Fraser Watts on the big questions of life… ‘Who am I?’

Have you ever asked yourself ‘Who am I?’

If you have, then you’re certainly not alone. But if you haven’t, you might well be pondering it now…

The question of identity is one that is asked often, and there is a belief that people who ask it are typically struggling with their identity. That these ‘souls’ are in fact a bit lost and seeking a definitiveanswer to – quite literally – help them to define themselves. But you don’t have to be struggling with your identity to ask it either.

Read the full article on my blog.

Fraser Watts: How behaviour and environment could affect your lifespan?

I was recently cited in an article on minnpost.com which discussed epigenetics and cited some of my comments from the Religion, Society, and the Science of Life Conference at Oxford University back in July.

In her recent article, Sharon Schmickle notes how a Minneapolis life insurance company GWG Life, is collecting and analysing saliva samples for epigenetic markers in order to identify how an individual might beat his or her chronological age and either live longer or indeed die younger than predicted.

Read the full article on my website.

Darkness and Light are Intertwined Deep Within Us

Many people have mixed feelings about themselves. Of course some people have a very dark view of themselves, especially when they are depressed. Other people think highly of themselves and can’t see anything wrong. But most of us see both good and bad in ourselves; sometimes it is hard to see the connection between the two, hard to understand how the same person could do both good and bad things.

Read the article in full on my blog.

Issues in Science and Theology: Do Emotions Shape the World?

This book examines emotions and emotional wellbeing from a rich variety of theological, philosophical and scientific and therapeutic perspectives.

To experience emotion is part of being human; but what are emotions? How can theology, philosophy and the natural sciences unpack the nature and content of emotions? This volume is based on contributions to the 15th European Conference on Science and Theology held in Assisi, Italy.

Read the full book review on my blog.

Psychology and Spirituality: A House Divided

The relationship between psychology and spirituality is divided within itself. On the one hand there is the psychology of religion, which has recently broadened to become ‘the psychology of religion and spirituality’. On the other hand there is ‘transpersonal psychology’, which largely eschews religion and often seeks to integrate psychology and spirituality.

On the face of things you would expect the psychology of religion and spirituality to be quite close to transpersonal psychology, but in fact there is little connection between them, even some mutual distrust. It is worth examining the reasons for this. There seem to be several factors that make any integration between them quite hard to achieve.

Read the full article on my website.

Laws of Nature, Laws of God

Up until the time of Newton, scientists regarded the understandings of the physical world, at which they were arriving, as glimpses of the working of the Creator’s mind. Thus, the generalisations being formulated about the behaviour of matter – the “Laws of Nature” – were seen as the Creator's injunctions, to created matter, as to how it was to act.

They were “laws” in the same sense as laws, Divine or human, about how people should behave: that is why the same word was used for both. And even now, scientific laws are occasionally spoken of as being “obeyed”.

Read the full article on my blog.

Handbook of Chaplaincy Studies: Understanding Spiritual Care in Public Places

This Handbook of Chaplaincy Studies explores fundamental issues and critical questions in chaplaincy, spanning key areas of health care, the prison service, education and military chaplaincy.

Leading authors and practitioners in the field present critical insight into the challenges and opportunities facing those providing professional spiritual care. From young men and women in the military and in custody, to the bedside of those experiencing life’s greatest traumas, this critical examination of the role played by the chaplain offers a fresh and informed understanding about faith and diversity in an increasingly secular society.

Read the article in full.

The Cambridge Companion to Science and Religion

The relations between science and religion have been the subject of renewed attention, in recent years.

Developments in physics, biology and the neurosciences have reinvigorated discussions about the nature of life and ultimate reality. At the same time, the growth of anti-evolutionary and intelligent design movements has led many to the view that science and religion are necessarily in conflict.

Read the article in full on my blog.