Maybe the "confusion" is intentional. In the scientific papers, at least in some areas, it is expected to disclose potential conflicts of interest. In magazine

Maybe the "confusion" is intentional. In the scientific papers, at least in some areas, it is expected to disclose potential conflicts of interest. In magazine essays one can see just an essay without a context, which could potentially explain where the author comes from. That's why I have searched for the author and have found: George F. R. Ellis is, not accidentally, "a past president of the International Society for Science and Religion", "an active Quaker", and a winner of Templeton Prize "originally awarded to people working in the field of religion (Mother Teresa was the first winner), but in the 1980s the scope broadened to include people working at the intersection of science and religion."