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Abstract
A question arises regarding theology and its functions when trying to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Surely Christian faith – along with other religions – can play a role in helping to deal with this crisis, both for individuals and collectively. Theology connects with the effort religious faith and Churches perform and provides models and ideas to highlight the Christian sense of what is happening, that is, in reference to a saving God. Four keys, rooted in the Christian tradition, are proposed that allow us to understand these difficult times in a meaningful way, that is, as revealing "signs of the times" for believers, assisting them in their struggle to cope with these challenging circumstances.

Abstract
Religion has been intensely studied in the last years inside an evolutionary frame, trying to discern to what extent it contributes to fitness or becomes an adaptive entity in its own. A similar heuristic can be tried regarding the opposite tendency: unbelief and atheism, since these cultural phenomena could help to better adapt to some social settings or become an adaptive socio-cultural niche on its own. The present paper examines some scenarios in which that question makes sense: the tradition of sociology of religion, with its different strands, including recent studies on 'non-religious'; the cognitive; and the philosophical-theological reflection. The proposed venues show to what extent the evolutionary model might reveal neglected aspects in the study of unbelief, and at the same time its limits or the open questions that such application raise.

Abstract
Free will is a very hot issue in several theoretical settings, but less in theology, or at least not as much as use to be in former times, when the discussions on sinfulness, grace and freedom were igniting a long season of controversies, especially in the Reformation time. Even in ecumenical dialogue apparently free will does not play a great role, since the reached consensus seems quite peaceful and agreement dominates over discussion. However, some theological insights, especially Karl Rahner reflections, are still worthy to consider and possibly theological anthropology should pay more attention to the current debate and its consequences for the way we understand human nature and its relationship with God.

Abstract
First of all we pay attention to cognitive studies of religion and compare theology and philosophy of religion.

The scientific study of beliefs, including religious beliefs, is thriving. The focus of this research is broad, but notably includes attempts at classifying different kinds of beliefs and their contrasting traits. Religious beliefs appear as more or less specific depending on chosen approaches and criteria. This paper intends to bring the discussion to a different level applying two strategies that yield a similar result. The first tries to reframe the debate about the nature of religious beliefs by connecting it with the current wave of "belief studies," to test their potential utility. The second critically reviews the epistemological and cognitive dimensions that are involved. Our research points in some distinctive directions: religious beliefs belong to a broad category or class whose structure and function are more related to meaning and purpose provision; at that level, there is no clear way to distinguish religious and non-religious beliefs except possibly by their content.

Research on the relationship between computing and the meaning of human life flourishes proportionally to the increasing digitalization of our world. More and more, reflections on ethics and politics, spiritual values and religious experiences, beliefs, and practices make use of digital media in order to spread their content or express themselves. If we still consider that there is truth in the well-known dictum that "the medium is the message", then it is worth asking how the content of these reflections and practices are changing today. Every change is the introduction of something new, and this novelty can be interpreted either as the improvement or the worsening of the current situation. Generally speaking, research on either the positive or negative interactions between the advances in AI and the dimension of spirituality and analogue thinking are based on at least three approaches. The first produces analogies between concepts from human studies and concepts from computer science; for instance, speaking of "modeling" for concepts in human sciences, or considering the universe to be intelligently organized in an algorithmic order. The second approach is the application of research on AI and computer science to develop new insights on the extents, limits, and perfectibility of spiritual topics, discussions, or even practices. Finally, the third approach applies sociological, philosophical, aesthetic, or even theological concepts to assess the changes that digitalization introduces in spiritual practices, beliefs, and cultures. This special issue analyzes the current state of the art, and it addresses all three models of the research. By doing so, the issue will place the general question of the distinction between human and machine into sharper relief.