We (Julio Bermudez and Matthew Niermann) are co-editing a special issue of the RELIGIONS journal focused on Experimental Theological Aesthetics: New Methods, Approaches, and Horizons.

 

By Experimental Theological Aesthetics (or XTA), we understand the interconnected project of empirically testing, theologically interpreting, and creatively generating aesthetic experiences to (1) identify how such experiences contribute cognitively and affectively to our understanding of and relationship to God and/or (2) refine aesthetic experiences to promote spiritual flourishing.

 

For our Special Issue, we invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners to contribute original work exploring how space, form, art, and embodied experience in relation to aesthetics can reshape and expand theological inquiry (and/or vice-versa). Suggested topics to consider include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

• Interdisciplinary Studies: Integration of insights from architecture, art, psychology, theology, philosophy, and related fields to explore aesthetic and spiritual experiences.

• Empirical Studies: Investigations into the cognitive, emotional, and physiological impacts of sacred spaces, liturgy, and religious art.

• Contextual and Comparative Analysis: Studies on how cultural, religious, or social factors influence responses to sacred environments, including interfaith and historical perspectives.

• Innovative Methodologies: Experimental, neuroscientific, and empirical approaches to studying theological aesthetics, including using tools like EEG, fMRI, mobile eye-tracking, various biometric devices, and AI.

• Conceptual and Ethical Reflections: Development of new frameworks and critical engagement with the ethical and methodological challenges of researching religious aesthetics.

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We encourage submissions that consider, reflect, analyze, apply, and/or test empirical evidence(s) and/or hypotheses regarding the relationship between the built, physical world (i.e., architecture, the arts) and the hoped-for (believed in by many) metaphysical world (theology, spiritual experience, etc.); sacred architecture, space, and arts serving as the locus where these two realms meet. 

 

Full Manuscript Deadline: November 1, 2025 (rolling review available)

Details & Submission Information at:  https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/H798417H07
 

NOTE: Before submitting a manuscript, interested authors should provide a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words that summarizes their intended contribution to the Guest Editors, Dr. Julio Bermudez (bermudez@acsforum.org) and Dr. Matthew Niermann (mniermann@calbaptist.edu), or to the Assistant Editor of Religions, Mrs. Kiki Zhang (kiki.zhang@mdpi.com). 

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Acknowledgement: This Special Issue is made possible in part by a grant from the Templeton Religion Trust.