Religions

8 pages, 175 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Revising the Modern Moral Paradigm with the Book of Proverbs

by Arthur Keefer

Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK

Religions 2016, 7(6), 79; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060079 - 22 Jun 2016

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4342

The modern moral paradigm champions a codified format, where ethics is conceived of as and conveyed by means of law. Among the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible, the book of Proverbs offers an alternative to modern codified morality. I consider a concern [...] Read more.

The modern moral paradigm champions a codified format, where ethics is conceived of as and conveyed by means of law. Among the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible, the book of Proverbs offers an alternative to modern codified morality. I consider a concern shared by ancient and modern societies—communication ethics—to argue that through Proverbs’ focus on character, wisdom, and the Lord, the book could revise the way we think about, articulate, and act upon the modern moral paradigm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World)

9 pages, 189 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Possessions and Identity: Job’s Problems and Ours

by Abigail Pelham

Independent Researcher, 1415 Albany Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060078 - 22 Jun 2016

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4222

Abstract

Recent research undertaken in the fields of anthropology and consumer behavior indicates that possessions play an important role in the construction of identity. While it is tempting to view both the connection between possessions and identity and the problems this engenders as a [...] Read more.

Recent research undertaken in the fields of anthropology and consumer behavior indicates that possessions play an important role in the construction of identity. While it is tempting to view both the connection between possessions and identity and the problems this engenders as a recent phenomenon, the Book of Job also recognizes this connection and is cognizant of its problematic nature. While Job does not offer answers to our contemporary dilemmas of possession, the book highlights the nuances of the problem as they existed in its own time and place, with all characters offering different perspectives on how the connection should be understood and how one ought to live in consequence of this understanding. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World)

15 pages, 3310 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

“What Is This Love That Loves Us?”: Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder as a Phenomenology of Love

by Julie M. Hamilton

The Other Journal, Arts Editor

Religions 2016, 7(6), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060076 - 20 Jun 2016

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6952

Abstract

Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder (2013) considers the relationship of Divine Love with the individual soul, and its corresponding relationships to the other as neighbor. In this article, I analyze the congruency of Malick’s form and content by correlating the relationship of his [...] Read more.

Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder (2013) considers the relationship of Divine Love with the individual soul, and its corresponding relationships to the other as neighbor. In this article, I analyze the congruency of Malick’s form and content by correlating the relationship of his dynamic, existential filmmaking style with the film’s phenomenologically constructed plotline. Jean-Luc Marion’s phenomenology of givenness and Søren Kierkegaard’s Works of Love contribute to my analysis, aiding our understanding of love’s sheer gratuity and sacrificial labor, amid inevitable idolatry and despondency, in To the Wonder’s intersecting narratives. While Marion helps us comprehend the affective qualities of “saturated phenomena” in the film’s formal dimensions, Kierkegaard elucidates the film’s many iterations of love. Malick aesthetically demonstrates the reciprocity of love and the experience of wonder as contingent operations, making To the Wonder a cinematic phenomenology of the fractured yet indissoluble dimensions of love. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Film and Lived Theology)

9 pages, 182 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Qohelet and the Marks of Modernity: Reading Ecclesiastes with Matthew Arnold and Charles Taylor

by Jennie Grillo

Divinity School, Duke University, Box 90968, 407 Chapel Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060077 - 16 Jun 2016

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4897

Abstract

The biblical book of Ecclesiastes is often claimed as a harbinger of modernity. In this essay, I compare Ecclesiastes with two overlapping constructions of modernity, taken from Matthew Arnold and Charles Taylor, focusing especially on Taylor’s motifs of inwardness, narrativity, meaninglessness, and ordinary [...] Read more.

The biblical book of Ecclesiastes is often claimed as a harbinger of modernity. In this essay, I compare Ecclesiastes with two overlapping constructions of modernity, taken from Matthew Arnold and Charles Taylor, focusing especially on Taylor’s motifs of inwardness, narrativity, meaninglessness, and ordinary life. I suggest that the likeness to modernity in Ecclesiastes is a complex bundle of emphases held in tension, which remains hospitable to pre-modern understandings and commitments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World)

13 pages, 207 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Re-Building Coal Country: A Church/University Partnership

by Carl Milofsky^1,* and Brandn Green²

¹ Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837, USA

² Independent Scholar, Washington DC 20011, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060075 - 13 Jun 2016

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4524

Abstract

This paper describes a developing partnership between a church-based service learning center and a university initiative to build a field station in a low-income community in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. It is a case study of how secular and religious institutions [...] Read more.

This paper describes a developing partnership between a church-based service learning center and a university initiative to build a field station in a low-income community in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. It is a case study of how secular and religious institutions have been collaborating to achieve the shared goal of improving social conditions in specific communities. The theoretical focus of the paper is on how a change from a “glass is half empty” to a “glass is half full” perception of the community opens new possibilities for change. This paper concentrates on the story of one partnership as a case study demonstrating current trends in service learning both within universities and within the Catholic Church in America. Analysis centers on the basic question of why the project had symbolic power for both partners and on the institutional processes within both organizations that helped the partnership grow. We use the framework of Assets-Based Community Development (ABCD), also known as the “strengths perspective”, to conceptualize the contrast. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Welfare and Social Service Provision: Common Ground)

15 pages, 603 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Secular Volunteerism among Texan Emerging Adults: Exploring Pathways of Childhood and Adulthood Religiosity

by Reed T. DeAngelis^*, Gabriel A. Acevedo

and Xiaohe Xu

Department of Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060074 - 13 Jun 2016

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5509

Abstract

Prior research suggests that religiosity, especially public religious participation, is related to greater volunteerism. However, less is known about religious transmission across the life course, in particular whether and how religiosity in childhood is linked to later life volunteerism. This study investigates a [...] Read more.

Prior research suggests that religiosity, especially public religious participation, is related to greater volunteerism. However, less is known about religious transmission across the life course, in particular whether and how religiosity in childhood is linked to later life volunteerism. This study investigates a sample of emerging adults in South Texas (n = 701) with a high percent of Hispanic Americans (53 percent). Specifically, we examine pathways of childhood and emerging adulthood religiosity leading to secular volunteerism. Findings indicate that both childhood and emerging adulthood religiosity are associated with greater volunteerism, but the effects of childhood religiosity on emerging adulthood volunteerism are mediated through emerging adulthood religiosity. These findings provide further confirmation of the importance of childhood religiosity only insofar as religiousness persists into adulthood. In other words, we find that it is emerging adulthood religiosity that transmits childhood religiosity into greater secular volunteerism in later life. Furthermore, emerging adulthood public religiosity has the most robust direct effects on volunteerism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth, Emerging Adults, Faith, and Giving)

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9 pages, 203 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Faith Unchanged: Spirituality, But Not Christian Beliefs and Attitudes, Is Altered in Newly Diagnosed Parkinson’s Disease

by Szabolcs Kéri^1,2,* and Oguz Kelemen³

¹ Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest 1111, Hungary

² Katharina Schütz Zell Center at the Nyírő Gyula Hospital—National Institute of Psychiatry and Addictions, Budapest 1135, Hungary

³ Department of Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged 6722, Hungary

Religions 2016, 7(6), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060073 - 13 Jun 2016

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6829

Abstract

In this study, we aimed at investigating the validity and characteristics of the concept of hyporeligiosity in Parkinson’s disease. Twenty-eight newly diagnosed, never-medicated patients with Parkinson’s disease and 30 matched healthy control individuals received the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS), the Stolz’s [...] Read more.

In this study, we aimed at investigating the validity and characteristics of the concept of hyporeligiosity in Parkinson’s disease. Twenty-eight newly diagnosed, never-medicated patients with Parkinson’s disease and 30 matched healthy control individuals received the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS), the Stolz’s index of Christian religiosity, and the Francis Scale of Attitude to Christianity (FSAC). All participants identified themselves as Roman Catholic or Protestant. Parkinson’s patients displayed decreased positive and negative spirituality on the BMMRS, whereas beliefs and attitudes related to their Christian religion were unchanged. The severity of the disease was associated with reduced spirituality, but not with Christian faith. These results suggest a dissociation between general spirituality and traditional religious faith in Parkinson’s disease, which is consistent with the findings from patients with schizophrenia. Full article

17 pages, 14184 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Finding God in Pawlikowski’s Ida

by Steven Vredenburgh

School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary, 135 N Oakland Ave, Pasadena, CA 91182, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060072 - 8 Jun 2016

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 9503

Abstract

Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida (2014) tells the story of a nun who must learn to resituate her faith in light of new experiences and information. Through Ida’s encounters, Pawlikowski suggests that God may be encountered in unexpected places. This theological meditation is done primarily [...] Read more.

Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida (2014) tells the story of a nun who must learn to resituate her faith in light of new experiences and information. Through Ida’s encounters, Pawlikowski suggests that God may be encountered in unexpected places. This theological meditation is done primarily through the elements of the film’s color, framing, costuming, music, art direction, and character interactions, all of which work together to demonstrate Pawlikowski’s thesis. By exploring this topic on film, Pawlikowski not only expresses his thoughts on where to seek God, but invites others to join him in his search. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Film and Lived Theology)

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12 pages, 217 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Abraham Joshua Heschel and Nostra Aetate: Shaping the Catholic Reconsideration of Judaism during Vatican II

by Joshua Furnal

Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies, Radboud University, Erasmusplein 1, 6525 HT Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Religions 2016, 7(6), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060070 - 8 Jun 2016

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 12684

Abstract

Although Nostra Aetate is only comprised of five short paragraphs, this document represents a turning point, not just for Catholic-Jewish relations, but also sketches the fundamental aims of embodying the Christian faith in a pluralistic age. There is a complex but important narrative [...] Read more.

Although Nostra Aetate is only comprised of five short paragraphs, this document represents a turning point, not just for Catholic-Jewish relations, but also sketches the fundamental aims of embodying the Christian faith in a pluralistic age. There is a complex but important narrative that needs to be revisited so that we do not forget the ways in which Catholic learning has developed, and how this development has often been prompted by non-Catholics. In this article, I will re-examine some crucial details in the back-story of the formulation of Nostra Aetate and offer some observations about the potential consequences of omitting these details. My argument is that some recent events and scholarship suffer from a form of amnesia about the role that Jewish people have played in the development of Catholic learning—a form of amnesia that manifests in explicit proselytizing tendencies. In particular, I want to highlight the role that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel played during the Second Vatican Council as an instructive example for Catholic-Jewish dialogue today. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and the Individual: Belief, Practice, and Identity)

26 pages, 1185 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Coopting the State: The Conservative Evangelical Movement and State-Level Institutionalization, Passage, and Diffusion of Faith-Based Initiatives

by Rebecca Sager^1,* and Keith Bentele²

¹ Department of Sociology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA

² Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125-3393, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060071 - 7 Jun 2016

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5774

Abstract

In the following, we characterize the contemporary conservative Evangelical movement as an example of contentious politics, a movement that relies on both institutional and noninstitutional tactics to achieve political outcomes. Examining multiple institutional and legislative outcomes related to the Faith Based Initiative, we [...] Read more.

In the following, we characterize the contemporary conservative Evangelical movement as an example of contentious politics, a movement that relies on both institutional and noninstitutional tactics to achieve political outcomes. Examining multiple institutional and legislative outcomes related to the Faith Based Initiative, we seek to understand why some states have established state faith-based bureaucracies and passed significantly more faith-based legislation. We find that the influence of elite movement actors within state Republican parties has been central to these policy achievements. Furthermore, we find that the presence of movement-inspired offices increase the rate of adoption of legislation, and the passage of symbolic policies increases the likelihood of passage of more substantive faith-based legislation. We argue that the examination of multiple outcomes over time is critical to capturing second order policy effects in which new institutions, the diffusion of legislation and institutions, and increasing policy legitimacy may shape subsequent legislative developments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Welfare and Social Service Provision: Common Ground)

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14 pages, 2525 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Apparatus of Belief: Prayer, Technology, and Ritual Gesture

by Anderson Blanton

Department of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Max Planck Institute, Hermann-Föge-Weg 11, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

Religions 2016, 7(6), 69; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060069 - 7 Jun 2016

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 7764

Abstract

Through a focus on the early history of a mass mediated ritual practice, this essay describes the “apparatus of belief,” or the specific ways in which individual religious belief has become intimately related to tele-technologies such as the radio. More specifically, this paper [...] Read more.

Through a focus on the early history of a mass mediated ritual practice, this essay describes the “apparatus of belief,” or the specific ways in which individual religious belief has become intimately related to tele-technologies such as the radio. More specifically, this paper examines prayers that were performed during the immensely popular Healing Waters Broadcast by Oral Roberts, a famous charismatic faith healer. An analysis of these healing prayers reveals the ways in which the old charismatic Christian gesture of manual imposition, or laying on of hands, took on new somatic registers and sensorial attunements when mediated, or transduced, through technologies such as the radio loudspeaker. Emerging from these mid-twentieth century radio broadcasts, this technique of healing prayer popularized by Roberts has now become a key ritual practice and theological motif within the global charismatic Christian healing movement. Critiquing established conceptions of prayer in the disciplines of anthropology and religious studies, this essay describes “belief” as a particular structure of intimacy between sensory capacity, media technology, and pious gesture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and the Individual: Belief, Practice, and Identity)

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30 pages, 2031 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bifactor Models of Religious and Spiritual Struggles: Distinct from Religiousness and Distress

by Nick Stauner^1,*, Julie J. Exline¹

, Joshua B. Grubbs¹, Kenneth I. Pargament²

, David F. Bradley¹ and Alex Uzdavines¹

¹ Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA

² Department of Psycholog, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060068 - 7 Jun 2016

Cited by 62 | Viewed by 8875

Abstract

The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) measures important psychological constructs in an underemphasized section of the overlap between religion and well-being. Are religious/spiritual struggles distinct from religiousness, distress, and each other? To test the RSS’ internal discriminant validity, we replicated the original [...] Read more.

The Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) measures important psychological constructs in an underemphasized section of the overlap between religion and well-being. Are religious/spiritual struggles distinct from religiousness, distress, and each other? To test the RSS’ internal discriminant validity, we replicated the original six-factor measurement model across five large samples (N = 5705) and tested the fit of a restricted bifactor model, which supported the mutual viability of multidimensional and unidimensional scoring systems for the RSS. Additionally, we explored a bifactor model with correlated group factors that exhibited optimal fit statistics. This model maintained the correlations among the original factors while extracting a general factor from the RSS. This general factor’s strong correlations with religious participation and belief salience suggested that this factor resembles religiousness itself. Estimating this general factor seemed to improve Demonic and Moral struggles’ independence from religiousness, but did not change any factor’s correlations with neuroticism, depression, anxiety, and stress. These distress factors correlated with most of the independent group factors corresponding to the original dimensions of the RSS, especially Ultimate Meaning and Divine struggles. These analyses demonstrate the discriminant validity of religious/spiritual struggles and the complexity of their relationships with religiousness and distress. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measures of Spirituality/Religiosity—Description of Concepts and Validation of Instruments)

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10 pages, 195 KiB

Open AccessBrief Report

The Inventory of Complicated Spiritual Grief: Assessing Spiritual Crisis Following Loss

by Laurie A. Burke^* and Robert A. Neimeyer

Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, 400 Innovation Drive, TN 38152, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060067 - 4 Jun 2016

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 8491

Abstract

Following the death of a loved one, many grievers endorse spirituality as a source of both solace and strain. Studies show that some grievers struggle significantly with both their relationship with God and their faith community, a condition known as complicated spiritual grief [...] Read more.

Following the death of a loved one, many grievers endorse spirituality as a source of both solace and strain. Studies show that some grievers struggle significantly with both their relationship with God and their faith community, a condition known as complicated spiritual grief (CSG). However, researchers have lacked a simple, multidimensional, well-validated, grief-specific measure of CSG. In this brief report, we reviewed the psychometric validation process and clinical utility of a measure called the Inventory of Complicated Spiritual Grief (ICSG), which was tested with 304 Christian grievers. The 18-item ICSG was shown to have strong internal consistency, high test–retest reliability, and convergent and incremental validity and supported a two-factor model, measuring one’s insecurity with God and the disruption in one’s religious practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Measures of Spirituality/Religiosity—Description of Concepts and Validation of Instruments)

11 pages, 353 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Follower-Centric Influences on Sexual Decision Making in a Pentecostal Church Faith Community

by Elias Mpofu^1,2

¹ Discipline of Rehabilitation Counselling, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney 2141, Australia

² Research and Innovation Office, Academic and Research, Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein 9301, South Africa

Religions 2016, 7(6), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060066 - 4 Jun 2016

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4704

Abstract

This study utilized participatory action research approaches to construct a follower-centric framework for measuring influences on sexual decision making by youth members of a church organization. Participants were Batswana Pentecostal church members self-reporting on their engagement in pre-marital sex (n = 68, [...] Read more.

This study utilized participatory action research approaches to construct a follower-centric framework for measuring influences on sexual decision making by youth members of a church organization. Participants were Batswana Pentecostal church members self-reporting on their engagement in pre-marital sex (n = 68, females = 62%; age range 15–23 years; median age = 20.3 years) from eight of 26 randomly selected congregations. They completed a multi-stage concept mapping process that included free listing of statements of potential influences on their sexual decisions. They then sorted the statements into groupings similar in meaning to them, and rated the same statements for relative importance to their sexual decisions. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis of the data yielded a five cluster solution in which church teachings emerged as most salient to the teenagers’ sexual decision making followed by future orientation, community norms, knowledge about HIV/AIDS and prevention education. While the youth believed to be influenced by religion teachings on primary sexual abstinence, they self-reported with pre-marital sex. This suggests a need for secondary abstinence education with them to reduce their risk for STIs/HIV and unwanted pregnancies. Concept mapping is serviceable to construct frameworks and to identify content of follower-centric influences on sexual decision making by church youth members. Full article

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14 pages, 214 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Santa Muerte as Emerging Dangerous Religion?

by David G. Bromley

Religious Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA

Religions 2016, 7(6), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060065 - 3 Jun 2016

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 14347

Abstract

Santa Muerte is one of the fastest growing folk saint movements in Mexico. She has a core following in Mexico among dispossessed populations, but also devotees from a broader swath of the Mexican population. This article analyzes the development of Santa Muerte veneration [...] Read more.

Santa Muerte is one of the fastest growing folk saint movements in Mexico. She has a core following in Mexico among dispossessed populations, but also devotees from a broader swath of the Mexican population. This article analyzes the development of Santa Muerte veneration in Mexico since 2000. I argue that, from a structural analysis perspective, Santa Muerte veneration is on the threshold of designation and treatment as dangerous religion, although its eventual status remains contingent. The movement’s status will be determined by three interacting factors: (1) a core membership of outsider and dispossessed populations; (2) symbolic and social organization in a form that challenges the legitimacy and authority of the institutions of church and state; and (3) institutional control measures that contest the legitimacy of its symbolic presentation and organizational practices. I suggest several alternative developmental scenarios based on these factors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Death in the New World: The Rise of Santa Muerte)

12 pages, 201 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Religion and International Migration: A Case Study of Ukraine

by Wadim Strielkowski^1,*,†, Yuriy Bilan^2,† and Oleh Demkiv³

¹ Prague Institute for Qualification Enhancement, Trnkovo nám. 1112/2, 150 00 Prague, Czech Republic

² Microeconomics Department, Faculty of Economics Science and Management, University of Szczecin, 71101 Szczecin, Poland

³ Department of Sociology, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, 79000 Lviv, Ukraine

^† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Religions 2016, 7(6), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060064 - 2 Jun 2016

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5095

Abstract

This paper studies the relationships between religion and migration in modern-day Ukraine. We focus on Ukraine’s numerous churches and their attitude toward the phenomenon of emigration, their relevant activities with regard to the outward migration from the country, and the migration experiences and [...] Read more.

This paper studies the relationships between religion and migration in modern-day Ukraine. We focus on Ukraine’s numerous churches and their attitude toward the phenomenon of emigration, their relevant activities with regard to the outward migration from the country, and the migration experiences and intentions of the believers. We find that the Greek Catholic Church has put special attention on the emigration phenomenon in its social doctrine, while the doctrines of other churches have been less elaborate, both in general terms and with regard to the issue of external migration in particular. Moreover, we demonstrate that worshippers belonging to the different churches have very similar growing concerns about the negative effects of Ukraine’s economic development—social divide and unemployment in particular. Full article

22 pages, 14332 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

“Present Your Bodies”: Film Style and Unknowability in Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes and Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross

by Catherine Wheatley

Film Studies, King’s College London, 452N Norfolk Building, Strand Campus, London WC2R 2LS, UK

Religions 2016, 7(6), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060063 - 27 May 2016

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 8347

Abstract

Since 2005, a number of European films have emerged examining the legacy of Christianity in Western Europe, and the ways in which men, women and children struggle to negotiate questions of religion and secularity, the personal and the institutional, faith and doubt. This [...] Read more.

Since 2005, a number of European films have emerged examining the legacy of Christianity in Western Europe, and the ways in which men, women and children struggle to negotiate questions of religion and secularity, the personal and the institutional, faith and doubt. This article looks at two of these films—Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes (2009) and Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross (2014)—in relation to questions of religious experience, the female body and film style. In both films the battle between these opposing categories is played out on the bodies of women—a paraplegic MS sufferer in Lourdes, an anorexic teen in Stations of the Cross—and both the films end ambiguously with what may, or may not, be a miracle of sorts: a confirmation of faith or a rebuttal. I wish to connect this ambiguity to the use of a very distinctive mise-en-scene in both films, which relies on a heavily restricted colour palate; highly formalised, painterly-compositions; and crucially what David Bordwell has termed “planimetric photography”: a shooting style that eschews depth or diagonals, refusing the spectator entrance into the image and holding her instead at a deliberate distance. My argument, in short, is that these stylistic choices—while gesturing towards a tradition of Christian art—also refuse the spectator either visual or haptic knowledge of the events that the characters undergo. Rather, they are suggestive of the fundamental unknowability that characterises religious experience, leaving us alone, outside of the action, forced to negotiate ourselves between belief and doubt. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Film and Lived Theology)

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11 pages, 196 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

The Congregational Social Work Education Initiative: Toward a Vision for Community Health through Religious Tradition and Philanthropy

by Jay Poole^1,*, John Rife^1,†, Wayne Moore^2,† and Fran Pearson¹

¹ Department of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA

² Department of Sociology and Social Work, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1601 E, Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27411, USA

^† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Religions 2016, 7(6), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060062 - 27 May 2016

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5538

Abstract

The relationship between social work field education, religiously affiliated organizations, and local philanthropic organizations is explored in this case study of a grant-funded project called the Congregational Social Work Education Initiative. Religiously affiliated organizations have traditionally been involved in the provision of social [...] Read more.

The relationship between social work field education, religiously affiliated organizations, and local philanthropic organizations is explored in this case study of a grant-funded project called the Congregational Social Work Education Initiative. Religiously affiliated organizations have traditionally been involved in the provision of social welfare services; yet, social work education has not embraced this tradition in ways that are intentional. Additionally, the impact of religion-based traditions on philanthropy is interesting and, here, this relationship is explored through tracing the history of a prominent family in the community of Greensboro, North Carolina. The unlikely collaboration between social work field education, religiously affiliated organizations, and a local philanthropic community health entity yields some interesting considerations for how communities can come together toward a vision of improved health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Welfare and Social Service Provision: Common Ground)

11 pages, 196 KiB

Open AccessConcept Paper

A Concept Analysis of Spiritual Care Based on Islamic Sources

by Rahmatollah Marzband^1,*, Seyed Hamzeh Hosseini² and Zeinab Hamzehgardeshi^3,4

¹ Department of Islamic Thought, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari 48188-1665, Iran

² Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari 48188-1665, Iran

³ Department of Reproductive Health and Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari 48188-1665, Iran

⁴ Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research Centre, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari 48188-1665, Iran

Religions 2016, 7(6), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7060061 - 24 May 2016

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 9501

Abstract

The cultural and religious resources of every community influence the definition of spiritual care. This paper discusses a concept analysis of spiritual care in an Islamic context. The Quran, narrations (Shie’h) and commentarial books were searched, for information data. The data was used [...] Read more.

The cultural and religious resources of every community influence the definition of spiritual care. This paper discusses a concept analysis of spiritual care in an Islamic context. The Quran, narrations (Shie’h) and commentarial books were searched, for information data. The data was used to provide a comprehensive definition of the concept of spiritual care from Islamic literature. We identified the attributes, antecedents and consequences of spiritual care according to Roger’s concept analysis approach. The review of the Islamic text showed that spiritual care is a series of spiritual skills or competencies that help patients to achieve excellent life. It is grouped into categories and has numerous positive effects on patients and caregivers. This study will be useful to Muslim clinicians and nurse educators as they strive to understand and incorporate spiritual care within their practice for Muslim patients. Full article

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Religions, Volume 7, Issue 6 (June 2016) – 19 articles

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