The Methodological Naturalism and Methodological Secularism Scale: Shedding New Light on Scholarship in Religion

Scholars within and across fields such as the psychology of religion, sociology of religion, cognitive science of religion, religious studies, and theology often argue about the values and norms that ought to guide "academic" research in religion. Is it appropriate in the academy to explai...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Shults, Fount LeRon 1965- (Author) ; Wildman, Wesley J. 1961- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Equinox 2022
In: Bulletin for the study of religion
Year: 2022, Volume: 51, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 92-102
Further subjects:B BL1-2790
B Methodology
B Supernaturalism
B Values
B Academia
B Naturalism
B Scholars
B Religions
B study of religion
B Secularism
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Summary:Scholars within and across fields such as the psychology of religion, sociology of religion, cognitive science of religion, religious studies, and theology often argue about the values and norms that ought to guide "academic" research in religion. Is it appropriate in the academy to explain religious phenomena by referring to supernatural forces (such as spirits or gods) as causal agents or to defend one’s scholarly arguments by appealing to the holy texts accepted as authoritative within one’s religious coalition? Debates surrounding such questions have remained intractable for decades in part because they have been based on anecdotal personal experiences rather than clear empirical data. This article presents the Methodological Naturalism-Methodological Secularism scale, a new survey instrument capable of moving forward debates about scholarly values in the academic study of religion. This initial deployment of the MNMS scale in a population of religion scholars (N=284) clarifies extant commitments, challenges common caricatures, and reveals unfamiliar configurations of academic values.
ISSN:2041-1871
Contains:Enthalten in: Bulletin for the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/bsor.23700