Since the publication of Bergin’s classic 1980 paper “Psychotherapy and Religious Values” in the Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, an enormous amount of quality research has been conducted on the integration of religious and spiritual values and perspectives into the psychotherapy endeavor. Numerous empirical studies, chapters, books, blogs, and specialty organizations have emerged in the past 35 years that have helped researchers and clinicians alike come to appreciate the value of religion and spirituality in the psychotherapeutic process. While so much has been accomplished in this area of integration, so much more needs to occur in order for the psychotherapeutic world to benefit from the wisdom of the great religious and spiritual traditions and values. While state-of-the-art quality research has and continues to demonstrate how religious and spiritual practices and values can be used effectively to enhance the benefits of behavioral and psychological interventions, too often the field either gets overly focused on particular and perhaps trendy areas of interest (e.g., mindfulness) or fails to appreciate and incorporate the research evidence supporting (or not supporting) the use of certain religiously or spiritually informed assessments and interventions. The purpose of this article is to reflect on where the field integrating religion, spirituality and psychotherapy has evolved through the present and where it still needs to go in the future. In doing so I hope to reflect on the call for integration that Bergin highlights in his classic 1980 paper.
The element that connects the thematically diversified works of the Ella Krylova is spirituality- poet’s closeness with God and nature. In 2010 Ella Krylova released her next volume- Мерцающий остров. Cognitive poetics uses the notion of mental spaces, as conceptual areas, that contain specific Information. Blending of these spaces adds a new value to its macrostructurethat a poem constitutes of. In the consciousness of the lyrical I, spaces filled with mythology,religion, culture and nature appear simultaneously. Their integration is conducive to the integrationof various expressions and broadens the poetic language.
The aim of this paper is to highlight a common denominator in the work of a historian, theologian and scholars in each of the humanities. The author first clarifies his concept of the spiritual dimension, pointing out that the rectification of one’s relationship to the past as a prerequisite of the undistorted present and the future and that this remedy is, from the spiritual point of view, a sort of conversion. Another problem involves how to present the ideal in the post-ideological time. An awareness of the multi-dimensionality of reality leads us to humility in making judgements while protecting us from their absolutisation. The common denominator of the spiritual dimension of the efforts of a humanities scholar is undoubtedly an openness to transcendence, which in the work of a historian, takes a specific form, and does not have to be influenced by an explicit Christian faith.
The study aims to clarify how widespread and to what depth Scheeben’s dogmatic‑theologian legacy affected Czech Catholic Theologians between the years 1918 and 1948. The research indicates that there was a wide awareness of both the person and the work of the German Professor among clergy as well as laity. We name nearly thirty authors who referred to Scheeben’s books. The most frequent themes were Ecclesiology, the Holy Spirit and grace, Sacramentology, and some authors touch on Trinitology, especially connected to spirituality.
The aim of our contribution is to take part in the discussion and point at the importance of spirituality in Roma communities. In our work we focus on the need of spirituality at Roma minority in Slovakia. We state an example from the past – work of the priest in the village of Jarabina. It is religiosity what is closely connected with spirituality – reason able religiosity helps the inclusion of Romanies into society, irrational causes more intensive exclusion.
The author of the article presents and at the same time critically evaluates the main contributions of Philip G. Zimbardo’s monograph The Lucifer Effect. The influence of the system, rules, and group on the thinking and actions of the individual is approved. The author of the study does not agree, however, with the unilaterally negative evaluation of obedience, and also with the statements about the “banality” of the good. In the second part, the author of the study demonstrates that a healthy Christian faith is an excellent strategy for dealing with harmful social influences on one’s personality and moral integrity.
The article describes the relationship between the first monks and the Church hierarchy represented by the bishops and popes. Bishops often mingled in the internal affairs of monastic communities, but some organizers of monastic life, such as Caesarius of Arles limited the interference from the outside. Abbots in Ireland while they become more important than bishops. Basil the Great, Augustine of Hippo, Caesarius of Arles, though they were monks, they exercised their functions well in positions of church and maintained friendly relations with the popes. A unique situation is the abbot of St. Columba the Younger, who in Gaul is involved in disputes with the local hierarchy. He did not agree even with the pope, but never openly spoke out against the Apostolic Seat. Monks usually do not lead to the riots but were respectful for the representatives of ecclesiastical authority.
The article seeks to address the importance of the spiritual dimension in people suffering from dementia (especially Alzheimer’s disease). Fulfilling spiritual needs is crucial for the good clinical condition of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. There are scholarly studies that show that different pastoral approaches, that focus on meeting the spiritual needs of the sick person, can improve the quality of life for people in early, mild, and even advanced stages of dementia. The article also highlights the theological and anthropological dimensions of the life of those suffering from dementia. It seeks to capture the implications of the disease for both the person with dementia and for pastoral work with them.
This article intends to analyse crossings between words and the Word. To this purpose, we will present linguistic and spiritual connotations of the terms belonging to the semantic field of the verb “to communicate” and of the idea of communication. We will also deepen the pneumatologic curative issue of the Word. The final section of the article will draw on the description of the extensive references in the relation between words and the Word.
This article deals with the phenomenon of new ecclesial movements, especially from the perspective of ecclesiology and spiritual theology. It is based on both, theological literature and the author’s own field research. Next to an analysis of key elements such as the charisma and spirituality of the movements, the article reflects one of the most important aspects —lay character of the movements. The study thus presents the new ecclesial movements as one of the manifestations of the prophetic dimension of the Church and one of the fruits of Vatican II. The text also pays attention to some problems related to the pastoral activities of new ecclesial movements in the context of parishes and dioceses; and in this sense it stresses the need of cooperation between the charismatic and hierarchical dimensions of the Church.
Investigations into Muslim psychology sometimes rely on measures emphasizing religious attitudes, with the Muslim Attitudes toward Religion (MAR) scale being an example. To capture the experiential aspects of Islamic religiosity, a recently developed Muslim Experiential Religiousness (MER) scale recorded an experienced submission to, love of, and closeness to God that define an ideal in Muslim religious consciousness. In a sample of 299 students from the University of Tehran and the Qom Islamic Seminary School, this study administered the MAR and MER, along with scales assessing mysticism, religious orientations, depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life. Results demonstrated incremental validity of the MER over the MAR in predicting most of these religious and psychological adjustment variables. The MER also mediated and moderated some MAR relationships with religious and psychological outcomes. These data pointed toward a dissociation of the attitudinal and experiential features of Muslim psychology and confirmed the MER as a valuable index of Muslim religious experience.
There have been remarkable (r)evolutions in the Nigerian gospel music industry for the past decades. These revolutions have led to the emergence and survival of various modern and controversial musical cultures/traditions, modes and performances including worldliness and paganism in the industry. In view of these relatively nefarious musical cultures, a good number of scholars and observers tend to arguably redefine and (re)brand Christian communication in general and Nigerian gospel music in particular. It is in following this premise that this paper examines the phenomenon of religiosity and worldliness in the Nigerian gospel music industry. Based on observations and secondary data (literary sources), the paper argues that the Nigerian gospel music industry is just a vivid reflection of the country’s gloomy socio-religious landscape, characterized by the emergence/prevalence of fake ministers and various ubiquitous instrumentalities that perpetrate spiritual bareness in the country. Aspects of religiosity observed in some Nigerian gospel songs include controversial rhythms, imitations/adaptations of worldly songs, lyrical emphasis on prosperity (materialism, fame and earthly glories) at the detriment of spirituality/salvation, gospel artists being associated with sex scandals and occult practices.
The author of the article studies the spirituality of Edith Stein. He presents Edith Stein’s contribution to the methodology of spiritual theology, her anthropological and theological vision, her evolution of the religious experience, the life of prayer and call to mysticism. Edith Stein carried out research which today would be regarded as being interdisciplinary. Her reflections have a huge influence on the methodology of the theology of spirituality. The spirituality of the Cross which Stein writes about in compliance with the classic masters, nowadays may be an adjustment to the incarnational spirituality, in her overly optimistic view on the usage of creatures and taking for granted the spiritual value of suffering.
Ordinary theology is one of the emerging streams in theology. In this approach, the accounts of God and creation by those believers who have not undergone formal academic theological training are researched. The article describes the conception of freedom in ordinary theology of the elderly who have participated in research on the constructions of spirituality and old age. A strong element of negative freedom from prescriptions and regulations is present in the ordinary theology of these seniors. This does not lead, however, to unreflected, unguided action, but to the possibility of adherence to the Ten Commandments as a guide for empathically relating to others. Sins are then related to forgiveness. Against the pole of freedom, then, is pro‑guidance, which is in the nature of predestination, the meaning of which is subject to reflection or interpretation. The findings can be interpreted both in the context of the need to develop spirituality, which Halík speaks of in his conception of the afternoon of Christianity, but also in the context of theodicy.
The last several decades have ushered in an abundance of creative activity and wisdom with regard to spiritually and/or religiously informed psychotherapy. Most of these pursuits have led to significant and positive changes, both in thought and practice, in the way that human psychology is seen as intersecting (and interacting) with religious, theological, and spiritual dimensions of experience. At the same time much has been neglected amidst these advances. In the present paper, we submit that one vital area of neglect may be found in an implicit retreat from sacred encounter in favor of instrumentalized approaches to psychotherapy. We argue for a spiritually transcendent psychotherapy that implicitly attends to relational and semiotic phenomenology while retaining pragmatic gain.
Text, written in philosophy of education discourse, looks for a possible interconnection between informal education within the wandering course of Lipnice Vacation school “Life is a gothic dog”, and the potential developpment of human being’s in its spiritual dimension. The first part deals with experiential education and expedition courses as an example of the selected discourse. The second part concentrates on spiritual dimension of human experiencing and its differentiation from religious topics. Third part concretizes spiritual experiences in framework of described course and offers a new model of spiritual (non-religious) wandering. The structure of experiential education projects offers a potential of non-religious spirituality. We put spirit, journey, transcendence, transformation and meaning among phenomena which open such dimension of experiencing. The paper confirms that experiential education is in its depth near to non-religious spirituality and then to accentuation of authentic modus of existence.
The idea of meditation is a multivocal expression in current discourse. First, there is a need to proceed from the context of semantics. The fact is that the usual level of usage of this term covers several levels of understanding: meditation as a mental prayer in the Christian tradition; the method of internalization with Eastern, non‑Christian spiritual movements; the reflection of excerpts of holy Islamic texts; or a philosophical treatise, a literary essay or a psychotherapy technique including popularizing approaches to the usage of this term (meditative music or meditation with a picture). That is why the term meditation is part of broader elements in religious life and, being a phenomenon of human culture and religiousness, has common features. At the same time, however, the term Christian meditation has principal and unmistakable specifics. The biblical basis of early monastic practice, expressed in the terms meditari – meditatio, determines the use of criterion as to what meditation is from the Christian and theological point. The starting point for understanding the relationship between the Scripture reading and the oldest forms of meditation is monastic religiousness, when the reading of Scripture became a certain kind of sacrament and an important guideline for searching one’s conscience. In meditation Christ gives himself to us as nourishment.
One of the most important features of the members of the Qumran community, who referred to themselves by the name “the sons of light,” was aspiration to holiness by observing the Law, purity and cult. The spirituality of the Qumran community was founded on the New Covenant which would be fulfilled “at the end of the days”. This eschatological reality was stressed in the practical spirituality of the members of the Qumran community. In the present article, the spirituality of the Qumran community will be presented via three points: (1) The origin of the Qumran community; (2) The community of a New Covenant with God; and (3) Eschatological beliefs. Our accumulated knowledge about the spirituality of the Qumran community and its beliefs enables us to better understand many eschatological texts of the Old Testament and Intertestamental Literature. It also indicates to us certain similarities and differences with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
The essay aims at peering into the Monastic writings of St. Jerome expressly addressed to men, though actually to men and women. The works surveyed are mostly St. Jerome’s Letters, though a few homilies held in Bethlehem are taken into consideration, as well as the writing De persecutione Christianorum, a work addressing monks on the release of the Monastic condition. The Monastic teaching of St. Jerome is a vast patrimony, and his authentic personal ascetical lifestyle render him a great master of spirituality. St. Jerome’s Monastic literature does not witness just his own sagacity, but a whole spiritual movement guided by him, which by no means could be assimilated to the Eastern Tradition nor to the Western Benedictine Monasticism, developed later on. His spiritual movement was distinct from the former because of its cultural impact, and from the latter because of its austerity of life, entirely moulid by the desert Fathers. The spiritual movement guided by St. Jerome it’s a peculiar Monasticism, bridging Eastern Monasticism in the West, and still leaving echoes in the present.
PL
Artykuł zamierza przedstawić nauczanie duchowe św. Hieronima skierowane wyraźnie i wprost do mnichów. Za teksty źródłowe posłużyły nam głównie Hieronimowe Listy, a także niektóre jego homilie wygłoszone w Betlejem oraz dzieło De persecutione Christianorum – konferencja duchowna skierowana do mnichów i dotycząca porzucenia stanu mniszego. Hieronimowe pouczenia duchowe skierowane do mnichów stanowią bardzo szerokie patrymonium, ukazując Autora jako wielkiego mistrza życia duchowego. To jednak monastyczne patrymonium nie świadczy jedynie o mądrości osobistej Hieronima, lecz ukazuje cały rodzący się nowy ruch duchowy, który kształtował się pod kierownictwem Dalmatyńczyka, przyjmując postać typowo zachodnią i łacińską, nie zawsze niewolniczo powielającą wzór pierwotnego monastycyzmu wschodniego, czy podobną do późniejszej formy monastycyzmu zachodniego – benedyktyńskiego. Monastycyzm propagowany przez Hieronima różnił się od koptyjskiego przede wszystkim tym, iż wykorzystywał bogactwo kultury i filozofii. Od monastycyzmu benedyktyńskiego natomiast odróżnia go wierność surowości życia czerpiącego wzorce z Ojców pustyni. Monastycyzm więc, który odwołuje się do św. Hieronima, jest monastycyzmem szczególnym, którego zadaniem było zatroszczenie się o przeszczepienie na Zachód ducha pierwotnego monastycyzmu wschodniego, którego charyzmat i wartość są nadal aktualne.
The roots that raised Elvis Presley to become the man that he is in history, are not found in rock’n’roll but they go much deeper. They are found in the Gospel, in what Joe Moscheo defined as “the Gospel side of Elvis”. This paper highlights the gospel music of Elvis Presley and its vast impact on American society and religion. One of the aims of this article is to underline the impact that sacred music had over Presley’s artistical work and how Elvis and his Southern spirituality influenced the history of Christian music. One more important aspect of this paper argues the worldwide role Presley had as an evangelist of the Gospel, and how he influenced Christian identity and its values among Americans. This paper tried to answer to Mark Duffet’s question: “If star musicians are positioned as centers of attention, what happens when they use their privileged position in the spotlight to offer a ‘spiritual’ message?”. As a result, this paper offers original contents of Elvis Presley’s faith and spirituality and is intended as a starting point for future studies. Surprisingly, few researchers have evaluated the effect the singer had on evangelization and gospel music development. Previous studies have mostly paid attention to the role that Elvis played on the Rock’n’Roll scene and the iconic legend created around him. They forget that the Gospel is a key part of Presley’s life and music.
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