The cultural authority of science and religion

As two of society's most influential cultural authorities, science and religion shape perceptions of both truth and morality. While science is often linked to factual knowledge and religion to moral judgment, their boundaries are often blurred and contested. This review integrates insights from sociology and psychology to examine how science and religion assert, sustain, and lose authority in contemporary societies. Drawing on recent empirical research, including cross-national comparisons, time-trend analysis, and the role of moral framing, we show that trust in science and religion is context-dependent and shaped by institutional settings, social identities, and moral resonance. We argue that cultural authority is not fixed but constructed through interactions among individuals, institutions, and widely shared narratives about empirical truth and moral values. Future research should engage comparative, intersectional, and moral dimensions to better understand how science and religion function as competing or complementary sources of cultural authority.