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Expanding Possibilities of New Spiritual Discovery.

Wendy Cadge  |  Brandeis University

Chaplains: Leading Amidst Change

American religious life is changing fast. More people than ever describe themselves as unaffiliated with a religion, especially those under 30. Yet those unaffiliated continue to face unavoidable human challenges such as loss, sickness, life transitions, and death. Chaplains (or “spiritual care providers”) have long served people in the midst of life’s challenges in places like hospitals, ho...
Tina Ramirez  |  Hardwired, Inc.

Building Peaceful Pluralism in Iraq, One Student at a Time

The end of fighting rarely means a clean break from the conflicts that caused it. But with positive intervention, those conflicts can be diminished and healed over time. That kind of reversal is happening in portions of Iraq, reports Tina Ramirez, M.A., president and founder of Hardwired Global. As a powerful example, she tells the story of a school director named Zyad in Mosul, a major city in no...
James Walters  |  London School of Economics and Political Science

The Shared Space – Embracing Religious Plurality

We live in times where we are overwhelmed by information, emotion, and complexity – with the technologies meant to connect us leaving us feeling disconnected, anxious and divided. In this fragmented world, ancient religious traditions re-emerge and intersect with modernity; faiths may anchor people amidst their uncertainties, but they can also reignite combative, tribal instincts. But what if, i...
Lobsang Tenzin Negi  |  Emory University

Ancient Wisdom For A Modern World

The ultimate goal of ETSI is to build a bridge between two complementary systems of knowledge by educating future scientific collaborators who can contribute to new discoveries in the science of mind and body. ...
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Alfonse Borysewicz  |  BBH Literary LLC

Art and Transcendence

Historically, faith traditions have focused on both the written word and images as sources of knowledge and meaning. Some would claim that words have taken undue precedence as theologies have developed, while images seem to have been left behind. Has this shift in focus left us wanting? Art and theology have more in common than is seen at first glance. As the philosopher of religion George Pattiso...
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Taylor Worley  |  Wheaton College

Thinking About How We Think About Art

Two identical clocks hang side by side on a wall, lightly touching each other. A pile of hard candy in colorful wrappers sits in the corner of a room. A string of white lights hangs from the ceiling and gathers in a glowing pile on the floor. The work of conceptual artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres, now in the permanent collections of premier institutions such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, is e...
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Brian Nosek  |  Center for Open Science, Inc.

Advancing Research Transparency

Among human endeavors, scientific research ranks high as a noble pursuit. Most of us trust science to make discoveries that add to the world’s storehouse of knowledge, solve problems, and make our lives better. True, public trust wavered some during the COVID-19 pandemic. But people still have more confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interest than they have in the military, po...
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Sean Larsen  |  Syndicate

How Knowledge Works: Engaging Today’s Tangled Problems

Our society relies on academic institutions not merely to educate a workforce, but to be places where people are devoted to think about what’s true, what’s good, what’s beautiful, and what’s just. As a plaque on Bascom Hall at the University of Wisconsin so eloquently puts it: “Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state of Wisconsin ...
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Fiona Ellis  |  University of Roehampton

Desire for God is Human Nature

Across cultures, religions and time, it seems that people have been constantly searching, seeking, and longing for something more. Is this restlessness that we all feel, but cannot quite define, universal? Is it human nature to long for something more, something bigger than ourselves? Why are we drawn by a desire for something we cannot quite grasp? This desire compels us to seek its source – of...
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Simone Schnall  |  University of Cambridge

Transcendence Through Art: Connecting with Higher Values

An electrical repair for the house, a doctor’s appointment that needs setting, a dish for a school potluck, a procrastinated task at work, feeding the dog, flossing after every meal… These are the immed...
Kendall Bronk  |  Claremont Graduate University

How Young Adults Perceive the Role of Patience in the Search for Purpose

Figuring out one’s purpose in life is not often an easy task. Research suggests it can be anxiety-provoking and stressful. However, uncovering one’s purpose in life is a critical prerequisite to leading a l...
Knox Thames  |  Pepperdine University

Charting New Paths to Pluralism

Terrorism in the Middle East. Government-sponsored genocides in China and Burma. Cultural extremism in Pakistan. Tyrannical democracy in Nepal and India. Assaults, destruction, arrests, displacements, and killi...
Alfonse Borysewicz  |  BBH Literary LLC

Art and Transcendence

Historically, faith traditions have focused on both the written word and images as sources of knowledge and meaning. Some would claim that words have taken undue precedence as theologies have developed, while i...
Watch Video
Brian Nosek  |  Center for Open Science, Inc.

Advancing Research Transparency

Among human endeavors, scientific research ranks high as a noble pursuit. Most of us trust science to make discoveries that add to the world’s storehouse of knowledge, solve problems, and make our lives bette...
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Oludamini Ogunnaike  |  University of Virginia

The Knowledge Poets Give Us

Culture has long recognized poetry as a unique medium for expressing knowledge and beauty in profound ways. The poets themselves have articulated this in ways only they can. As William Carlos Williams said, ...
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Carl Plantinga  |  Calvin University

Developing Moral Understanding at the Movies

Most of us have experienced strong effects when watching movies or series. We cry, laugh, swoon, tap our feet, flinch, and sometimes even involuntarily call out in alarm or delight. But we also think. We wonder...
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Kutter Callaway  |  Baylor University

Measuring Transcendence: IRL

Do you remember the last time a work of art changed you? Usually, these moments take you by surprise. You’re walking through the gallery, the echo of footsteps and hushed voices around you. You turn a cor...
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John Tomasi  |  Heterodox Academy

Not All Great Minds Think Alike

Higher education in the United States is at a crossroads. Will it maintain its legacy of open inquiry as the path to discovering truth and generating knowledge? Or will it become permanently sidetracked by rigi...
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Bob Roberts  |  Multi-Faith Neighbors Network

Infusing Collaboration: Multi-Faith Retreats in Sudan

Sudan’s post-independence history has been dominated by political and civil strife. Most observers have attributed the country’s recurring civil war either to an age-old racial divide between Arabs and Africans, or to recent colonially constructed inequalities. But in September 2022, Pastor Bob Roberts and Imam Mohamed Magid of Multi-Faith Neighbors Network (MFNN) traveled to Sudan on...
Ben Hurlbut  |  Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University

Closing the Science, Technology, & Religion Gap

Are we still making progress? Or does a promising future for the next generation seem less likely all the time? These are big questions being asked often these days. From gene editing to generative AI. From medicines to cure aging to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. From the trauma of Covid to the cinematic retelling of Oppenheimer’s development of the atom bomb. Deeply tangled around ...
C. Stephen Evans  |  Baylor University

Accountability is Relational Responsibility

In Western cultures, we often talk about accountability in terms of demanding that public officials, big corporations, criminals, etc., be “held accountable” for their actions. What we often really mean is that we want them to be punished. But Dr. Evans and his team are asking the question, “What does it mean to be good at living accountably?” To fully explore this question, we must first ...
Bob Roberts, Jr.  |  GlocalNet

Multi-Faith Relationships Change Everything

MFNN provides a platform for people to connect with God and one another by building empathy. Only then can one begin to relate to others who think differently, and thus find common ground. MFNN is intentionally multi-faith. It respects the fact that different religions have exclusivist beliefs about spiritual realities. It is not interested in anyone giving up their faith convictions. Instead, MFN...
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Garrick V. Allen  |  Dublin City University

Words Are Not Enough

It could be said that above all else Sir John Templeton’s aim was “to encourage researches for vastly more spiritual information to supplement the wonderful ancient scriptures.” More concretely, Sir John wanted to encourage researchers to draw on novel sources of data, and to follow progressive methods of intellectual discovery such as we find in the scientific method. ...
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Dominic Johnson & Michael Price  |  St. Anthony’s College, Oxford and Brunel University, London

An Evolutionary Perspective

At least seven billion of the world’s nearly eight billion people today subscribe to some sort of religion, compared to only about 500 million atheists.* Clearly, religious belief has enjoyed staying power in human history. But why? So far, answers to that question have been mostly based on opinions rather than empirical evidence. At the turn of the 20th century, Harvard philosopher and psycholo...
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Robert MacSwain  |  The University of the South

Exploring Human Goodness as Evidence of God

Does God exist? It’s a question that nearly everyone confronts at various times in our lives. The existence of God is theology’s most basic concern. It’s also an intensely personal struggle. Our beliefs about the reality of God directly affect our views of ourselves and why we’re here. Whatever we ultimately decide to believe, we can’t help but look for assurances that we got it right. A...
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Jonathan Schooler  |  University of California Santa Barbara

Engaging the Brain in Art

You don’t have to spend much time in a gallery, theater, or concert hall to realize that art causes vastly different responses. At the same time, it’s not uncommon to hear someone say, “I just don’t know what to make of it.” It’s a simple acknowledgment that the experience is taking them beyond the filters of what they already know, potentially changing what and how they think. Beyond ...
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Alfonse Borysewicz  |  BBH Literary LLC

Art and Transcendence

Historically, faith traditions have focused on both the written word and images as sources of knowledge and meaning. Some would claim that words have taken undue precedence as theologies have developed, while images seem to have been left behind. Has this shift in focus left us wanting? Art and theology have more in common than is seen at first glance. As the philosopher of religion George Pattiso...
Watch Video
Areas of Focus
Art Seeking Understanding

Putting Aesthetic 
Cognitivism to the Test

Science & Religion in Context

Valuing Science and Religion as Mutually Enriching Sources of Insight

Covenantal Pluralism

Going Beyond Religious Tolerance

Social Consequences of Religion

Exploring Religion as a Transformative Force for Good in the World

Art Seeking Understanding

Putting Aesthetic 
Cognitivism to the Test

Learn More about ASU
Science & Religion in Context

Valuing Science and Religion as Mutually Enriching Sources of Insight

Learn More about SRC
Covenantal Pluralism

Going Beyond Religious Tolerance

Learn More about CP
Social Consequences of Religion

Exploring Religion as a Transformative Force for Good in the World

Learn More about SCoR
About Templeton Religion Trust

We're seeking to enrich the conversations about Religions

Templeton Religion Trust is a global charitable trust established by Sir John Templeton in 1984 with headquarters in Nassau, The Bahamas, where Sir John lived until his death in 2008. TRT has been active since 2012, and supports projects as well as storytelling related to projects seeking to enrich the conversation about religion.