According to Sir John, diversity—or in TRT parlance, pluralism—means progress, for “diversity provides for a freedom and a loving and healthy competition without which there might be only lesser progress.” (The Humble Approach, 168) And here it is important to note that Sir John was interested in two types of diversity or pluralism: methodological and religious.

This initiative is seeking to improve the methods of inquiry into the existence and nature of spiritual realities, making them more diverse (in a mutually reinforcing way), more nuanced, more reliable, and more fertile. Methods of inquiry includes the social and normative aspects of human knowledge acquisition.

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Now, by “methods” we mean what Bernard Lonergan described (with reference to method in theology) as “a normative pattern of recurrent and related operations yielding cumulative and progressive results” (Method in Theology, 17), and by “inquiry,” we mean what he meant when he said: “Every inquiry aims at transforming some unknown into a known. Inquiry itself, then, is something between ignorance and knowledge. It is less than knowledge, else there would be no need to inquire. It is more than sheer ignorance, for it makes ignorance manifest and strives to replace it with knowledge. This intermediary between ignorance and knowing is an intending, and what is intended is an unknown that is to be known.” (Method in Theology, 24)

Put simply, by “inquiry” we mean both the state of being “between ignorance and knowledge”—how little we know—and the striving “to replace [ignorance] with knowledge.” As a program initiative, methods of inquiry begins with how little we know—less than 1%—coupled with an optimism rooted in critical realism. We are always seeking, in this case, to replace ignorance with knowledge, and this by way of diverse methods and interdisciplinary engagement.

What conditions contribute to progress in religion? In religions, as in science and the economy, progress is possible, but under what conditions? Sir John Templeton believed that a key factor is cooperative, constructive engagement across deep religious differences. Religions are often seen as competing for people’s hearts and minds, and to some extent this is true. But can religions engage one another cooperatively and constructively? How can we leverage religious diversity to make the world a better place? What are the conditions under which this can happen, and what are the most effective ways of fostering cooperative engagement across deep differences?

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What do we really know about the social consequences of religions, and what more can we learn about them? Sir John Templeton regarded religious faith and practice as a dynamic, prosocial force—a force for good in the world, part of and even a source of solutions to the wide range of problems we face, like poverty and sickness. But religions are often associated with negative social outcomes like intolerance and conflict. How can we increase the social dividends associated with religious faith and practice and reduce the negative effects that can occur when religions gets mixed up with other factors, like fear or greed?

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Co-funded by the Templeton philanthropies, and administered by the John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton Prize honors individuals whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton’s philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.

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