A foreword

Times of crisis and upheaval call for a complete rethink. Climate change, inflation, war and cyberattacks, along with uncertainty due to advancements in artificial intelligence, are just some of the pressing issues that demand societal decisions which will profoundly shape our lives in the future.¹ However, it is not just in collective crises that people question the meaning of life and rethink their existence.

While in previous centuries the search for meaning was heavily – or almost exclusively – influenced by religions, this is no longer the case in western Europe today. Churches in particular have lost their traditional interpretive authority among broad sections of the population. But this doesn’t mean that people no longer have spiritual needs or no longer question the meaning of life. Some seek support from manipulative gurus or obscure groups that want to tie individuals to them both psychologically and financially. Even lifestyles or dietary choices can serve as replacements for religion and become worldviews. For what was once termed the ‘educated bourgeoisie’, which now includes art enthusiasts from all walks of life, the arts serve a vital role in providing meaning. When humanities and cultural studies step down from their ivory towers, they possess immense potential for creating meaning in society. Marginalising them as ‘unproductive sciences’ and pushing young people into technical, economic or scientific fields will therefore have long-term societal implications – not just for a broadly accepted ethical framework, but also for our overall interpretation of the world and the meaning of life. To navigate and evolve within their time, culture and environment, people need narratives that shape worlds,² narratives that impart empowering knowledge and enable them to understand and interpret the world in a meaningful way. Of course, this involves more than just shaping the tangible world – it is also about the search for meaning and the pursuit of ideals. A particularly pressing aspect for living well in the future is the preservation – or restoration – of the ability to communicate beyond the confines of party politics, religious affiliations and ideologically homogeneous circles or echo chambers. One needn’t always agree, but when dialogue breaks down because the other party’s worldview doesn’t align with one’s own, both societal communication and the sense of a thriving community begin to erode.

Transdisciplinary dialogue in the sciences not only serves to prevent social fragmentation but is also an economic necessity. For it is only when we think beyond the prevailing paradigms or methods within individual disciplines that we move beyond mere improvements of existing products towards true innovation. With regard to knowledge creation, specialisation is continually increasing in all areas. Achieving a high-quality, holistic view is therefore proving increasingly elusive even within individual academic disciplines. Only dialogue among researchers from diverse fields holds the potential to reshape our lives in ways that benefit both people and the environment.

Of course, any reorientation during and after crises must be guided by political decisions that focus not on society’s most powerful – those who control the media and have financial resources for lobbying – but on its most vulnerable. Failure to do so over an extended period is a recipe for social unrest and upheaval, which in turn not only trigger economic turmoil but also shake the very foundations of social and personal stability. Even if the notion of societal participation across all demographics may seem like anathema to wealthy business leaders, it is ultimately in everyone’s interest. It is this very inclusivity that underpins the secure existence for which Europe is globally envied today. However, this should not be construed as a call for societal stagnation or for leaving the existing injustices on our continent untackled. An acute awareness of intersecting diversities, particularly where they relate to different forms of disadvantage, is crucial for making savvy political decisions that will shape our future. Where they are effective, entrenched traditions are realigned without losing sight of their historical context. The international mega-research project The Bible and Women, which appears in 21 volumes and four languages and involves over 300 researchers worldwide,³ is seeking to exemplify such a reorientation of traditional knowledge in theology. By tracing the male-dominated reception of biblical texts, characters and themes from their inception to the present, the team has demonstrated that a surprising amount of material still lies undiscovered in archives, despite the assumption that the female contribution to history either wasn’t documented or was given significantly less attention. However, whether a realignment of traditions and their widespread diffusion succeeds doesn’t just depend on academic theology – which has undergone significant change over the last thirty years in terms of gender equality, racism and claims to exclusive truth – but also on religious institutions, which serve as the interface to religious practice. While some Protestant state churches and several Jewish associations have taken on pioneering roles, the dominant religions in Europe are still far from achieving gender equality as a whole.

However, recognising traditions in their historical context and reimagining them for the future is a task for all scholars and cultural influencers. No one starts from scratch – we are all shaped by our heritage, our education and our professional, personal and sociopolitical environments, from which life is continually rethought and given new meaning. In this work, this interdisciplinary lens is widened to focus on the broader picture by incorporating a multitude of perspectives. May this inspire us to rethink life anew and to live well.