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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48326
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

That's a question of definitions that one could debate endlessly. Definitions are invented by people, often indirectly by simply using words with a certain meaning in mind without necessarily spelling out a definition. On subtleties like this, different dictionaries will often have different details to the definition.

So really, I agree with @temporary\_user\_name's comment: Who cares? Just write a good story.

To actually answer the question: I don't see how referring to God or the soul would of itself make a story not science fiction. If a character in a realistic adventure novel said, "It was a miracle that we escaped", and in context it was apparent that he meant that literally, I don't think that would make this now a "religious story" and not an "adventure story".

Or more to the point, suppose someone wrote a story where a character invents a machine that can detect and measure a soul. I'd think that is practically the essence of science fiction: postulating a new and extraordinary technology and exploring the implications. The fact that the technology overlaps a subject that has historically been thought of as "religious" would to my mind make it, at least potentially, more interesting science fiction, not non-science fiction.

And in real life, genres intersect all the time. I've read science fiction murder mysteries and spy thrillers set in fantasy worlds. Almost any genre can include romance subplots. Etc. To say that a story might have elements of science fiction and also elements of religion is an unremarkable assertion.

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