Examining the Relationship between Religious Spirituality and Psychological Science

Abstract

Scientific interest in religious spirituality and mental health has increased dramatically. However, many researchers have tended to ignore the historic incompatibility between spirituality and traditional science. A review of the spirituality research suggests that important themes of this historic incompatibility persist in contemporary theories of spirituality. Yet, many spirituality researchers have proceeded as if this incompatibility does not exist. Indeed, there is evidence that spiritual conceptions have been altered to fit the requirements of science. No alteration would seem necessary if scientific method were a neutral tool of investigation that did not affect the conceptions themselves. However, if method has philosophical commitments, and if these commitments are incompatible with the conceptual foundations of spirituality, then spirituality researchers may be undermining their own conceptions in science. We outline the philosophical commitments of traditional scientific methods and the philosophical commitments of contemporary conceptions of spirituality to begin a conversation about this possibility.