helena Kennedy QC and David Jessel, its subject matter was often concerned with religious or ethical issues. Topics covered include subjects as diverse as substance abuse, the effects of anti-personnel landmines, and homosexuality. Bakewell would usually chair an in-studio debate in which invited guests would discuss the edition's chosen topic. An edition from 1996 hosted by Joan Bakewell, The Heart of the Matter: God Under the Microscope, featured a debate on science and religion and included as guests David Starkey, Mary Warnock, Wentzel van Huyssteen, Richard Dawkins, Polish Roman Catholic priest and 2008 Templeton Prize winner cosmologist Prof. Michael Heller, and James Watson. Heart of the Matter was broadcast late on Sunday evenings, usually alternating with the similarly themed Everyman, though the latter tended to have more of a religious focus. Both programmes were cancelled in the 2000s following a revamp of BBC output. == References == == External links == Heart of the Matter at IMDb Heart of the Matter at the British Film Institute


id: history-of-the-extraterrestrial-life-debate-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_extraterrestrial_life_debate-0.md
category: reference
title: History of the extraterrestrial life debate
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_extraterrestrial_life_debate
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:38.469760+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-extraterrestrial-life-debate-20260505-0
summary:
The existence of extraterrestrial life is a scientific idea that has been debated for centuries. Initially, the question was purely speculative; in modern times a limited amount of scientific evidence provides some answers. The idea was first proposed in Ancient Greece, where it was supported by atomists and rejected by Aristotelians. The debate continued during the Middle Ages, when the discussion centered upon whether the notion of extraterrestrial life was compatible with the doctrines of Christianity. The Copernican Revolution radically altered mankind's image of the architecture of the cosmos by removing Earth from the center of the universe, which made the concept of extraterrestrial life more plausible. Today we have no conclusive evidence of extraterrestrial life, but experts in many different disciplines gather to study the idea under the scientific umbrella of astrobiology. == Ancient Greece == During the early days of the history of astronomy the things seen in the night sky were explained as the actions of mythological deities. However, it soon became evident that celestial objects move and behave in regular and predictable patterns, which helped in keeping track of time, tides, and seasons, crucial for ancient agriculture. Most ancient civilizations had great knowledge of astronomy but


id: history-of-the-extraterrestrial-life-debate-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_extraterrestrial_life_debate-1.md
category: reference
title: History of the extraterrestrial life debate
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_extraterrestrial_life_debate
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:38.469760+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-extraterrestrial-life-debate-20260505-0
summary:
The Greeks discussed as well the possible existence of other worlds, but did not consider the planets as such. In their view, the celestial sphere was a part of Earth and other potential worlds would have their own ones. There was consensus that the world was made of the four classical elements, earth, water, fire and air. From there, they had two opposite ideas: Atomists thought that all existence was composed by atoms, small and indivisible pieces of the four elements, and Aristotelians thought that the four elements were exclusive to Earth and that the universe was made of a fifth one, the Aether. The atomist view would allow the existence of other worlds, as the processes that created Earth may happen elsewhere as well. Although very few of their writings were preserved, it is known that early atomists Leucippus and Democritus thought that atoms should create other worlds the same way Earth was created. Epicurus said in his "Letter to Herodotus" that "There are infinite worlds both like and unlike this world of ours... we must believe that in all worlds there are living creatures and plants and other things we see in this world". Aristotle and Plato opposed


id: history-of-the-extraterrestrial-life-debate-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_extraterrestrial_life_debate-2.md
category: reference
title: History of the extraterrestrial life debate
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_extraterrestrial_life_debate
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:38.469760+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-extraterrestrial-life-debate-20260505-0
summary:
Nicolaus Copernicus published De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543, kickstarting the Copernican Revolution. This book restored and updated the old idea of Aristarchus that Earth spins around the sun. The new version was written with so much mathematical detail that it could contest the Ptolemaic model. By this time, scientists noticed several inaccuracies in the Ptolemaic model. They were more open to revising it, but largely kept using it because of the huge work involved in changing the tables. Copernicus thought that Earth spinning around the sun could provide a simpler explanation for the retrograde motion of the planets, and calculated the distance of the planets to the Sun. However, he kept the idea of circular orbits, and added several composite orbits to explain the errors caused by it. Although he correctly displaced the center of the Solar System, this first model turned out to be as inaccurate and as complex as the Ptolematic one, and did not get much supporters in the first decades. A recurring problem for both models was the lack of quality data, as the telescope had not been invented yet and naked eye observations are highly inaccurate. The Danish Tycho Brahe sought to gather such


id: history-of-the-extraterrestrial-life-debate-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_extraterrestrial_life_debate-3.md
category: reference
title: History of the extraterrestrial life debate
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_extraterrestrial_life_debate
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:38.469760+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: history-of-the-extraterrestrial-life-debate-20260505-0
summary:
However, some scientists had concerns over the new model. Aristotle had once stated that Earth could not move because, if it did so, birds, clouds, and falling objects would be left behind. Orbits had to be circular because the heavens had to be perfect and unchanging. And if Earth moved, the stars should leave a stellar parallax. Those concerns were addressed by Galileo Galilei. First, he explained that an object in motion stays in motion unless a force stops it; a principle nowadays included in the first of Newton's laws of motion. The idea of heavenly perfection was already being challenged by Tycho's observations. Tycho had observed a supernova, which proved that sometimes the heavens do change. The newly invented telescope also revealed "imperfections" in celestial bodies: the sun was shown with sunspots, and the Moon has many features such as craters and mountain ranges. If the heavens were not as perfect as originally considered, then the idea that orbits are not perfect circles was not so questionable. Galileo also discovered the Galilean moons of Jupiter, celestial bodies orbiting another planet, and the phases of Venus. The existence of the Galilean moons refuted the common argument that the Moon would


id: institute-on-religion-in-an-age-of-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_on_Religion_in_an_Age_of_Science-0.md
category: reference
title: Institute on Religion in an Age of Science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_on_Religion_in_an_Age_of_Science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:39.629370+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: institute-on-religion-in-an-age-of-science-20260505-0
summary:
The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) is a non-denominational society that promotes and facilitates the ongoing dialectic between religion and science. The Institute has held annual week-long conferences at Star Island in New Hampshire since 1954. The conference attracts about 250 members and non-members each year. The 1964 conference, for example, was attended by 215 conferees, with speeches by figures including Theodosius Dobzhansky. == Mission == In its Constitution, the IRAS purpose is stated as follows: "The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science is established to promote creative efforts leading to the formulation, in the light of contemporary knowledge, of effective doctrines and practice for human welfare; to formulate dynamic and positive relationships between the concepts developed by science and the goals and hopes of humanity expressed through religion; and to state human values in such universal and valid terms that they be understood by all peoples, whatever their cultural background or experience, in such a way as to provide a basis for world-wide cooperation. The IRAS Council adopted the following statement in 2003: "We at IRAS take the natural world seriously as a primary source of meaning. Our quest is informed and guided


id: intelligent-design-and-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design_and_science-0.md
category: reference
title: Intelligent design and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:40.957860+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: intelligent-design-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
The relationship between intelligent design and science has been a contentious one. Intelligent design (ID) is presented by its proponents as science and claims to offer an alternative to evolution. The Discovery Institute, a politically conservative think tank and the leading proponent of intelligent design, launched a campaign entitled "Teach the Controversy", which claims that a controversy exists within the scientific community over evolution. The scientific community rejects intelligent design as a form of creationism, and the basic facts of evolution are not a matter of controversy in science. == "Teach the Controversy" == The intelligent design movement states that there is a debate among scientists about whether life evolved. The movement stresses the importance of recognizing the existence of this supposed debate, seeking to convince the public, politicians, and cultural leaders that schools should "Teach the Controversy". In fact, there is no such controversy in the scientific community; the scientific consensus is that life evolved. Intelligent design is widely viewed as a stalking horse for its proponents' campaign against what they say is the materialist foundation of science, which they argue leaves no room for the possibility of God. == Neo-creationism == Advocates of intelligent design from a Christian


id: intelligent-design-and-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design_and_science-1.md
category: reference
title: Intelligent design and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:40.957860+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: intelligent-design-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
== Inter-faith outreach == Supporters of intelligent design have also reached out to other faith groups with similar accounts of creation with the hope that the broader coalition will have greater influence in supporting science education that does not contradict their religious views. Many religious bodies have responded by expressing support for evolution. The Roman Catholic Church has stated that religious faith is fully compatible with science, which is limited to dealing only with the natural world—a position described by the term theistic evolution. While some in the Roman Catholic Church reject Intelligent design for various philosophical and theological reasons, others, such as Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, have shown support for it. The arguments of intelligent design have been directly challenged by the over 10,000 clergy who signed the Clergy Letter Project. Prominent scientists who strongly express religious faith, such as the astronomer George Coyne and the biologist Ken Miller, have been at the forefront of opposition to intelligent design. While creationist organizations have welcomed intelligent design's support against naturalism, they have also been critical of its refusal to identify the designer, and have pointed to previous failures of the same argument. Rabbi Natan Slifkin directly criticized the advocates


id: intelligent-design-and-science-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design_and_science-2.md
category: reference
title: Intelligent design and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:40.957860+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: intelligent-design-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
== Peer review == The failure to follow the procedures of scientific discourse and the failure to submit work to the scientific community that withstands scrutiny have weighed against intelligent design being accepted as valid science. The intelligent design movement has not published a properly peer-reviewed article supporting ID in a scientific journal, and has failed to publish peer-reviewed research or data supporting ID. Intelligent design, by appealing to a supernatural agent, directly conflicts with the principles of science, which limit its inquiries to empirical, observable and ultimately testable data and which require explanations to be based on empirical evidence. Dembski, Behe and other intelligent design proponents say bias by the scientific community is to blame for the failure of their research to be published. Intelligent design proponents believe that their writings are rejected for not conforming to purely naturalistic, non-supernatural mechanisms rather than because their research is not up to "journal standards", and that the merit of their articles is overlooked. Some scientists describe this claim as a conspiracy theory. Michael Shermer has rebutted the claim, noting "Anyone who thinks that scientists do not question Darwinism has never been to an evolutionary conference." He noted that scientists such as


id: intelligent-design-and-science-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design_and_science-3.md
category: reference
title: Intelligent design and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:40.957860+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: intelligent-design-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
== Intelligence as an observable quality == The phrase intelligent design makes use of an assumption of the quality of an observable intelligence, a concept that has no scientific consensus definition. William Dembski, for example, has written that "Intelligence leaves behind a characteristic signature". The characteristics of intelligence are assumed by intelligent design proponents to be observable without specifying what the criteria for the measurement of intelligence should be. Dembski, instead, asserts that "in special sciences ranging from forensics to archaeology to SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), appeal to a designing intelligence is indispensable". How this appeal is made and what this implies as to the definition of intelligence are topics left largely unaddressed. Seth Shostak, a researcher with the SETI Institute, disputed Dembski's comparison of SETI and intelligent design, saying that intelligent design advocates base their inference of design on complexity—the argument being that some biological systems are too complex to have been made by natural processes—while SETI researchers are looking primarily for artificiality. Critics say that the design detection methods proposed by intelligent design proponents are radically different from conventional design detection, undermining the key elements that make it possible as legitimate science. Intelligent design proponents, they


id: international-society-for-science-and-religion-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Society_for_Science_and_Religion-0.md
category: reference
title: International Society for Science and Religion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Society_for_Science_and_Religion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:42.173627+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: international-society-for-science-and-religion-20260505-0
summary:
The International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) is a learned society established in 2001 for the purpose of the promotion of education through the support of inter-disciplinary learning and research in the fields of science and religion conducted where possible in an international and multi-faith context. The Society took shape after a four-day conference in Granada, Spain. The society’s central office is based at St. Edmund's College at the University of Cambridge. ISSR's daily operations are run by the Executive Secretary, Professor Fraser Watts in the UK, and Anthony K Nairn in Canada. == Membership == Membership is by nomination only. The title of Fellow of ISSR (FISSR) is granted to all successful nominees. ISSR has over 350 current Members across the globe. There were 97 founding Members, including five Fellows of the Royal Society. === Varieties of faith tradition === Although many of the founders of the ISSR are Christians, the society actively welcomes members from other faith traditions. The book Why the Science and Religion Dialogue Matters produced by the Society has major contributions from: John Polkinghorne, George Ellis, Holmes Rolston III and Fraser Watts (who are Christians), on why the science and religion dialogue matters Carl


id: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions-0.md
category: reference
title: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:43.407186+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-0
summary:
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Bible prohibits Christians from accepting blood transfusions. Their literature states that, "abstaining from ... blood" means not accepting blood transfusions and not donating or storing their own blood for transfusion." This interpretation of scripture is unusual and is one of the doctrines for which Jehovah's Witnesses are best known. Jehovah's Witnesses' literature teaches that their refusal of transfusions of whole blood or its four primary components—red cells, white cells, platelets, and plasma—is a non-negotiable religious stand and that those who respect life as a gift from God do not try to sustain life by taking in blood, even in an emergency. Witnesses are taught that the use of fractions such as albumin, immunoglobulins, and hemophiliac preparations are not absolutely prohibited and are instead a matter of personal choice. The doctrine was introduced in 1945 and has undergone some changes since then. Members of the group who voluntarily accept a transfusion and are not deemed repentant are regarded as having disassociated themselves from the group by abandoning its doctrines and are subsequently shunned by members of the organization. Although the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses accept the doctrine, a minority do not. The Watch Tower Society has


id: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions-1.md
category: reference
title: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:43.407186+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-0
summary:
108,000 physicians have expressed their willingness to respect the wishes of Jehovah’s Witnesses and provide bloodless treatment and about 200 hospitals offer bloodless medicine and surgery programs for patients who wish to avoid or limit blood transfusions. Bloodless surgery has been successfully performed in significant procedures including open-heart surgery and total hip replacements. A 2012 study in JAMA Internal Medicine concluded that "Witnesses do not appear to be at increased risk for surgical complications or long-term mortality when comparisons are properly made by transfusion status. Thus, current extreme blood management strategies do not appear to place patients at heightened risk for reduced long-term survival." The study also stated that "Survival estimates of Witnesses were 86%, 69%, 51%, and 34% at 5, 10, 15, and 20 years after surgery, respectively, vs 74%, 53%, 35%, and 23% among non-Witnesses who received transfusions." Bloodless medical and surgical techniques have limitations, and surgeons say the use of various allogeneic blood products and pre-operative autologous blood transfusion are appropriate standards of care for certain patient presentations. The Watch Tower Society states that in medical emergencies where blood transfusions seem to be the only available way to save a life, Jehovah's Witnesses request that doctors provide


id: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions-2.md
category: reference
title: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:43.407186+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-0
summary:
== Acceptance among Jehovah's Witnesses == Since the elaboration of the blood doctrine to the point of prohibiting transfusion, the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses have adopted the organization's position. Those Jehovah's Witnesses who accept the blood doctrine typically hold strongly to their convictions. In the August 1998 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine, Donald Ridley, a Jehovah's Witness and organization staff attorney, argued that carrying an up-to-date Medical Directive card issued by the organization indicates that an individual personally agrees with the established religious position of Jehovah's Witness. In 1958, The Watchtower reported on a particular member of Jehovah's Witnesses who voluntarily accepted blood transfusion, contrary to Watch Tower Society doctrine. The organization confirms that members have accepted blood transfusions, despite the imposition in 1961 of a communal shunning policy for willful acceptance. In 1982, a peer-reviewed case study of a congregation of 59 Jehovah's Witnesses was undertaken by Drs. Larry J. Findley and Paul M. Redstone to evaluate individual belief in respect to blood among Jehovah's Witnesses. The researchers stated, "The members of this congregation are adamant in their refusal to accept all blood products... Not one of the members stated they would receive a blood transfusion even if their


id: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions-3.md
category: reference
title: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:43.407186+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-0
summary:
In September 1945, representatives of the Watch Tower Society in the Netherlands commented on blood transfusion in the Dutch edition of Consolation. A translation of their comments into English reads: When we lose our life because we refuse inoculations, that does not bear witness as a justification of Jehovah's name. God never issued regulations which prohibit the use of drugs, inoculations or blood transfusions. It is an invention of people, who, like the Pharisees, leave Jehovah's mercy and love aside. According to sociologist Richard Singelenbreg, the statement appearing in the Dutch edition of Consolation may have been published without knowledge of the doctrinal position published in the English July 1945 issue of Consolation by the Watch Tower Society's headquarters in the United States. In 1945, the application of the doctrine on blood was expanded to prohibit blood transfusions of whole blood, whether allogeneic or autologous. The prohibition did not specify any punitive measures for accepting a transfusion, but by January 1961—in what was later described as an application of "increased strictness"—it was ruled that it was a disfellowshipping offense to conscientiously accept a blood transfusion. The Watch Tower Society warned that accepting a blood transfusion "may result in the immediate


id: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions-4.md
category: reference
title: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:43.407186+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-0
summary:
=== Scriptural interpretation === Dissident Witnesses say the Society's use of Leviticus 17:12 to support its opposition to blood transfusions conflicts with its own teachings that Christians are not under the Mosaic law. Theologian Anthony Hoekema claims the blood prohibited in Levitical laws was not human, but animal. He cites other authors who support his view that the direction in Acts 15 to abstain from blood was intended not as an everlasting covenant but a means of maintaining a peaceful relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians. He has described as "absurd literalism" the Witnesses' use of a scriptural prohibition on eating blood to prohibit the medical transfusion of human blood. === Coercion === Osamu Muramoto has argued that the refusal by Jehovah's Witnesses of "life-saving" blood treatment creates serious bio-medical ethical issues. He has criticized the "controlling intervention" of the Watch Tower Society by means of what he claims is information control and its policy of penalising members who accept blood transfusions or advocate freedom to choose blood-based treatment. He says the threat of being classified as a disassociated Witness and subsequently shunned by friends and relatives who are members coerces Jehovah's Witnesses to accept and obey the prohibition on


id: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions-5.md
category: reference
title: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:43.407186+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-0
summary:
=== Selective use of information === Muramoto has claimed many Watch Tower Society publications employ exaggeration and emotionalism to emphasize the dangers of transfusions and the advantages of alternative treatments but present a distorted picture by failing to report any benefits of blood-based treatment. Nor do its publications acknowledge that in some situations, including rapid and massive haemorrhage, there are no alternatives to blood transfusions. He states that Watch Tower Society publications often discuss the risk of death as a result of refusing blood transfusions, but give little consideration to the prolonged suffering and disability, producing an added burden on family and society, that can result from refusal. Attorney and former Witness Kerry Louderback-Wood also claims that Witness publications exaggerate the medical risks of taking blood and the efficiency of non-blood medical therapies in critical situations. Douglas E. Cowan, an academic in the sociology of religion, has claimed that members of the Christian countercult movement who criticize the Watch Tower Society make selective use of information themselves. For example, Christian apologist Richard Abanes wrote that their ban on blood transfusions "has led to countless Witness deaths over the years, including many children." Cowan wrote: "When the careful reader checks [Abanes'


id: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions-6.md
category: reference
title: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:43.407186+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jehovah-s-witnesses-and-blood-transfusions-20260505-0
summary:
== Further reading == Sloan JM, Ballen K (May 2008). "SCT in Jehovah's Witnesses: the bloodless transplant". Bone Marrow Transplant. 41 (10): 837–44. doi:10.1038/bmt.2008.5. PMID 18246110. S2CID 12256769. Bayam L, Tait WF, Macartney ID (2007). "Successful repair of a giant abdominal aortoiliac aneurysm in a Jehovah's Witness". Vasc Endovascular Surg. 41 (5): 460–2. doi:10.1177/1538574407303172. PMID 17942864. S2CID 20999081. Massiah N, Athimulam S, Loo C, Okolo S, Yoong W (October 2007). "Obstetric care of Jehovah's Witnesses: a 14-year observational study". Arch Gynecol Obstet. 276 (4): 339–43. doi:10.1007/s00404-007-0346-0. PMID 17522882. S2CID 8416402. Putney, Leeann J. (July–September 2007). "Bloodless cardiac surgery: not just possible, but preferable". Crit Care Nurs Q. 30 (3): 263–70. doi:10.1097/01.CNQ.0000278927.44691.8c. PMID 17579310. S2CID 44846538. "Free copy" (PDF). CEConnection for Allied Health. Retrieved May 15, 2022. Eilers, June; Rounds, Luisa (2007). "Blood Transfusion or Not: A Literature Review of Bloodless Interventions to Treat Cancer Related Anemia". Oncology Nursing Forum. 34 (2): 553–554. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. == External links == Official website of Jehovah's Witnesses How Can Blood Save Your Life? published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society Why Don't Jehovah's Witnesses Accept Blood Transfusions? from the official website Bloodless Surgeries and Jehovah's Witnesses PBS


id: john-templeton-foundation-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Templeton_Foundation-0.md
category: reference
title: John Templeton Foundation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Templeton_Foundation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:44.745375+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: john-templeton-foundation-20260505-0
summary:
The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a philanthropic organization founded by John Templeton in 1987. Templeton became wealthy as a contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in religious and spiritual knowledge, especially at the intersection of religion and science. He also sought to fund research on methods to promote and develop moral character, intelligence, and creativity in people, and to promote free markets. In 2008, the foundation was awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2016, Inside Philanthropy called it "the oddest—or most interesting—big foundation around." Templeton was chairman until he died in 2008. Templeton's son, John Templeton Jr., was its president from its founding until his death in 2015, at which point Templeton Jr.'s daughter, Heather Templeton Dill, became president. The foundation administers the annual Templeton Prize for achievements in the field of spirituality, including those at the intersection of science and religion. It has an extensive grant-funding program (around $150 million per year as of 2016) aimed at supporting research in physics, biology, psychology, and the social sciences as well as philosophy and theology. It also supports programs related to genetics, "exceptional cognitive talent and genius" and "individual freedom and free markets". The foundation receives both praise


id: john-templeton-foundation-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Templeton_Foundation-1.md
category: reference
title: John Templeton Foundation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Templeton_Foundation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:44.745375+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: john-templeton-foundation-20260505-0
summary:
==== Black Hole Initiative ==== In 2016, the foundation granted over seven million dollars to the Black Hole Initiative (BHI), an interdisciplinary program at Harvard University that includes the fields of Astronomy, Physics and Philosophy, and is said to be the first center in the world to focus on the study of black holes. Notable principal participants include Sheperd Doeleman, Peter Galison, Avi Loeb, Ramesh Narayan, Andrew Strominger, and Shing-Tung Yau. The BHI Inauguration was held on 18 April 2016 and was attended by Stephen Hawking; related workshop events were held on 19 April 2016. ==== Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute ==== In 2015, the Santa Fe Institute was awarded a three-year, $2.5 million grant to support the development of a general theory of complexity, constituting "a concise, parsimonious, and potentially mathematizable framework for understanding complex adaptive systems". === Biology and human development === In 2016, the foundation awarded $5.4 million to the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME) to study the origin of life on Earth, particularly investigating questions of how early RNA interacted with water, which is necessary for life but also degrades RNA, and how the introduction of energy to organic materials yielded life rather than


id: john-templeton-foundation-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Templeton_Foundation-2.md
category: reference
title: John Templeton Foundation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Templeton_Foundation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:44.745375+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: john-templeton-foundation-20260505-0
summary:
==== Scientific development of virtue interventions ==== In 2019, the foundation awarded $2.6 million grant to Sarah Schnitker of Baylor University and Benjamin Houltberg of the University of Southern California to "galvanize widespread scientific development of virtue interventions for adolescents across a diversity of contexts". A grant from the foundation supports a study of religion and health conducted by Tyler VanderWeele of Harvard University. VanderWeele is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and co-director the University's Initiative on Health, Religion and Spirituality. His research has focused on the application of causal inference to epidemiology, as well as on the relationship between religion and health. === Science education === The foundation has provided grants in support of dialogue with scientists in synagogues, and a grant for advancing scientific literacy in madrasas. It has also sponsored a major, multi-year, multi-million-dollar effort to integrate science education in North American seminaries, including Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, and Catholic and Orthodox institutions. === History === The foundation provided funding for the book Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion, which


id: john-templeton-foundation-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Templeton_Foundation-3.md
category: reference
title: John Templeton Foundation
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Templeton_Foundation
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:44.745375+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: john-templeton-foundation-20260505-0
summary:
=== Intelligent design === A 2007 article in the Los Angeles Times described the foundation as having "drawn criticism for its early support of intelligent design". Charles L. Harper Jr., a former senior vice president of the foundation, told BusinessWeek in 2005 that the foundation had become one of the "principal critics" of the intelligent design movement and funded projects that challenged that movement. Harper Jr. told The New York Times the same year: "From the point of view of rigor and intellectual seriousness, the intelligent design people don't come out very well in our world of scientific review". Some organizations funded by the foundation in the 1990s gave book-writing grants to Guillermo Gonzalez and to William Dembski, proponents of intelligent design who later joined the Discovery Institute. The foundation also gave money directly to the Discovery Institute which in turn passed it through to Baylor University, which used the funds to support Dembski's salary at its short-lived Michael Polanyi Center. The foundation funded projects by Bruce L. Gordon, associate director of the center, after the center was dissolved. Some media outlets described the foundation as a supporter of intelligent design during the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District litigation


id: journal-of-psychology-theology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Psychology_&_Theology-0.md
category: reference
title: Journal of Psychology & Theology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Psychology_&_Theology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:45.997762+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: journal-of-psychology-theology-20260505-0
summary:
The Journal of Psychology & Theology (JPT) is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Biola University's Rosemead School of Psychology and has been operating continuously since 1973. JPT is a quarterly journal publishing original research on the integration of psychology and Christian theology. Empirical studies and theoretical pieces investigating the interrelationships between psychological (e.g., clinical, experimental, industrial/organizational, social, theoretical) and theological topics of study are considered. Scholarship that explores the application of these interrelationships in a variety of contexts (e.g., mental health counseling, education and training, organizational leadership, churches and other Christian ministry contexts) and/or from an intercultural perspective are encouraged. == References == == External links == Official website


id: law-of-three-stages-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_three_stages-0.md
category: reference
title: Law of three stages
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_three_stages
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:47.323804+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: law-of-three-stages-20260505-0
summary:
The law of three stages is an idea developed by Auguste Comte in his work The Course in Positive Philosophy. It states that society as a whole, and each particular science, develops through three mentally conceived stages: (1) the theological stage, (2) the metaphysical stage, and (3) the positive stage. == Stages of sociology == === Theological === The Theological stage refers to the appeal to personified deities. During the earlier stages, people believed that all the phenomena of nature were the creation of the divine or supernatural. Adults and children failed to discover the natural causes of various phenomena and hence attributed them to a supernatural or divine power. Comte broke this stage into 3 sub-stages: Fetishism The primary stage of the theological stage of thinking. Throughout this stage, primitive people believe that inanimate objects have living spirits in them, also known as animism. People worship inanimate objects like trees, stones, a pieces of wood, volcanic eruptions, etc. Through this practice, people believe that all things root from a supernatural source. Polytheism At one point, Fetishism began to bring about doubt in the minds of its believers. As a result, people turned towards polytheism: the explanation of things through


id: list-of-scholars-on-the-relationship-between-religion-and-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholars_on_the_relationship_between_religion_and_science-0.md
category: reference
title: List of scholars on the relationship between religion and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholars_on_the_relationship_between_religion_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:48.645194+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-scholars-on-the-relationship-between-religion-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
This is a list of notable individuals who have focused on studying the intersection of religion and science. == A == S. Alexander Gordon W. Allport: noted Behavioural Psychologist & author of The Individual and his Religion (1951). Nathan Aviezer == B == Ian Barbour: author of Issues in Science and Religion (1966). E.W. Barnes Stephen M. Barr: author of The Believing Scientist: Essays on Science and Religion (2016). Description & arrow/scrollable preview. Arnold O. Benz: astrophysicist at ETH Zurich, author of The Future of the Universe (2002) and Astrophysics and Creation (2017) Mani Lal Bhaumik: author of Code Name God (2005). Nader El-Bizri: author of The Phenomenological Quest between Avicenna and Heidegger, general editor of the series Epistles of the Brethren of Purity (tenth century encyclopaedia of science, philosophy and religion), co-Editor of Islamic Philosophy and Occidental Phenomenology in Dialogue, and editor of the "Islam Division" of Encyclopaedia of Sciences and Religions. John Hedley Brooke: Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford (1999–2006) Ralph Wendell Burhoe: an important twentieth century pioneer interpreter of the importance of religion for a scientific and technological world. E. A. Burtt: author of The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical


id: list-of-scholars-on-the-relationship-between-religion-and-science-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholars_on_the_relationship_between_religion_and_science-1.md
category: reference
title: List of scholars on the relationship between religion and science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholars_on_the_relationship_between_religion_and_science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:48.645194+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: list-of-scholars-on-the-relationship-between-religion-and-science-20260505-0
summary:
== N == Seyyed Hossein Nasr: author of the chapter on Islam and science (pp. 71–86) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) Ronald L. Numbers: co-editors of two anthologies on the relationship between religion and science. == O == Thomas Jay Oord: author of Defining Love (2010). == P == Kuruvilla Pandikattu: Author of six books on the relationship between Science and Religion, including Religion@scientist.com and Ever Approachable, Never Attainable: Science-Religion Dialogue in India. Arthur Peacocke: author of Creation and the World of Science (1979). Robert T. Pennock: author of Tower of Babel a strong defense of Darwinian evolution and the chapter on "The Pre-modern Sins of Intelligent Design" (pp. 732–748) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) John Polkinghorne: author of Science and Theology (1998) and Faith, Science and Understanding (2000). William G. Pollard: author of a significant amount of material in the areas of science and religion such as Physicist and Christian: A dialogue between the communities (1961) William B. Provine: author of the chapter on "Evolution, Religion, and Science" (pp. 652–666) in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (2006) Mihajlo Pupin == R == Ian Ramsey: author of Religious Language (1957).


id: merton-thesis-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merton_thesis-0.md
category: reference
title: Merton thesis
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merton_thesis
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:54.749002+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: merton-thesis-20260505-0
summary:
The Merton thesis is an argument about the nature of early experimental science proposed by Robert K. Merton. Similar to Max Weber's famous claim on the link between Protestant work ethic and the capitalist economy, Merton argued for a similar positive correlation between the rise of Protestant Pietism and early experimental science. The Merton thesis has resulted in continuous debates. Although scholars are still debating it, Merton's 1936 doctoral dissertation (and two years later his first monograph by the same title) Science, Technology and Society in 17th-Century England raised important issues on the connections between religion and the rise of modern science, became a significant work in the realm of the sociology of science and continues to be cited in new scholarship. Merton further developed this thesis in other publications. == Thesis == The Merton thesis has two separate parts: firstly, it presents a theory that science changes due to an accumulation of observations and improvement in experimental technique and methodology; secondly, it puts forward the argument that the popularity of science in England in the 17th century, and the religious demography of the Royal Society (English scientists of that time were predominantly Puritans or other Protestants) can be explained


id: metanexus-institute-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metanexus_Institute-0.md
category: reference
title: Metanexus Institute
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metanexus_Institute
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:56.276774+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: metanexus-institute-20260505-0
summary:
The Metanexus Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 to explore scientific and philosophical questions. The institute has organized the exchange of ideas through conferences and published books. It has EIN 23-2977021 as a 501(c)(3) Public Charity; in 2016, it claimed $28,249 in total revenue and $8,827 in total assets. == History == With the help of Peter Dodson, Soloman Katz, Andrew Newberg, and Stephen Dunning, William Grassie created the Philadelphia Center for Religion and Science (PCRS) to promote literacy in science and religion by hosting seminars, courses, and conferences. PCRS was renamed to Metanexus Institute in 2000, and the Meta-List was relaunched as a website with the support of a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, and Metanexus launched a $5.1 million Local Societies Initiative. In 2003, Metanexus launched the $3.3 million Spiritual Transformation Scientific Research Project. The organization hosted numerous conferences at universities and elsewhere, including a conference entitled Science and Religion in Context at the University of Pennsylvania. Metanexus has promoted the concept of Big History, sometimes termed the Epic of Evolution, which examines history using long time frames through a multidisciplinary approach. == References == == External links == Metanexus Institute


id: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution-0.md
category: reference
title: Mormon views on evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:57.700246+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) takes no official position on whether or not biological evolution has occurred, nor on the validity of the modern evolutionary synthesis as a scientific theory. In the twentieth century, the First Presidency of the LDS Church published doctrinal statements on the origin of man and creation. In addition, individual leaders of the church have expressed a variety of personal opinions on evolution, many of which have affected the beliefs and perceptions of Latter-day Saints. There have been three public statements from the First Presidency (1909, 1910, 1925) and one private statement from the First Presidency (1931) about the LDS Church's view on evolution. The 1909 statement was a delayed response to the publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. In the statement, the First Presidency affirmed their doctrine that Adam is the direct, divine offspring of God. In response to the 1911 Brigham Young University modernism controversy, the First Presidency issued an official statement in its 1910 Christmas message that the church members should be kind to everyone regardless of differences in opinion about evolution and that proven science is accepted by the church with joy. In


id: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution-1.md
category: reference
title: Mormon views on evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:57.700246+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
==== 1909 statement "The Origin of Man" ==== Historically, Latter-day Saints were isolated in the western plains when The Origin of Species was published by Charles Darwin in 1859. Consequently, there was little discussion about evolution among Mormon communities. The Latter-day Saints were trying to survive and build settlements in Utah and evolution was not a prominent concern for them. George Q. Cannon of the Quorum of the Twelve discussed his beliefs on Darwin in 1861, stating that revelation is superior to science, but considered the possibility of evolution among animals and plants. The building of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 allowed for the Saints to gain greater access to outside ideas and influences. Because of this new knowledge, Mormon schools sought to combat scientific theories such as evolution with faith. Publications helped reaffirm church doctrine; however, views on evolution were mixed. Some believed a belief in evolution was equivalent to atheism, whereas some sought to find common ground between evolution and faith. Due to the many differing opinions that emerged, in the early 1900s the LDS Church began to officially respond to the theories that had already been discussed for nearly fifty years. The first official statement from the


id: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution-2.md
category: reference
title: Mormon views on evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:57.700246+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
=== General conference speeches === The LDS Church has published several general conference talks mentioning evolution. In the October 1984 conference, apostle Boyd K. Packer stated that "no one with reverence for God could believe that His children evolved from slime or from reptiles" as well as affirming that "those who accept the theory of evolution don't show much enthusiasm for genealogical research." In the April 2012 conference, apostle Russell M. Nelson discussed the human body stating "some people erroneously think that these marvelous physical attributes happened by chance or resulted from a big bang somewhere". He then compared this to an "explosion in a printing shop produc[ing] a dictionary". === Instruction manuals === ==== Old Testament Student Seminary Manual ==== The Old Testament Student Manual, published by the Church Educational System, contains several quotes by general authorities as well as academics from a variety of backgrounds (both members of the church and non-members) related to organic evolution and the origins of the earth. The 2003 edition states that there is no official stance on the age of the earth but that evidence for a longer process is substantial and very few people believe the earth was actually created in


id: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution-3.md
category: reference
title: Mormon views on evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:57.700246+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
==== Improvement Era ==== The Improvement Era was an official periodical of the church between 1897 and 1970. In the April 1910 edition in the "Priesthood Quorum's Table" section of that periodical, Genesis is cited as well as other scriptures from Genesis and the Pearl of Great Price. The article states that it is unclear whether the mortal bodies of man evolved through natural processes, whether Adam and Eve where transplanted to Earth from another place, or whether they were born on Earth in mortality. The article states that those questions are not fully answered in the church's current revelation and scripture. The article cites the answer is attributed to the church's First Presidency. === Canonized scriptures === Some verses in the standard works raise questions about the compatibility of scriptural teachings and scientists' current understanding of organic evolution. One such verse, in Doctrine and Covenants describes the "temporal existence" of the earth as 7,000 years old. Other scriptural verses suggest that no organisms died before the fall of Adam. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi teaches: "If Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And


id: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution-4.md
category: reference
title: Mormon views on evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:57.700246+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
=== David O. McKay === In a 1952 speech to students at BYU, McKay used the theory of evolution as an example while suggesting that science can "leave [a student] with his soul unanchored." He stated that a professor that denies "divine agency in creation" imposes on the student that life was created by chance. McKay insisted that students should be led to a "counterbalancing thought" that "God is the Creator of the earth", "the Father of our souls and spirits", and "the purpose of creation is theirs (God and Jesus Christ)." In the April 1968 general conference, McKay's son, David, read a message on his father's behalf that was an edited version of the 1952 speech, including the omission of the word "beautiful" when describing the theory of evolution. In 1954, McKay quoted the Old Testament while affirming to members of the BYU faculty that living things only reproduce "after their kind". He quoted Genesis which states, "Let the earth bring forth the living creatures after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and the beast of the earth after his kind." === Spencer W. Kimball === At a 1975 church women's conference, church president Spencer W. Kimball quoted, "And,


id: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution-5.md
category: reference
title: Mormon views on evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:57.700246+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
=== Statements from the 1930s Roberts–Smith–Talmage dispute === In 1930, B. H. Roberts, the presiding member of the First Council of the Seventy, was assigned by the First Presidency to create a study manual for the Melchizedek priesthood holders of the church. Entitled The Truth, The Way, The Life, the draft of the manual that was submitted to the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for approval stated that death had been occurring on Earth for millions of years prior to the fall of Adam and that human-like pre-Adamites had lived on the Earth. On 5 April 1930, Joseph Fielding Smith, a junior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the son of a late church president, "vigorously promulgated [the] opposite point of view" in a speech that was published in a church magazine. In his widely read speech, Smith taught as doctrine that there had been no death on earth until after the fall of Adam and that there were no "pre-Adamites". In 1931, both Roberts and Smith were permitted to present their views to the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. After hearing both sides, the First Presidency issued a memo


id: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution-6.md
category: reference
title: Mormon views on evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:57.700246+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
=== Joseph Fielding Smith === In 1954, when he was President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Smith wrote at length about his personal views on evolution in his book Man, His Origin and Destiny stating that it was a destructive and contaminating influence and that "If the Bible does not kill Evolution, Evolution will kill the Bible." He further stated that "There is not and cannot be, any compromise between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the theories of evolution" and that "It is not possible for a logical mind to hold both Bible teaching and evolutionary teaching at the same time" since "If you accept [the scriptures] you cannot accept organic evolution." In response to an inquiry about the book from the head of the University of Utah Geology Department, church president David O. McKay affirmed that "the Church has officially taken no position" on evolution, Smith's book "is not approved by the Church", and that the book is entirely Smith's "views for which he alone is responsible". Smith also produced personal statements on evolution in his Doctrines of Salvation including that "If evolution is true, the church is false" since "If life began on Earth as


id: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution-7.md
category: reference
title: Mormon views on evolution
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_views_on_evolution
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:57.700246+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mormon-views-on-evolution-20260505-0
summary:
== Academic == The earliest instance in which science and evolution were used to support LDS doctrine occurred in a series of six published articles in 1895, "Theosophy and Mormonism" by Nels L. Nelson. These articles were published in 1904 in Scientific Aspects of Mormonism. Nelson used the ideas of evolution to consider the spiritual and physical development of God and humans. Nelson's view of evolution is spiritual with deliberate use of scientific processes by God rather than as a random, accidental process. Mormon philosopher William Henry Chamberlin's Essay on Nature (1915) and Frederick J. Pack's Science and Belief in God (1924) defended the theory of evolution; both attempted to reconcile religion and evolution. In a work, Pack states, "no warfare exists between 'Mormonism' and true science." In 1978, dean of the College of Biology and Agriculture at BYU, A. Lester Allen, tried to present an approach to evolution from the perspective of an LDS biologist. Allen established seven doctrinal landmarks that are fundamental beliefs of the LDS Church, but considered that human's limited perspective and limited perception of reality means that humans may not very well understand the circumstances surrounding the creation of Adam and Eve and the existence


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-0.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
A mystical or religious experience, also known as a spiritual experience or sacred experience, is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. In a strict sense, "mystical experience" refers specifically to an ecstatic unitive experience, or nonduality, of 'self' and other objects, but more broadly may also refer to non-sensual or unconceptualized sensory awareness or insight, while religious experience may refer to any experience relevant in a religious context. Mysticism entails religious traditions of human transformation aided by various practices and religious experiences. The concept of mystical or religious experience developed in the 19th century, as a defense against the growing rationalism of western society. William James popularized the notion of distinct religious or mystical experiences in his Varieties of Religious Experience, and influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge of the transcendental. The interpretation of mystical experiences is a matter of debate. According to James, mystical experiences have four defining qualities, namely ineffability, noetic quality, transiency, and passivity. According to Rudolf Otto, the broader category of numinous experiences have two qualities, namely mysterium tremendum, which is the tendency to invoke fear and trembling; and mysterium fascinans, the tendency to attract, fascinate


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-1.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Related terms === Ecstasy, trance – In ecstasy the believer is understood to have a soul or spirit which can leave the body. In ecstasy the focus is on the soul leaving the body and to experience transcendental realities. This type of religious experience is characteristic for the shaman. Enthusiasm – In enthusiasm – or possession – God is understood to be outside, other than or beyond the believer. A sacred power, being or will enters the body or mind of an individual and possesses it. A person capable of being possessed is sometimes called a medium. The deity, spirit or power uses such a person to communicate to the immanent world. Lewis argues that ecstasy and possession are basically one and the same experience, ecstasy being merely one form which possession may take. The outward manifestation of the phenomenon is the same in that shamans appear to be possessed by spirits, act as their mediums, and even though they claim to have mastery over them, can lose that mastery. Spiritual awakening – A spiritual awakening usually involves a realization or opening to a sacred dimension of reality and may be a religious experience. Often a spiritual awakening has


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-2.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
Transcendentalism was an early 19th-century liberal Protestant movement, which was rooted in English and German Romanticism, the Biblical criticism of Herder and Schleiermacher, and the skepticism of Hume. The Transcendentalists emphasised an intuitive, experiential approach of religion. Following Schleiermacher, an individual's intuition of truth was taken as the criterion for truth. In the late 18th and early 19th century, the first translations of Hindu texts appeared, which were also read by the Transcendentalists, and influenced their thinking. They also endorsed universalist and Unitarianist ideas, leading to Unitarian Universalism, the idea that there must be truth in other religions as well, since a loving God would redeem all living beings, not just Christians. ==== Theosophical Society ==== The Theosophical Society was formed in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge and others to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The Theosophical Society has been highly influential in promoting interest, both in west and east, in a great variety of religious teachings: No single organization or movement has contributed so many components to the New Age Movement as the Theosophical Society ... It has been the major force in the dissemination of occult literature


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-3.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
Ineffability. According to James the mystical experience "defies expression, that no adequate report of its content can be given in words". Noetic quality. Mystics stress that their experiences give them "insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect." James referred to this as the "noetic" (or intellectual) "quality" of the mystical. Transiency. James notes that most mystical experiences have a short occurrence, but their effect persists. Passivity. According to James, mystics come to their peak experience not as active seekers, but as passive recipients. James recognised the broad variety of mystical schools and conflicting doctrines both within and between religions. Nevertheless, ...he shared with thinkers of his era the conviction that beneath the variety could be carved out a certain mystical unanimity, that mystics shared certain common perceptions of the divine, however different their religion or historical epoch, According to Jesuit scholar William Harmless, "for James there was nothing inherently theological in or about mystical experience", and felt it legitimate to separate the mystic's experience from theological claims. Harmless notes that James "denies the most central fact of religion", namely that religion is practiced by people in groups, and often in public. He also ignores ritual, the historicity


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-4.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
Stace finally argues that there is a set of seven common characteristics for each type of mystical experience, with many of them overlapping between the two types. Stace furthermore argues that extrovertive mystical experiences are on a lower level than introvertive mystical experiences. Stace's categories of "introvertive mysticism" and "extrovertive mysticism" are derived from Rudolf Otto's "mysticism of introspection" and "unifying vision". William Wainwright distinguishes four different kinds of extrovert mystical experience, and two kinds of introvert mystical experience: Extrovert: experiencing the unity of nature; experiencing nature as a living presence; experiencing all nature-phenomena as part of an eternal now; the "unconstructed experience" of Buddhism. Introvert: pure empty consciousness; the "mutual love" of theistic experiences. Richard Jones, following William Wainwright, elaborated on the distinction, showing different types of experiences in each category: Extrovertive experiences: the sense of connectedness ("unity") of oneself with nature, with a loss of a sense of boundaries within nature; the luminous glow to nature of "nature mysticism"; the presence of God immanent in nature outside of time shining through nature of "cosmic consciousness"; the lack of separate, self-existing entities of mindfulness states. Introvertive experiences: theistic experiences of connectedness or identity with God in mutual love; nonpersonal


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-5.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
Scholarly research on mystical experiences in the 19th and 20th century was dominated by a discourse on "mystical experience," laying sole emphasis on the experiential aspect, be it spontaneous or induced by human behavior. Perennialists regard those various experiences traditions as pointing to one universal transcendental reality, for which those experiences offer the prove. In this approach, mystical experiences are privatised, separated from the context in which they emerge. William James, in his The Varieties of Religious Experience, was highly influential in further popularising this perennial approach and the notion of personal experience as a validation of religious truths. The essentialist model argues that mystical experience is independent of the sociocultural, historical and religious context in which it occurs, and regards all mystical experience in its essence to be the same. According to this "common core-thesis", different descriptions can mask quite similar if not identical experiences: [P]eople can differentiate experience from interpretation, such that different interpretations may be applied to otherwise identical experiences". Principal exponents of the perennialist position were William James, Walter Terence Stace, who distinguishes extroverted and introverted mysticism, in response to R. C. Zaehner's distinction between theistic and monistic mysticism; Huston Smith; and Ralph W. Hood, who


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-6.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
The theoretical study of mystical experience has shifted from an experiential, privatised and perennialist approach to a contextual and empirical approach. The contextual approach, which also includes constructionism and attribution theory, takes into account the historical and cultural context. Neurological research takes an empirical approach, relating mystical experiences to neurological processes. Wayne Proudfoot proposes an approach that also negates any alleged cognitive content of mystical experiences: mystics unconsciously merely attribute a doctrinal content to ordinary experiences. That is, mystics project cognitive content onto otherwise ordinary experiences having a strong emotional impact. Objections have been raised concerning Proudfoot's use of the psychological data. This approach, however, has been further elaborated by Ann Taves. She incorporates both neurological and cultural approaches in the study of mystical experience. Many religious and mystical traditions see religious experiences (particularly that knowledge that comes with them) as revelations caused by divine agency rather than ordinary natural processes. They are considered real encounters with God or gods, or real contact with higher-order realities of which humans are not ordinarily aware. == Inducement and development == Mystical traditions offer the means to induce mystical experiences, which may have several origins: Spontaneous; either apparently without any cause, or by


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-7.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
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parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
Early studies in the 1950s and 1960s attempted to use EEGs to study brain wave patterns correlated with spiritual states. During the 1980s Dr. Michael Persinger stimulated the temporal lobes of human subjects with a weak magnetic field. His subjects claimed to have a sensation of "an ethereal presence in the room." Some current studies use neuroimaging to localize brain regions active, or differentially active, during religious experiences. These neuroimaging studies have implicated a number of brain regions, including the limbic system, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, superior parietal lobe, and caudate nucleus. Based on the complex nature of religious experience, it is likely that they are mediated by an interaction of neural mechanisms that all add a small piece to the overall experience. Neuroscience of religion, also known as neurotheology, biotheology or spiritual neuroscience, is the study of correlations of neural phenomena with subjective experiences of spirituality and hypotheses to explain these phenomena. Proponents of neurotheology claim that there is a neurological and evolutionary basis for subjective experiences traditionally categorized as spiritual or religious. The neuroscience of religion takes neural correlates as the basis of cognitive functions and religious experiences. These religious experiences are thereby emergent properties of neural correlates. This


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-8.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
Temporal lobe epilepsy has become a popular field of study due to its correlation to religious experience. Religious experiences and hyperreligiosity are often used to characterize those with temporal lobe epilepsy. Visionary religious experiences, and momentary lapses of consciousness, may point toward a diagnosis of Geschwind syndrome. More generally, the symptoms are consistent with features of temporal lobe epilepsy, not an uncommon feature in religious icons and mystics. It seems that this phenomenon is not exclusive to TLE, but can manifest in the presence of other epileptic variates as well as mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia, conditions characterized by ventromedial dopaminergic dysfunction. The temporal lobe generates the feeling of "I", and gives a feeling of familiarity or strangeness to the perceptions of the senses. It seems to be involved in mystical experiences, and in the change in personality that may result from such experiences. There is a long-standing notion that epilepsy and religion are linked, and some religious figures may have had temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Raymond Bucke's book Cosmic Consciousness (1901) contains several case-studies of persons who have realized "cosmic consciousness"; several of these cases are also being mentioned in J.E. Bryant's 1953 book, Genius and Epilepsy, which has


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-9.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
==== Parietal lobe ==== Andrew B. Newberg and Eugene G. d'Aquili, in their book Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, take a perennial stance, describing their insights into the relationship between religious experience and brain function. d'Aquili describes his own meditative experiences as "allowing a deeper, simpler part of him to emerge", which he believes to be "the truest part of who he is, the part that never changes." Not content with personal and subjective descriptions like these, Newberg and d'Aquili have studied the brain-correlates to such experiences. They scanned the brain blood flow patterns during such moments of mystical transcendence, using SPECT-scans, to detect which brain areas show heightened activity. Their scans showed unusual activity in the top rear section of the brain, the "posterior superior parietal lobe", or the "orientation association area (OAA)" in their own words. This area creates a consistent cognition of the physical limits of the self. This OAA shows a sharply reduced activity during meditative states, reflecting a block in the incoming flow of sensory information, resulting in a perceived lack of physical boundaries. According to Newberg and d'Aquili, This is exactly how Robert and generations of Eastern


id: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience-10.md
category: reference
title: Mystical or religious experience
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:31:59.266126+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: mystical-or-religious-experience-20260505-0
summary:
=== Psychology === Several psychologists have proposed models in which religious experiences are part of a process of transformation of the self. Carl Jung's work on himself and his patients convinced him that life has a spiritual purpose beyond material goals. One's main task, he believed, is to discover and fulfil deep innate potential, much as the acorn contains the potential to become the oak, or the caterpillar to become the butterfly. Based on his study of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Taoism, and other traditions, Jung perceived that this journey of transformation is at the mystical heart of all religions. It is a journey to meet the self and at the same time to meet the Divine. Unlike Sigmund Freud, Jung thought spiritual experience was essential to well-being. The notion of the numinous was an important concept in the writings of Carl Jung. Jung regarded numinous experiences as fundamental to an understanding of the individuation process because of their association with experiences of synchronicity in which the presence of archetypes is felt. McNamara proposes that religious experiences may help in "decentering" the self, and transform it into an integral self which is closer to an ideal self. Transpersonal psychology is


id: natural-theology-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_theology-0.md
category: reference
title: Natural theology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_theology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:00.714648+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-theology-20260505-0
summary:
Natural theology is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics, such as the existence of a deity, based on human reason. It is distinguished from revealed theology, which is based on supernatural sources such as scripture or religious experiences. It is thus a form of theology open to critical examination, aimed at understanding the divine. Natural theology does not preclude the concept of divine intervention nor presuppose a clockwork universe; however, it demands that any position be supported through reasoned arguments based on natural reason. In contemporary philosophy, natural theology is not limited to approaches based on empirical facts, such as natural phenomena, nor are its conclusions limited to pantheism. It was once also termed "physico-theology". Natural theology includes theology based on scientific discoveries, arguments for God's existence grounded in observed natural facts, and interpretations of natural phenomena or complexities as evidence of a divine plan (see predestination) or God's Will. It also includes efforts to explain the nature of celestial motors, gods, or a supreme god responsible for heavenly motion. Natural theologians have offered their own explanations for some unsolved problems in science. == Overview == === Natural theology and physico-theology === In the


id: natural-theology-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_theology-1.md
category: reference
title: Natural theology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_theology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:00.714648+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-theology-20260505-0
summary:
== Early modern == Raymond of Sabunde's (c. 1385–1436) Theologia Naturalis sive Liber Creaturarum, written 1434–1436, but published posthumously (1484), marks an important stage in the history of natural theology. John Ray (1627–1705) also known as John Wray, was an English naturalist, sometimes referred to as the father of English natural history. He published important works on plants, animals, and natural theology, with the objective "to illustrate the glory of God in the knowledge of the works of nature or creation". Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) established another term for natural theology as theodicy, defined exactly as "the justification of God". He viewed the science in a positive light as it supported his personal ethical belief system. William Derham (1657–1735) continued Ray's tradition of natural theology in two of his own works, Physico-Theology, published during 1713, and Astro-Theology, 1714. These later influenced the work of William Paley. == Nineteenth century == In An Essay on the Principle of Population, published during 1798, Thomas Malthus ended with two chapters on natural theology and population. Malthus—a devout Christian—argued that revelation would "damp the soaring wings of intellect", and thus never let "the difficulties and doubts of parts of the scripture" interfere with his


id: natural-theology-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_theology-2.md
category: reference
title: Natural theology
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_theology
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:00.714648+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: natural-theology-20260505-0
summary:
Immanuel Kant and Søren Kierkegaard had similar ideas about natural theology. Kant's ideas focused more on the natural dialect of reason, while Kierkegaard focused more on the dialect of understanding. Both men suggest that "the natural dialect leads to the question of God". Kant argues for the idea that reason leads to the ideas of God as a regulative principle. Kierkegaard argues that the idea of understanding will ultimately lead itself to becoming faith. Both of these men argue that the idea of God cannot be based solely on the idea of reason, that the dialect and ideals will transcend into faith. Karl Barth opposed the entirety of natural theology. Barth argued that "by starting from such experience, rather that from the gracious revelation through Jesus Christ, we produce a concept of God that is the projection of the highest we know, a construct of human thinking, divorced from salvation history". Barth argues that God is restricted by the construct of human thinking if he is divorced from salvation. Barth also acknowledges that God is knowable because of his grace. Barth's argument stems from the idea of faith rather than reason. Barth held that God can be known only through


id: neuroscience-of-religion-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_religion-0.md
category: reference
title: Neuroscience of religion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_religion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:02.107948+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: neuroscience-of-religion-20260505-0
summary:
The neuroscience of religion, also known as "neurotheology" or "spiritual neuroscience," seeks to explain the biological and neurological processes behind religious experience. Researchers in this field study correlations of the biological neural phenomena, in addition to subjective experiences of spirituality, in order to explain how brain activity functions in response to religious and spiritual practices and beliefs. This contrasts with the psychology of religion, which studies the behavioral responses to religious practices. Some people do warn of the limitations of neurotheology, as they worry that it may simplify the socio-cultural complexity of religion down to neurological factors. Researchers that study the field of the neuroscience of religion use a formulation of scientific techniques to understand the correlations between brain pathways in response to spiritually based stimuli. The approach is interdisciplinary with neurological and evolutionary studies in order to understand the broader subjective experiences under which traditionally categorized spiritual or religious practices are organized. This is done through a multilateral approach of scientific and cultural studies. Such studies include but are not limited to fMRI and EEG scans, theological studies, and anthropological studies. By using these approaches, researchers can better understand how spirituality and religion affect the chemistry of human brains


id: neuroscience-of-religion-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_religion-1.md
category: reference
title: Neuroscience of religion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_religion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:02.107948+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: neuroscience-of-religion-20260505-0
summary:
== History, Developments, and Theoretical Work == In an attempt to focus and clarify what was a growing interest in this field, 1994 educator and businessman Laurence O. McKinney published the first book on the subject, titled Neurotheology: Virtual Religion in the 21st Century. In addition to being written for a popular audience, it was also promoted in the theological journal Zygon. According to McKinney, "neurotheology" sources the basis of religious inquiry in relatively recent developmental neurophysiology. McKinney's theory emphasizes how pre-frontal development in humans creates an illusion of chronological time as a fundamental part of normal adult cognition past the age of three. The inability of the adult brain to retrieve earlier images experienced by an infantile brain creates questions such as "Where did I come from?" and "Where does it all go?" He suggests that this neurological process led to the creation of various religious explanations. Moreover, studies behind the experience of death as a peaceful regression into timelessness as the brain dies won praise from readers as varied as writer Arthur C. Clarke, eminent theologian Harvey Cox, and the Dalai Lama and sparked a new interest in the field. Similarly, radical Catholic theologian Eugen Drewermann developed a


id: neuroscience-of-religion-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_religion-2.md
category: reference
title: Neuroscience of religion
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_religion
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:02.107948+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: neuroscience-of-religion-20260505-0
summary:
=== Neuropsychology and Neuroimaging === The first researcher to note and catalog the abnormal experiences associated with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was neurologist Norman Geschwind, who noted a set of religious behavioral traits associated with TLE seizures. These include hypergraphia, hyperreligiosity, reduced sexual interest, fainting spells, and pedantism, often collectively ascribed to a condition known as Geschwind syndrome. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran explored the neural basis of the hyperreligiosity seen in TLE using the galvanic skin response (GSR), which correlates with emotional arousal, to determine whether the hyperreligiosity seen in TLE was due to an overall heightened emotional state or was specific to religious stimuli. Ramachandran presented two subjects with neutral, sexually arousing and religious words while measuring GSR. Ramachandran was able to show that patients with TLE showed enhanced emotional responses to the religious words, diminished responses to the sexually charged words, and normal responses to the neutral words. This study was presented as an abstract at a neuroscience conference and referenced in Ramachandran's book, Phantoms in the Brain, which was not published as a peer-reviewed scientific article. Research by Mario Beauregard at the University of Montreal, using fMRI on Carmelite nuns, has purported to show that religious and spiritual


id: non-overlapping-magisteria-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-overlapping_magisteria-0.md
category: reference
title: Non-overlapping magisteria
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-overlapping_magisteria
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:03.424947+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: non-overlapping-magisteria-20260505-0
summary:
Non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) is the view, advocated by paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, that science and religion each represent different areas of inquiry, fact vs. values, so there is a difference between the "nets" over which they have "a legitimate magisterium, or domain of teaching authority", and the two domains do not overlap. He suggests, with examples, that "NOMA enjoys strong and fully explicit support, even from the primary cultural stereotypes of hard-line traditionalism" and that it is "a sound position of general consensus, established by long struggle among people of goodwill in both magisteria." Some have criticized the idea or suggested limitations to it, and there continues to be disagreement over where the boundaries between the two magisteria should be. == Gould's separate magisteria == In a 1997 essay "Non-overlapping Magisteria" for Natural History magazine, and later in his book Rocks of Ages (1999), Gould put forward what he described as "a blessedly simple and entirely conventional resolution to ... the supposed conflict between science and religion", from his puzzlement over the need and reception of the 1996 address of Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences "Truth Cannot Contradict Truth". He draws the term magisterium from


id: non-overlapping-magisteria-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-overlapping_magisteria-1.md
category: reference
title: Non-overlapping magisteria
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-overlapping_magisteria
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:03.424947+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: non-overlapping-magisteria-20260505-0
summary:
== Humani generis == Gould wrote that he was inspired to consider non-overlapping magisteria after being driven to examine the 1950 encyclical Humani generis, in which Pope Pius XII permits Catholics to entertain the hypothesis of evolution for the human body so long as they accept the divine infusion of the soul. Gould cited the following paragraph: The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God. == Reception == Richard Dawkins has criticized Gould's position on the grounds that religion is not divorced from scientific matters or the material world. He writes, "it is completely unrealistic to claim, as Gould and many others do, that religion keeps itself away from science's turf, restricting itself to morals and values. A universe with a supernatural presence would be a fundamentally and qualitatively different kind


id: omega-point-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Point-0.md
category: reference
title: Omega Point
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Point
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:04.710472+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: omega-point-20260505-0
summary:
The Omega Point is a theorized future event in which the entirety of the universe spirals toward a final point of unification. The term was invented by the French Jesuit Catholic priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955). Teilhard argued that the Omega Point resembles the Christian Logos, namely Christ, who draws all things into himself, who in the words of the Nicene Creed, is "God from God", "Light from Light", "True God from True God", and "through him all things were made". In the Book of Revelation, Christ describes himself three times as "the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end". Several decades after Teilhard's death, the idea of the Omega Point was expanded upon in the writings of John David Garcia (1971), Paolo Soleri (1981), Frank Tipler (1994), and David Deutsch (1997). == Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's theory == === Etymology === Teilhard de Chardin was a paleontologist and Roman Catholic priest in the Jesuit order. In France in the 1920s, he began incorporating his theories of the universe into lectures that placed Catholicism and evolution in the same conversation. Because of these lectures, he was suspected by the Holy Office of denying the doctrine of original


id: omega-point-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Point-1.md
category: reference
title: Omega Point
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Point
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:04.710472+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: omega-point-20260505-0
summary:
Mathematical physicist Frank Tipler generalized Teilhard's term Omega Point to describe what he alleges is the ultimate fate of the universe as required by the laws of physics: roughly, Tipler argues that quantum mechanics is inconsistent unless the future of every point in spacetime contains an intelligent observer to collapse the wavefunction and that the only way for this to happen is if the Universe is closed (that is, it will collapse to a single point) and yet contains observers with a "God-like" ability to perform an unbounded series of observations in finite time. Tipler's conception of the Omega Point is regarded as pseudoscience by some scientists. The originator of quantum computing, Oxford's David Deutsch, wrote about how a universal quantum computer could bring about Tipler's salvation in his 1997 book, The Fabric of Reality. == Related concepts == === Big Crunch === The scientific hypothesis of the Big Crunch closely resembles the Omega Point theory. However, the current scientific consensus rejects this theory. Nevertheless, in 2025, a paper in the journal Monthly Notices appeared suggesting that the universe's expansion is not accelerating, as commonly believed, but slowing, and that it could result in a Big Crunch. This followed another


id: opposition-to-the-mauna-kea-observatories-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Mauna_Kea_Observatories-0.md
category: reference
title: Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Mauna_Kea_Observatories
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:06.129220+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: opposition-to-the-mauna-kea-observatories-20260505-0
summary:
The Mauna Kea Observatories have been controversial since the first telescope was built in the late 1960s. Originally part of research begun by Gerard Kuiper of the University of Arizona, the site has expanded into the world's largest observatory for infrared and submillimeter telescopes. Opposition to the telescope from residents in the city of Hilo, Hawaii were concerned about the visual appearance of the mountain and Native Hawaiians voiced concerns over the site being sacred to the Hawaiian religion as the home of several deities. Environmental groups and activists have been expressing concern over endangered species habitat. The Outrigger Telescopes Project, intended to build from four to six comparatively small telescopes for interferometry, was to surround the Keck telescopes. It was cancelled in 2006, after a court found NASA's Environmental Impact Statement was improperly limited to just the telescope area. An ongoing proposal for one of the world's largest optical telescopes, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was the focus of protests concerning the continued development of the mountain Hawaiians consider the most sacred peak in the island chain. The telescope has still not been built as of 2025, and its future is in jeopardy. == Background == After studying photos


id: opposition-to-the-mauna-kea-observatories-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Mauna_Kea_Observatories-1.md
category: reference
title: Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Mauna_Kea_Observatories
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:06.129220+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: opposition-to-the-mauna-kea-observatories-20260505-0
summary:
== Expansion renews opposition == Some of the people on the Big Island were concerned that the whole thing had got out of hand and the University of Hawaii was going to take over the top of the mountain, push all the skiers off and push all the hunters off, and essentially develop, in the worst sense, the side of the mountain. The Big Island is a rural community and there are a lot of people there who are not very sophisticated, as you know. They are nervous about changes in lifestyles, and they see those following on the development of the program of astronomy as just about as far removed from their daily pursuits as they possibly can be. And they do not trust the University, State, or Federal government worth a damn. They feel—and in some cases I’ve had this said to me—that they are going to lose all access to the mountain because of these programs. The Federal government is going to come in and it's going to slowly move down the mountain, taking more and more of the mountain over as more and more programs go up there, and no-one will be able to get there.


id: opposition-to-the-mauna-kea-observatories-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Mauna_Kea_Observatories-2.md
category: reference
title: Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Mauna_Kea_Observatories
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:06.129220+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: opposition-to-the-mauna-kea-observatories-20260505-0
summary:
The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a proposal for a large, segmented, mirror telescope, planned for the summit of Mauna Kea. The TMT has become a focal point for protests against further development of the observatory site, and a legal battle was fought through the Hawaii court system. The Supreme Court of Hawaii approved the resumption of construction of the telescope on 31 October 2018. The TMT project is a response to a recommendation in 2000 from the US National Academy of Sciences that a thirty-meter telescope be the top priority and be built within the decade. Urgency in construction is due to the competitive nature of science with the European-Extremely Large Telescope also under construction. Mauna Kea's summit is the most sacred of all the mountains in Hawaii to many, but not all, Native Hawaiian people. Hawaiian cultural practitioners cite impacts to indigenous cultural practice, while recreational users have argued that construction harms the scenic view plane. Some environmentalists are concerned that irreparable ecological damage may be done by construction, although this has been disputed by other environmental advocates. All three groups are represented among the petitioners opposing the TMT. According to the State of Hawaii law HAR 13-5-30,


id: jack-parsons-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-0.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American rocket engineer, chemist, and Thelemite occultist. Parsons was one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Aerojet. He invented the first rocket engine to use a castable, composite rocket propellant, and pioneered the advancement of both liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets. Parsons was raised in Pasadena, California. He began amateur rocket experiments with school friend Edward Forman in 1928. Parsons was admitted to Stanford University but left before graduating due to financial hardship during the Great Depression. In 1934, Parsons, Forman, and Frank Malina formed the Caltech-affiliated Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT) Rocket Research Group, with support by GALCIT chairman Theodore von Kármán. The group worked on Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the U.S. military, and founded Aerojet in 1942 to develop and sell JATO technology during World War II. The GALCIT Rocket Research Group became JPL in 1943. In 1939, Parsons converted to Thelema, a religious movement founded by English occultist Aleister Crowley. Parsons and his first wife, Helen Northrup, joined Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.); he became the California O.T.O. branch leader in 1942. Historians of Western esotericism


id: jack-parsons-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-1.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
=== Early life: 1914–1934 === Marvel Whiteside Parsons was born on October 2, 1914, at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. His parents, Ruth Virginia Whiteside (c. 1893–1952) and Marvel H. Parsons (c. 1894–1947), had moved to California from Massachusetts the previous year, purchasing a house on Scarff Street in downtown Los Angeles. Their son was his father's namesake, but was known in the household as Jack. The marriage broke down soon after Jack's birth, when Ruth discovered that her husband was sexually involved with a prostitute. Ruth filed for divorce in March 1915. Jack's father returned to Massachusetts after being exposed as an adulterer, with Ruth forbidding him from having any contact with his infant son. Marvel Parsons later joined the U.S. Armed Forces, reaching the rank of major, and married a woman with whom he had a son, Charles, a half-brother Jack only met once. Although she retained her ex-husband's surname, Ruth started calling her son John, but many friends throughout his life knew him as Jack. Ruth's parents—Walter and Carrie Whiteside—moved to California to be with Jack and their daughter, purchasing an upscale house on Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena—known locally as "Millionaire's Mile"—where they could


id: jack-parsons-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-2.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
In hopes of gaining access to the state-of-the-art resources of Caltech for their rocketry research, Parsons and Forman attended a lecture on the work of Austrian rocket engineer Eugen Sänger and hypothetical above-stratospheric aircraft by the institute's William Bollay—a PhD student specializing in rocket-powered aircraft—and approached him to express their interest in designing a liquid-fuel rocket motor. Bollay redirected them to another PhD student, Frank Malina, a mathematician and mechanical engineer writing a thesis on rocket propulsion who shared their interests and soon befriended them. Parsons, Forman, and Malina applied for funding from Caltech together; they did not mention that their ultimate objective was to develop rockets for space exploration, realizing that most of the scientific establishment then considered such ideas science fiction. Caltech's Clark Blanchard Millikan immediately rebuffed them, but Malina's doctoral advisor Theodore von Kármán saw more promise in their proposal and agreed to allow them to operate under the auspices of the university's Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT). Naming themselves the GALCIT Rocket Research Group, they gained access to Caltech's specialist equipment, though the economics of the Great Depression left von Kármán unable to finance them. The trio focused their distinct skills on collaborative rocket development; Parsons was


id: jack-parsons-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-3.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
In April 1937, Caltech mathematician Qian Xuesen joined the Group. Several months later, Weld Arnold, a Caltech laboratory assistant who worked as the Group's official photographer, also joined. The main reason for Arnold's appointment to this position was his provision of a donation to the Group on behalf of an anonymous benefactor. They became well known on campus as the "Suicide Squad" for the dangerous nature of some of their experiments and attracted attention from the local press. Parsons himself gained further media publicity when he appeared as an expert explosives witness in the trial of Captain Earl Kynette, the head of police intelligence in Los Angeles who was accused of conspiring to set a car bomb in the attempted murder of private investigator Harry Raymond, a former LAPD detective who was fired after whistleblowing against police corruption. When Kynette was convicted largely on Parsons' testimony, which included his forensic reconstruction of the car bomb and its explosion, his identity as an expert scientist in the public eye was established despite his lack of a university education. While working at Caltech, Parsons was admitted to evening courses in chemistry at the University of Southern California (USC), but distracted by his


id: jack-parsons-20260505-4
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-4.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
In January 1939, John and Frances Baxter, a brother and sister who had befriended Jack and Helen Parsons, took Jack to the Church of Thelema on Winona Boulevard, Hollywood, where he witnessed the performance of The Gnostic Mass. Celebrants of the church had included Hollywood actor John Carradine and gay rights activist Harry Hay. Parsons was intrigued, having already heard of Thelema's founder and Outer Head of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), Aleister Crowley, after reading a copy of Crowley's text Konx om Pax (1907). Parsons was introduced to leading members Regina Kahl, Jane Wolfe, and Wilfred Talbot Smith at the mass. Feeling both "repulsion and attraction" for Smith, Parsons continued to sporadically attend the Church's events for a year. He continued to read Crowley's works, which increasingly interested him, and encouraged Helen to read them. Parsons came to believe in the reality of Thelemic magick as a force that could be explained through quantum physics. He tried to interest his friends and acquaintances in Thelema, taking science fiction writers Jack Williamson and Cleve Cartmill to a performance of The Gnostic Mass. Although they were unimpressed, Parsons was more successful with Grady Louis McMurtry, a young Caltech student he had befriended,


id: jack-parsons-20260505-5
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-5.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
For the JATO project, they were joined by Caltech mathematician Martin Summerfield and 18 workers supplied by the Works Progress Administration. Former colleagues like Qian were prevented from returning to the project by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who ensured the secrecy of the operation and restricted the involvement of foreign nationals and political extremists. The FBI was satisfied that Parsons was not a Marxist but were concerned when Thelemite friend Paul Seckler used Parsons' gun in a drunken car hijacking, for which Seckler was imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison for two years. Englishman George Emerson replaced Arnold as the Group's official photographer. The Group's aim was to find a replacement for black-powder rocket motors—units consisting of charcoal, sulfur and potassium nitrate with a binding agent. The mixture was unstable and there were frequent explosions damaging military aircraft. The solid JATO fuel invented by Parsons consisted of amide, corn starch, and ammonium nitrate bound together in the JATO unit with glue and blotting paper. It was codenamed GALCIT-27, implying the previous invention of 26 new fuels. The first JATO tests using an ERCO Ercoupe plane took place in late July 1941; though they aided propulsion, the units frequently


id: jack-parsons-20260505-6
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-6.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
The Group then agreed to produce and sell 60 JATO engines to the United States Army Air Corps. To do so they formed the Aerojet Engineering Corporation in March 1942, in which Parsons, Forman, Malina, von Kármán, and Summerfield each invested $250, opening their offices on Colorado Boulevard and bringing in Amo Smith as their engineer. Andrew G. Haley was recruited by von Kármán as their lawyer and treasurer. Although Aerojet was a for-profit operation that provided technology for military means, the founders' mentality was rooted in the ideal of using rockets for peaceful space exploration. As Haley recounted von Kármán requesting: "we will make the rockets—you must make the corporation and obtain the money. Later on you will have to see that we all behave well in outer space." Despite these successes, Parsons, the project engineer of Aerojet's Solid Fuel Department, remained motivated to address the malfunctions observed during the Ercoupe tests. In June 1942, assisted by Mills and Miller, he focused his attention on developing an effective method of restricted burning when using solid rocket fuel, as the military demanded JATOs that could provide over 100 pounds of thrust without any risk of exploding. Although solid fuels such


id: jack-parsons-20260505-7
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-7.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
Although there were arguments among the commune members, Parsons remained dedicated to Thelema. He gave almost all of his salary to O.T.O. while actively seeking out new members—recruiting JPL mathematician Barbara Canright—and financially supported Crowley in London through Germer. Parsons' enthusiasm for the Lodge quickly began to impact on his professional life. He frequently appeared at Aerojet hungover and sleep-deprived from late nights of Lodge activities, and invited many of his colleagues to them, drawing the ire of staff who previously tolerated Parsons' occultism as harmless eccentricity; known to von Kármán as a "delightful screwball", he was frequently observed reciting Crowley's poem "Hymn to Pan" in an ecstatic manner compared to the preaching of Billy Graham during rocket tests—and on request at parties to their great amusement. They disapproved of his hesitancy to separate his vocations; Parsons became more rigorously engaged in Aerojet's day-to-day business in an effort to resolve this wariness, but the Agape Lodge soon came under investigation by both the Pasadena Police Department and the FBI. Both had received allegations of a "black magic cult" involved in sexual orgies; one complainant was a 16-year-old boy who said that he was raped by lodge members, while neighbors reported


id: jack-parsons-20260505-8
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-8.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
Now disassociated from JPL and Aerojet, Parsons and Forman founded the Ad Astra Engineering Company, under which Parsons founded the chemical manufacturing Vulcan Powder Company. Ad Astra was subject to an FBI investigation under suspicion of espionage when security agents from the Manhattan Project discovered that Parsons and Forman had procured a chemical used in a top secret project for a material known only as x-metal, but they were later acquitted of any wrongdoing. Parsons continued to financially support Smith and Helen, although he asked for a divorce from her and ignored Crowley's commands by welcoming Smith back to the Parsonage when his retreat was finished. Parsons continued to hold O.T.O. activities at the Parsonage but began renting rooms at the house to non-Thelemites, including journalist Nieson Himmel, Manhattan Project physicist Robert Cornog, and science fiction artist Louis Goldstone. Parsons attracted controversy in Pasadena for his preferred clientele. As Parsonage resident Alva Rogers recalled: "In the ads placed in the local paper Jack specified that only bohemians, artists, musicians, atheists, anarchists, or any other exotic types need to apply for rooms—any mundane soul would be unceremoniously rejected". Science fiction writer and U.S. Navy officer L. Ron Hubbard soon moved into


id: jack-parsons-20260505-9
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-9.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
Parsons was discouraged from taking further action by Sara, who threatened to report him for statutory rape since their sexual relationship took place when she was under California's age of consent of 18. Parsons was ultimately compensated with only $2,900. Hubbard, already married to Margaret Grubb, bigamously married Sara and went on to found Dianetics and Scientology. The Sunday Times published an article about Hubbard's involvement with O.T.O. and Parsons' occult activities in December 1969. In response, the Church of Scientology released an unsubstantiated press statement which said that Hubbard had been sent as an undercover agent by the U.S. Navy to intercept and destroy Parsons' "black magic cult", and save Sara from its influence. The Church also stated that Robert A. Heinlein was the clandestine Navy operative who "sent in" Hubbard to undertake this operation. Returning to California, Parsons completed the sale of the Parsonage, which was then demolished, and resigned from O.T.O. He wrote in his letter to Crowley that he did not believe that "as an autocratic organization, [the O.T.O.] constitutes a true and proper medium for the expression and attainment" of Thelema.


id: jack-parsons-20260505-10
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-10.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
=== Loss of FBI clearance, Red Scare Marxist and espionage accusations and acquittal: 1946–1952 === Parsons was employed by North American Aviation at Inglewood, where he worked on the Navaho Missile Program. He and Cameron moved into a house in Manhattan Beach, where he instructed her in occultism and esotericism. When Cameron developed catalepsy, Parsons referred her to Sylvan Muldoon's books on astral projection, suggesting that she could manipulate her seizures to accomplish it. They were married on October 19, 1946, four days after his divorce from Helen was finalized, with Forman as their witness. Parsons continued to be seen as a specialist in rocketry; he acted as an expert consultant in numerous industrial tribunals and police and Army Ordnance investigations regarding explosions. In May 1947, Parsons gave a talk at the Pacific Rocket Society in which he predicted that rockets would take humans to the Moon. Although he had become distant from the now largely defunct O.T.O. and had sold much of his Crowleyan library, he continued to correspond with Crowley until the latter's death in December 1947. At the emergence of the Cold War, a Red Scare developed in the U.S. as the Congressional House Un-American Activities Committee


id: jack-parsons-20260505-11
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-11.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
Parsons testified to a closed federal court that the moral philosophy of Thelema was both anti-fascist and anti-communist, emphasizing his belief in individualism. This along with references from his scientific colleagues resulted in his security clearance being reinstated by the Industrial Employment Review Board, which ruled that there was insufficient evidence that he had ever had communist sympathies. This allowed Parsons to obtain a contract in designing and constructing a chemical plant for the Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City. Von Kármán put Parsons in touch with Herbert T. Rosenfeld, President of the Southern Californian chapter of the American Technion Society—a Zionist group dedicated to supporting the newly created State of Israel. Rosenfeld offered Parsons a job with the Israeli rocket program and hired him to produce technical reports for them. In November 1950, as the Red Scare intensified, Parsons decided to migrate to Israel to pursue Rosenfeld's offer, but a Hughes secretary whom Parsons had asked to type up a portfolio of technical documents reported him to the FBI. She accused Parsons of espionage and attempted theft of classified company documents on the basis of some of the reports that he had sought to submit to the Technion Society.


id: jack-parsons-20260505-12
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-12.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
=== Death: 1952 === Parsons and Cameron decided to travel to Mexico for a few months, both for a vacation and for Parsons to take up a job opportunity establishing an explosives factory for the Mexican government. They hoped that this would facilitate a move to Israel, where they could start a family, and where Parsons could bypass the U.S. government to recommence his rocketry career. He was particularly disturbed by the presence of the FBI, convinced that they were spying on him. On June 17, 1952, a day before their planned departure, Parsons received a rush order of explosives for a film set and began to work on it in his home laboratory. An explosion destroyed the lower part of the building, during which Parsons sustained mortal wounds. His right forearm was severed, his legs and left arm were broken, and a hole was torn in the right side of his face. Despite these critical injuries, Parsons was found conscious by the upstairs lodgers. He tried to communicate with the arriving ambulance workers, who rushed him to the Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead approximately thirty-seven minutes after the explosion. When his mother, Ruth, learned of his


id: jack-parsons-20260505-13
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-13.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
Parsons adhered to the occult philosophy of Thelema, which had been founded in 1904 by the English occultist Aleister Crowley following a spiritual revelation that he had in Cairo, Egypt, when—according to Crowley's accounts—a spirit being known as Aiwass dictated to him a prophetic text known as The Book of the Law. Prior to becoming aware of Thelema and Crowley, Parsons' interest in esotericism was developed through his reading of The Golden Bough (1890), a work in comparative mythology by Scottish social anthropologist James George Frazer. Parsons had also attended lectures on Theosophy by philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti with his first wife Helen, but disliked the belief system's sentiment of "the good and the true". During rocket tests, Parsons often recited Crowley's poem "Hymn to Pan" as a good luck charm. He took to addressing Crowley as his "Most Beloved Father" and signed off to him as "thy son, John". In July 1945, Parsons gave a speech to the Agape Lodge, in which he attempted to explain how he felt that The Book of the Law could be made relevant to "modern life". In this speech, which was subsequently published under the title of "Doing Your Will", he examined the Thelemite


id: jack-parsons-20260505-14
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-14.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
the liberty of the individual is the foundation of civilization. No true civilization is possible without this liberty and no state, national or international, is stable in its absence. The proper relation between individual liberty on the one hand and social responsibility on the other is the balance which will assure a stable society. The only other road to social equilibrium demands the total annihilation of individuality. There is not further evasion of nature's immemorial ultimatum: change or perish but the choice of change is ours. Jack Cashill, American studies professor at Purdue University, argues that "Although his literary career never got much beyond pamphleteering and an untitled anti-war, anti-capitalist manuscript", Parsons played a significant role—greater than that of Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey—in shaping the Californian counterculture of the 1960s and beyond through his influence on contemporaries such as Hubbard and Heinlein. Hugh Urban, religious studies professor at Ohio State University, cites Parsons' Witchcraft group as precipitating the neopagan revival of the 1950s. Robert Anton Wilson, a cult writer and occultist known for his works of nonfiction and science fiction, described Parsons' political writings as exemplifying an "ultra-individualist" who exhibited a "genuine sympathy for working people", strongly empathized


id: jack-parsons-20260505-15
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons-15.md
category: reference
title: Jack Parsons
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
date_saved: 2026-05-05T04:32:07.745794+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: jack-parsons-20260505-0
summary:
The same month, JPL held an open access event to mark the 32nd anniversary of its foundation—which featured a "nativity scene" of mannequins reconstructing the November 1936 photograph of the GALCIT Group—and erected a monument commemorating their first rocket test on Halloween 1936. Among the aerospace industry, JPL was nicknamed as standing for "Jack Parsons' Laboratory" or "Jack Parsons Lives". The International Astronomical Union decided to name a crater on the far side of the Moon Parsons after him in 1972. JPL later credited him for making "distinctive technical innovations that advanced early efforts" in rocket engineering, with aerospace journalist Craig Covault stating that the work of Parsons, Qian Xuesen and the GALCIT Group "planted the seeds for JPL to become preeminent in space and rocketry." Many of Parsons' writings were posthumously published as Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword in 1989, a compilation co-edited by Cameron and O.T.O. leader Hymenaeus Beta, which incited a resurgence of interest in Parsons within occult and countercultural circles. For example, comic book artist and occultist Alan Moore noted Parsons as a creative influence in a 1998 interview with Clifford Meth. The Cameron-Parsons Foundation was founded as an incorporated company in 2006, with the intention


