A new journal, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, has been launched earlier this year which publishes articles using experimental and correlational methods, qualitative analyses, and critical reviews of literature pertaining to topics of religion and spirituality. The editor is Dr. Ralph Piedmont and is published (and thus approved) by the APA.This journal is a significant move in the relationship between science and religion, particularly from the scientific side of the issue. That is, since the European Enlightenment and scientific revolution, which centralized and standardized the use of reason and empirical methodology, scientists have largely been reluctant to attempt to study humans concerning religion and spirituality. However, this journal represents an attempt by science (specifically, psychologists who have been for decades trying to attain increasing credibility in the "hard" sciences) to better understand what religion and spirituality are about from the perspective of the cognitive and behavioral scientific perspective and using these methodologies. As the first academic peer-reviewed journal to treat how faith affects human behavior, it is a monumental step in the direction of greater learning among scientists about the benefits of religion for humanity and will boost the dialogue between scientists and people of faith.
(Above image from APA journal webpage.)
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