Journey Of Faith Research Articles

When One Religion Isn't Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People by Duane R. Bidwell

Reviewed by: When One Religion Isn't Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People by Duane R. Bidwell Jennifer Howe Peace (bio) When One Religion Isn't Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People. By Duane R. Bidwell. Boston: Beacon Press, 2018. 180 pp. $25.95. One of my favorite stories, among the myriad engaging vignettes in Duane Bidwell's book about "how a person can claim or be claimed by two religions simultaneously," is about the first meeting with his Presbyterian ordination committee. Bidwell is describing his faith journey to the committee and writes, "I naively presented the Buddhist training and practice I had experienced as a gift for ministry, something to be welcomed by the church" (24). But to these guardians of the denomination, Bidwell's Buddhist training is received more as a threat than as a gift. Bidwell learns to "keep religious multiplicity in the background of the ordination process," relegating his Buddhist-Christian identity to intellectual curiosity. In light of this formative experience, I read Bidwell's earnest and pastorally sensitive text as a powerful coming out story. A central and important claim is that multiple religious belonging is both a gift and a resource for individuals, communities, and traditions. Bidwell critiques denominational blind-spots and gate-keeping boundaries that try to erase or silence the presence of those with multiple religious belongings and invites his fellow spiritually fluid kinfolk to claim their place and lend their voice to the vital work of fostering greater mutual understanding. "The experience of being shaped by, or maintaining bonds to, more than one spiritual or religious community at the same time," is a phenomenon that goes by many names (2). Dual belonging, spiritual hybridity, multiple religious belonging, multiple religious bonds, braided identities, and complex religious bonds are all used somewhat interchangeably in the book. Adding to this lexicon, Bidwell introduces the term, "spiritually fluid people," and writes in a footnote, "The term spiritually fluid grew from my engagement with gender theory, queer theory, and postmodern philosophy" (n. 4, 161). [End Page 159] Bidwell argues that being spiritually fluid is a neither a fad nor a small movement but a prevalent and persistent way of being religious. He goes so far as to assert, "From my perspective, most people of faith are spiritually fluid to one degree or another" (33). By the end of the book one gets the impression that being "religiously monogamous" is the anomaly. More pointedly, Bidwell writes, the increasing visibility of the spiritually fluid, "challenges the illusion of singular religious identities and the expectation of lifelong fidelity to one spiritual tradition" (33). While this is perhaps an intensification to make a wider point, as a life-long Christian who teaches both the history of Christian spirituality and interfaith studies I think it perhaps pushes the point a little too far. Bidwell is at his best when he hones in on the dynamics of Christian-Buddhist dual belonging, territory he knows first-hand. Both his personal experiences (as an ordained Presbyterian minister and a practitioner of Theravada Buddhism) and his scholarly interests (he draws heavily on academics who are involved in or would be comfortable in the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies) reinforce this as his area of specialty. Bidwell organizes the book to help readers think about the dynamics of what might lead one to become spiritually fluid. In three central chapters titled, "Choosing," "Receiving," and "Collaborating," Bidwell traces examples of multiple religious identities that are chosen through a conscious process of exploration, received through family inheritance, or that have emerged in response to a sense of invitation from the divine (which Bidwell calls Mystery). A question that lingered as I was reading was how to characterize the distinctions and challenges of combining traditions with varied degrees of compatibility. In the US today, being Jewish-Christian or Muslim-Christian invokes a different set of historical, political, and theological questions than being Christian-Buddhist for example. Beyond these differences, being Protestant or Catholic, Reformed or Conservative, Sunni or Shia all introduce added layers of complexity. In addition, the implications of these differences depend greatly on whose theological vantage point is being assumed. While these questions are beyond...

Maryja – „doskonała ikona wiary” Wokół autorstwa maryjnego wątku encykliki Lumen fidei

The article addresses two main questions: What image of Mary’s faith does the encyclical Lumen fidei portray? What fruits does the encounter of Mary’s faith and the faith of the Church bring out? The subtitle suggests one more issue: since the encyclical was written by two Popes, (Benedict XVI and Francis), it is interesting to try to determine who wrote particular themes on the topic of Mary's faith. The first chapter presents Mary, the Daughter of Zion, who fulfilled the faith of Israel, and also initiated the faith of the Church. The second chapter characterizes the relation of Mary to the Word of God, which she listened to, kept in her heart and unconditionally accepted in order to live in total harmony with God. The third chapter concerns Mary's journey of faith at Jesus’s side, which was marked with the joy of the Annunciation, as well as with the Cross, finally reaching its destination in the light of his resurrection. The last chapter focuses on the reference of Mary's faith to the faith of the Church. In Mary's school, we learn to trust God and his word, to focus on Jesus, to contemplate him, to follow him, to perceive with his eyes, to cherish his feelings, and to adopt his attitudes. Only such faith brings fruits and joy. The encyclical teaching on Mary’s faith, as read in the context of other statements from both Popes, enables us to establish the following: 1. From Benedict XVI comes the Lumen fidei teaching on Mary, the Daughter of Zion, a woman who accepts and lives by the Word of God; the emphasis on Mary as a model of faith; and the motto “those who believe are never alone”. 2. Francis can be credited with the themes concerning the impact of Mary’s faith on our lives, both personal and social; learning from her how to see with the eyes of Jesus; and entrusting ourselves to his love. He calls her the Mother of our faith to emphasize her maternal care over the faith of the Church.

A Forgotten Spiritual Practice: Puritan Conference and Implications for the Church Today

In Christian books today readers can find dozens of spiritual practices. One resource of the Protestant tradition, however, that has largely been forgotten is the Puritan practice of conference. This article describes how for the English Puritans conference exemplified the importance of communal spiritual life, then considers applications for the contemporary church. Conference refers to intentional conversation among believers about spiritual matters. Conference particularly expresses the value of Christian community and the need for the body of Christ to function together on the journey of faith. Understanding this practice not only illuminates the past but also offers valuable insights for the church today.

Mary Baker Eddy’s “Church of 1879”

In 1889, Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, asked her fractious Church of Christ (Scientist) in Boston to disband. No scholar has studied this “Church of 1879,” the predecessor of the present Mother Church founded in 1892, nor analyzed the members of this religious body. Therefore, after briefly discussing Eddy’s journey of faith, this article delves into pertinent affairs of her early, struggling church and investigates the largely forgotten people from most levels of society who comprised her initial flock. Many of Eddy’s actions to curb unruly personalities or undue adulation of herself followed sociologist Max Weber’s theories about the “routinization of charisma.” The headstrong membership, coupled with unreliable preaching by invited clergy and confusion over competing metaphysical groups, led Eddy to disincorporate her first church and found the more centralized Mother Church—The First Church of Christ, Scientist—in 1892. This article shows the institutional birth of an American religion.

New Christians in a New Land: Faith Journeys of Asian American Immigrant Families

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of religion on the relational processes (e.g., marital and parent-child relationships) of Asian American Christian families. Data included selected responses from in-depth interviews of 24 Asian American Christian immigrant families (n = 48 individuals). Under the domain of “General Life Strengths,” three themes of (a) identifying life’s purpose, (b) peace in times of stress, and (c) internalization of prosocial values were found. The themes for the domain of “Relational Strengths in Marriage” included (a) enhanced marital unity, (b) conflict avoidance and resolution, and (c) forgiveness in marriage. The domain of “Relational Strengths in Parenting” included themes of (a) enhanced parent-child unity, (b) parental socialization of prosocial values, and (c) diverse parenting approaches.

Counter-Intuitive Leadership: Reflections on the Life and Times of Reverend Rasebusi Sidwell Mokgothu

This essay follows a narrative method of presentation. The novelty of presentations of this nature lies in the fact that they espouse or champion the personality of a person and the impact they have or have had on others, rather than putting emphasis on events. It took me a while to find or search for a theme relevant to a reflection on the life and times of Reverend Rasebusi Sidwell Mokgothu. After an extensive and intensive thinking, I settled for the theme “counter-intuitive leadership.” This essay is unique in the sense that as the narrator I have drawn so many experiences and learned so much from Sidwell’s life and time on the journey of life and faith as a fellow pilgrim.

Pastoral juxtaposition in spiritual care: Towards a caregiving faith theology in an evangelical Christian context

The problem for many troubled youths seeking help within a Christian context is that their need for meaningful connections and spiritual growth is attached to relationships with their significant others. When needs of attachment are not adequately met due to the effect of an insecure attachment working model in a relationship with God, the teen may end up leaving the faith community seeking a new caregiver or regress into spiritual struggles, depression, anxiety, self-doubt and other negative emotions. This paper responds to the issues associated with youth attachment behaviour towards God using a caregiving theology (i.e. pastoral juxtaposition) that draws on the ‘power of two’ through incarnational creativity and pneumatological ecclesiology. This proposed theology first supplements the work of the pastoral counsellor to create a transformative container through which young people, already within a redemptive Christian community, can grow spiritually and deepen their relationship with God. Secondly, pastoral juxtaposition targeting the spiritual needs of hurting youths serves to create a magnet space within the church community that models incarnational love, pastoral care and support for young people by entering their world order to reframe their personal stories of grief, abandonment and insecurity through creative means. Finally, we theologise that pastoral juxtaposition also integrates the power of the Holy Spirit, as the ultimate caregiver in times of conflict, into each youth’s unique journey of faith and healing. Implications of this pastoral theology are discussed and applied to everyday life.

Compassionate Extubation of a Young Adult Dying After a Prolonged Peristent Vegetative State: A Familiy's Journey of Faith

Compassionate Extubation of a Young Adult Dying After a Prolonged Peristent Vegetative State: A Familiy's Journey of Faith

A Journey of Faith and Community: The Story of the First Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia by Bruce T. Gourley

A Journey of Faith and Community: The Story of the First Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia by Bruce T. Gourley

Public Conversion, Private Reason, and Institutional Crisis

Following the 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report, which detailed the sexual abuse of clergy members, many have questioned the value of personal institutional commitment to the Catholic Church, preferring instead more individualistic expressions of faith. Alongside the sex abuse crisis, the age of free information makes the Church’s epistemology appear antiquated. This article explores the individualistic versus community-based practice of Catholicism, drawing a distinction between private conversion versus public conversion. The article offers a defense of public conversion, arguing it explains the rationality of conversion and offers a solution to the problem of divine hiddenness. Using details from her own faith journey, Sullivan explores why God graces us with less perspicuous knowledge, causing subluminous conversions, as opposed to the more glaring, which leads to luminous conversions. Sullivan suggests that we obtain knowledge of God by loving one another, which takes place in the framework of the institutional Church. She subsequently uses this Church-making theodicy to offer five ideas about how we might engage the Church institutionally as Catholic philosophers.

L’itinerario geografico-teologico di Abramo. II: Dalle Querce di Mamre al sepolcro di Macpela (Gn 14,1–25,18)

If the geographical horizon of this second part of the cycle of Abraham (Gen 14:1–25:18) appears more restricted than the description of the first (Gen 11:27– 13:18), the theological significance of the patriarch's movements is even more significant. The meeting with Melchizedek in Salem / Jerusalem (Gen 14:18) already alludes, albeit very discreetly, to the decisive appointment of Abraham on Moriah (Gen 22). The following stages of the patriarch's journey of faith follow: the Oak of Mamre where circumcision and the announcement of the birth of the child take place; Gerar, where Isaac is born; Beersheva, where the first well is acquired; Mount Moriah, i.e. the mountain of faith, where Abraham encounters not only a territory and a descendent, but God himself. In the final part of his journey, the patriarch acquires the tomb of Machpela, ensuring a descendent for Isaac through the journey of the servant to Harran, and finally he himself is buried in the cave of Machpela, accompanied not only by his son Isaac, but also by Ishmael and sons of Keturah, a sign of a paternity that has become universal.

Book Review: Owning Faith: Reimagining the Role of Church and Family in the Faith Journey of Teenagers

Book Review: Owning Faith: Reimagining the Role of Church and Family in the Faith Journey of Teenagers

Cancer, Theodicy, and Theology: A Personal Reflection

Abstract Theodicy wrestles with suffering and pain, while seeking to understand God’s engagement with these realities. Cancer raises similar questions, while focusing on specific aspects of those questions. Cancer appears to challenge many aspects of Christian doctrine, in particular issues regarding the origin of sin, Christology, and ultimately one’s doctrine of God. This article explores how my own personal diagnosis of colon cancer has led to an exploration and re-evaluation of these traditional doctrines and their relevance for my own faith journey. The realities of cancer, and random cell mutation as an evolutionary driver, appear to call into question traditional understandings of the origin of suffering and sin, and, I would argue, the very role of Jesus. A process theology that redefines core features of the nature of God is proposed as one way of addressing these doctrines and their impact for faith. These features will note the limited nature of God with regard to power and knowledge as well as the nature of a God who truly risks.

A Spirituality of Exile: Responding to God's Absence

In the journey of faith almost everyone experiences times of spiritual desolation when our sense of God's presence is stripped away and our certainty about his faithfulness is deeply eroded. Times like this are intensely disorienting as they leave us grasping for answers, but even more importantly searching for a way forward. The literature of the Bible provides us with both experiential companionship and language to guide our journey through the desolate places of spiritual experience. The prayer language of exile offers us a paradigm for engaging with God in the midst of our experience of his absence. In particular the biblical book of Lamentations and a number of Psalms (44, 74, 79, 89, 102, 106 and 137) provide language that helped Israel express the depths of their suffering in the face of their exilic experience. The prayer language of exile is the language of God's absence. Through the language of exilic prayer we encounter the bold movements of lament, remembrance, reorientation, and hope. These acts of prayerful speech form the core of a spirituality of exile that sustained the ancient community and can offer nourishment to contemporary journeys of desolation as well.

Paracletic Ministry: A Study in Pastoral Encounters with Male Mid-career Spiritual Searchers

Using Henri J. Nouwen's writing as the primary ‘conversation partner,’ this article discusses the challenges associated in pastoral encounters with mid-career spiritual searchers — particularly career-centric men. The article arises from reflection on the author's personal faith journey, together with his long-term membership and leadership of a men's Bible discussion group in the capital markets industry and, importantly, during his more recent ministry as an ordained deacon in the Anglican Church of Canada. The article presents a conceptual distinction between silence, stillness and solitude, surrender and divine encounter; all within what is offered as a paracletic ministry journey with mid-career men in the fourth decade of life — a season that is described as both pivotal and filled with risk. In addition to Nouwen the work accesses a fairly broad range of practical and pastoral theologians, together with literature regarding male mid-life spirituality, to support the author's assertions regarding a paracletic approach for coming alongside, and encouraging those who are struggling with and searching for faith.

Cancer, Theodicy, and Theology

Theodicy wrestles with suffering and pain, while seeking to understand God’s engagement with these realities. Cancer raises similar questions, while focusing on specific aspects of those questions. Cancer appears to challenge many aspects of Christian doctrine, in particular issues regarding the origin of sin, Christology, and ultimately one’s doctrine of God. This article explores how my own personal diagnosis of colon cancer has led to an exploration and re-evaluation of these traditional doctrines and their relevance for my own faith journey. The realities of cancer, and random cell mutation as an evolutionary driver, appear to call into question traditional understandings of the origin of suffering and sin, and, I would argue, the very role of Jesus. A process theology that redefines core features of the nature of God is proposed as one way of addressing these doctrines and their impact for faith. These features will note the limited nature of God with regard to power and knowledge as well as the nature of a God who truly risks.

Migration as a Basic Image for the Life of Faith: The Letter to the Hebrews, Philo and Origen

In our common human experience, as well as in the biblical narratives, people migrate in order to find a better life. This article explores first of all how the theme of migration is used in the Letter to the Hebrews as an image of the journey of faith towards fullness of life. A second section will focus on Philo and Origen as they articulate aspects of spiritual migration at a more philosophical level, and as such laid the foundations for an important theme in Christian spirituality: migration as a divine-human venture in which human persons actively appropriate the gift of divine wisdom into their lives under divine guidance.

Being Aggrieved, Faith Crises, and Racism

In this article, I depict the notion of being aggrieved and its relation to crises in or struggles of , faith, using racism to illustrate my claims. I begin the discussion by explaining what I mean by being aggrieved and its relation to faith vis-a-vis racism, relying on theological, philosophical, and psychological frameworks. In the second section of the paper, the faith journey of Malcolm X serves to illustrate this hermeneutical perspective. More specifically, I argue that his faith journey, marred by experiences of racism, led him to a faith wherein his experiences of being aggrieved no longer meant that his being was being aggrieved.

Reflections on Recovery in Mental Health: Perspectives From a Muslim Culture

This article describes the outcomes of research into how individuals with mental health problems at the National Centre of Mental Health in Jordan perceived the causes of their mental health problems, the coping strategies they employed, how they sought help, and how they experienced what is termed the process of recovery. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 male and 10 female patients diagnosed with a range of mental health problems. The research suggests that each person perceived recovery uniquely and that, for some, religion was viewed as being central to recovery. The research also suggests that social workers and other mental health professionals working with Muslim patients can better contribute to their recovery if they understand and respect the central role of these patients’ religious beliefs and “faith journeys.”

Exploring a Formal Model of Discipleship in Higher Education: Case Studies

The basis of this paper is a study that examines the experiences of a group of participants who followed the Exploring Faith programme developed in the Diocese of Bangor; the unique feature of this course is that it is linked with and leads to a higher educational qualification, the BA in Theology for Discipleship and Ministry at Glyndŵr University. This paper presents a picture of the experiences of three individuals who completed the programme; two of whom emerged with the full degree and one with the Diploma. Two are now clergy and one remains in the ranks of the laity but is an active member in a developing Ministry Area. The research instrument employed to elicit the data was a semi-structured interview. The interviews reveal that the participants have a confidence in expressing their faith, a clear view of their journey of faith and of the vocation they are following and insights into lay theological education both for themselves and for others in church.