‘The whole point of faith is not to know’: Jewish ultra-Orthodox students’ epistemological beliefs about science and religion

Research on personal epistemology reveals how people’s epistemological beliefs about science intersect with their sociocultural background, cultural norms, and gender. Less is known, however, about how religious background and faith shape epistemological beliefs. The present study explores the epistemological beliefs of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jewish students during their first days in academia using a combination of questionnaires and interviews. Comparing the questionnaires completed by students of Haredi and non-Haredi backgrounds showed significant differences in two out of four epistemological dimensions. Haredi students’ beliefs were more naïve and less sophisticated in that they conceived scientific knowledge as fixed and certain and relied on experts’ authority more than did non-Haredi students. In addition, the interviews explored strategies used by Haredi students to resolve or emphasise the potential tension between science and religion: collaboration, conflict, independent, and repression of contradictions. Their analysis reveals how students’ approaches are multifaced, develop within the interview context, and intersects with general beliefs about scientific knowledge. Finally, the article discusses how this study elaborates on previous studies about students’ epistemological beliefs, and offers educational implications, including promoting teachers’ awareness to their students’ beliefs and conducting interventions to help students reflect on them.