Journal of Beliefs & Values

Artificial Intelligence and Religious Education: Promise, Peril, and Pedagogy

The Journal of Beliefs and Values invites proposals for a special issue exploring the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Religious Education (RE). As AI technologies rapidly reshape the educational landscape, Religious Education must confront new pedagogical opportunities, ethical dilemmas, and theological questions. This special issue seeks to gather scholarly, critical, and practice-based reflections on the implications of AI for religious learning, formation, and values.

AI is no longer a futuristic abstraction—it is a present and growing force in educational institutions. From AI-powered teaching assistants and curriculum tools to algorithmic decision-making and chatbot theologians, the possibilities and challenges are vast. Religious Education, grounded in traditions yet tasked with preparing students for life in a digital age, is uniquely positioned to engage with these questions.

We are particularly interested in contributions that bring together scholarship in theology, religious studies, philosophy, education, and technology, and that offer fresh insights into how AI is affecting the aims, content, delivery, and ethics of religious education.

Possible Topics Include

• AI in RE pedagogy: tools, methods, and classroom experience
• Theological critiques and theological uses of AI in education
• Moral formation, virtue ethics, and algorithmic authority
• Religious literacy and AI-generated knowledge
• Digital spirituality and AI-mediated religious experience
• Algorithmic bias and its impact on religious content
• Teaching about AI and digital ethics in RE curricula
• Empirical studies of AI tools in school or university RE settings
• Interfaith perspectives on AI and education
• AI and worship