Personal Religion Research Articles

Untangling the Paradoxical Relationship Between Religion and Business: A Systematic Literature Review of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Religiosity Research

Despite numerous chief executive officers (CEOs) citing their religious convictions as the primary guiding framework for their decision-making, leadership behavior, business philosophy, and motivation to contribute to society, the impact of CEOs’ religious convictions is relatively limited in the business literature. However, the widespread yet potentially ambiguous impact of CEO religiosity, encompassing both a CEO’s religious denomination and level of religiosity, on individual, organizational, economical, and societal levels remains a neglected area of research. This gap is attributed to challenges in conceptualizing and measuring this multifaceted construct, with existing research scattered and predominantly confined to the ethics domain. Notably, this oversight is significant given the pivotal role that CEOs, as primary decision-makers, play in organizational dynamics. This article aims to address this gap by conducting a systematic literature review of 50 articles focused on CEO religiosity, seeking to enhance the understanding of personal religion in the business world. Through an analysis of publication trends, methodological approaches, theoretical frameworks, and empirical findings, the review not only offers insights for future research and theorizing but also proposes a conceptual framework for understanding and advancing CEO religiosity research. Additionally, this review identifies specific areas warranting further investigation, thereby highlighting existing research gaps and providing explicit starting points for future research. Through these contributions, this article provides a blueprint for future research on CEO religiosity and holds significant implications for management practice.

The Relationship Between Zoroastrianism and Kingship in the Iranian Empire

This essay discusses the relationship between Zoroastrianism and kingship through the primary source of Shahnameh, the epic of the Persian Kings, written by Abolqasem Ferdowsi. Shahnameh is a crystal of Iranian culture, it is a complete religious doctrine following the guidance of Zoroastrianism, it teaches the practice of threefold paths to Asha with the idea of spreading goodness into the society. They include personal religion, social life, and individual morality. Furthermore, the study connects the religious concept of the threefold paths to Asha and khvarenah, a mysterious concept in Iran myth that symbolize the bless from heaven and God, to the actual examples of the engagement of kingship.[ Zhibin, H, Zhibin, X. (2019) The Trajectory of Zoroastrianism in Iran. Journal of World Religion and Culture, 6: 58-64.] The paper introduces and corresponds the example of Jamshid, a Shah in the mysterious age of the Iranian empire, to the practice of Zoroastrianism. Finally, the paper concludes that in the Sassanid dynasty of Iran empire, the king in the world was decided by the heaven.[ Boyce, M. (2000) Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Routledge, London.] The heaven blesses and protects those who were destined to be the king in all aspects. This is the myth of the divine right of kingship propagated by the rulers to maintain their power and status. However, although the kingship is shrouded in mystery, humans on earth eventually decide the kindship.[ Kantorowicz, E. (2016) The Kings Two Bodies. Princeton University Press, Princeton.]

Church and People in Interregnum Britain, ed. Fiona McCall

There has been a significant uptick in historical interest in the interregnum Church in recent years. While a lot has been said about the various sects which came onto the scene in the 1650s, and the personal religion of the key political players, far less attention has been given to the national system of religious provision centred around the territorial parishes inherited from, and bequeathed to, the episcopal Church of England. Given that this is where the overwhelming majority of the population continued to worship, as Bernard Capp reminds us in a helpful scene-setting introduction, this shift in focus is welcome. As in so many areas of the past, historians tend to focus on the more visible instances of conflict and disagreement, rather than the bigger picture of grudging compliance and muddling through. This volume, edited by Fiona McCall, is further evidence that this might be changing. We have learned from recent work that the idea of a ‘national Church’ remained a powerful unifier throughout the 1650s, notwithstanding vigorous disagreement about the precise form it should take. One of the contributors here, Rebecca Warren, in her doctoral thesis of 2017, examined attempts to reconstruct a national Church during the Protectorate following the disorder of the Commonwealth. Coming at the topic from the perspective of the history of ideas, Anthony Milton’s recent England’s Second Reformation: The Battle for the Church of England 1625–1662 (2021) posited that, following a period of experimentation and fierce debate during the Commonwealth, the Protectorate was marked above all by the impulse towards unity. There have also been numerous conferences, and this collection of essays emerges from one of these, ‘The People All Changed: Religion and Society in Britain during the 1650s’, held at the University of Portsmouth in 2016.

신불교운동의 현황과 종교적 한계

Buddhism in India once disappeared from India and revived in 1956 through Ambedkar's Neo-Buddhism Movement. This movement was for the liberation of Dalit. Currently, India's Buddhist population is estimated at 8.44 million, accounting for 0.7% of India's religious population. This figure is down from 0.74% of the 1961 Indian Census after 1956, and although there have been fluctuations in rise and fall since then, it has hardly increased and rather decreased. Although the influence of caste in India has not disappeared and discrimination against Dalits or human rights issues have not improved, the achievements of the Neo-Buddhism Movement have stopped. The purpose of this paper is to review the purpose and current status of the Neo-Buddhism Movement and to analyze the limitations of the New Buddhism from a religious perspective. To this end, first of all, the purpose and characteristics of the new Buddhism are examined. Ambedkar chose Buddhism instead of Hinduism and led the Neo-Buddhism Movement for Dalit, focusing on rationality and social equality. In addition, as a result of analyzing the current status of Neo-Buddhism Movement and articles related to conversion, it is found that the new Buddhism in India plays a limited role as a religion for Dalits. There is a lack of efforts by the Indian government and the state to recognize Buddhism as an institutional religion, and Hindutva hegemony inhibit the conversion of Dalits to nebulism. In this situation, for Dalit, the meaning of Buddhist conversion is only an alternative religion of Hinduism and does not work as a religion itself. Such religious limitations are analyzed in two ways: the doctrinal level and the religious level. On the doctrinal level, the Neo-Buddhism is based on Ambedkar's understanding of Buddhism. The aspect of pain and the problem of liberation were excluded while practicing discipline, wisdom, and mercy for the purpose of equality and emphasizing morality. At the religious level, Neo-Buddhism is not much different from Hinduism in terms of custom and worship. This limitation of Neo-Buddhism prevented the Buddhism from acting as a personal religion.

LGBTQ+ people’s religious and spiritual experiences in the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Personal religion and spirituality can be sources of strength during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from a larger study of LGBTQ+ wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, this article reports on the faith and spirituality of LGBTQ+ adults in the United States. Nearly 700 diverse LGBTQ+ individuals were recruited via Qualtrics Panel. Analysis showed that those who prayed more and who were religious or spiritual prior to the pandemic were more likely to rely on their religion or spirituality to understand and cope with the pandemic. This study has implications for social workers, helping professionals, and faith leaders, including avoiding assumptions, utilizing a person-centered approach, and being familiar with community resources.

HARMONIZATION OF ISLAM AND LOCAL TRADITION (Ethnographic Studies in the Construction of Food Culture of the Bawean Telukjatidawang Community)

Culture is something that will affect the level of knowledge and includes a system of ideas or ideas contained in the human mind in everyday life, There are two things that affect humans in obtaining their culture, namely related to the biological adaptation environment and cultural adaptation. There is an interesting thing when culture is juxtaposed with religion. Culture itself has three values, namely the value of religion, art and solidarity related to taste and hinges on feelings, intuition, and imagination. Expressive culture is generally conservative in character (Sjahbana, 2003: 3).In this context, the food culture of the Bawean community of Telukjatidawang Village can be seen as a religious expression that can be observed sociologically and is the result of community construction. As a belief system, religion is manifested in social systems and behavior by its adherents in public life. Religion is related to human experience both as individuals and groups, so that every behavior he plays is always related to the belief system of the religious teachings he adheres to. Individual and social behavior is driven by internal forces based on the values of religious teachings that were previously internalized in the Bawean community of Telukjatidawang Village. Religion is something that is final, universal, eternal (parennial) and knows no change (absolute). While culture is particular, relative and temporary. Religion without culture can indeed develop as a personal religion, but without culture, religion as a collectivity will have no place (Darori, 2000: 11). Islam responds to local culture, there are traditions wherever and whenever, and is open to accepting local culture, customs or traditions as long as they do not conflict with the spirit of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Likewise with Islam that developed in Bawean society which is very thick with tradition and culture. Keywords: Harmonization, Islam, Local Traditions

Prophecy and Religion Revisited: John Skinner and Evangelical Biblical Criticism

The paper is an essay in the history of interpretation. Its subject is John Skinner’s book on the life of Jeremiah, Prophecy and Religion (1922). The main aim is to place the work in its historical, theological and cultural context, to explain Skinner’s conviction that Jeremiah’s life marks the emergence of personal religion in Israel and points towards Christianity. Attempts at such contextualization by J. Henderson and M.C. Callaway are studied and shown to be inadequate. Skinner’s religious context and theological education are then reviewed and are shown to be sufficient to account for his belief in the pivotal role of Jeremiah in the evolution of ‘religion’. The paper finally addresses the present-day significance of Skinner’s work and concludes that while Prophecy and Religion is of limited value for the interpretation of Jeremiah, Skinner’s life and work as a whole as an evangelical believer engaged in radical biblical criticism is a valuable model neglected over the last 100 years.

The landscape of COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers at the first round of COVID-19 vaccination in China: willingness, acceptance and self-reported adverse effects

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 vaccines have been developed in a wide range of countries. This study aimed to examine factors that related to vaccination rates and willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 among Chinese healthcare workers (HCWs). From 3rd February to 18th February, 2021, an online cross-sectional survey was conducted among HCWs to investigate factors associated with the acceptance and willingness of COVID-19 vaccination. Sociodemographic characteristics and the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among Chinese HCWs were evaluated. A total of 2156 HCWs from 21 provinces in China responded to this survey (effective rate: 98.99%)), among whom 1433 (66.5%) were vaccinated with at least one dose. Higher vaccination rates were associated with older age, working as a clinician, having no personal religion, working in a fever clinic or higher hospital grade, and having received vaccine education, family history for influenza vaccination and strong familiarity with the vaccine. Willingness for vaccination was related to working in midwestern China, considerable knowledge of the vaccine, received vaccine education, and strong confidence in the vaccine. Results of this study can provide evidence for the government to improve vaccine coverage by addressing vaccine hesitancy in the COVID-19 pandemic and future public health emergencies.

THE IMPACT OF SPANISH INQUISITION ON ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION

The Spanish Inquisition was established as an official body blessed by the Roman Catholic Church, because the Catholic rulers Isabella and Ferdinand were determined to rid Spain of any heretics or non-Catholics. The greatest impact of the inquisition was the banishment of Islam from Spain. Spain has been a vibrant civilization for six centuries, serving as the shield of other religions. There was no divine guidance left untouched, or even a small group of believers left. It has resulted in Islam being delayed in Christian Europe for several decades. Even though Muslims have come to Europe in the last two centuries, Islam has been practiced as a personal religion of worship and prayer, but never as a government that has protected and enriched the lives of all religions, as we have seen during the Muslim rule of Andalusia. The aim of this paper is specifically to discuss the policies of the Spanish Inquisition on the Muslims in Andalusia. Muslim policies are discussed in great depth compared to other groups, because they were the majority and most resistant to policies. The analysis of the impact of the Inquisition is important to understand how Islam was eradicated from the Spanish society and later re-emerged as a significant presence in Spain.

The Core Cultural Formulation Interview in Yielding Religious Content Among Patients Suffering from a Current Major Depressive Episode.

Taken up in the DSM-5, the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) is a guide for assessing cultural context of an individual's mental health problem. Unreported before, the extent to which the cultural focus of the CFI yields religious content was explored qualitatively among patients with a current major depressive episode. Qualitative data were generated by applying the standard version of the CFI first and then reapplied it by phrasing its items in religious terms. Audio-recorded narratives so derived were typologically extracted for religious content and analysed thematically. Although only one of its questions on cultural identity explicitly refers to religion, the core CFI nonetheless yielded religious themes. These were similar to the themes emerging from the adapted CFI. They expressed inter alia, anger, shame and gains through personal (rather than organised) religion. The adapted CFI resulted in embellishment of religious content and clinically important revelations that inform on beliefs about suicide and feelings of guilt.

Review: Personal Religion and Spiritual Healing: The Panacea Society in the Twentieth Century, by Alastair Lockhart

Review: <i>Personal Religion and Spiritual Healing: The Panacea Society in the Twentieth Century</i>, by Alastair Lockhart

The Responsive Self: Personal Religion in Biblical Literature of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods

The Responsive Self: Personal Religion in Biblical Literature of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods

The Enduring Influence of Religion on Senators’ Legislative Behavior

AbstractDoes a senator's personal religion influence their legislative behavior in the Senate? To date, empirical research has answered this question only using senators’ religious traditions, while more concurrent work implies that religion should be measured as a multifaceted phenomenon. This study tests this proposition by compiling a unique data set of senators’ religion, conceptualized and measured by three different elements—belonging, beliefs, and behavior. The study estimates the association between these three religious facets and senators’ legislative behavior on economic, social, and foreign policy issues, while controlling for their constituencies’ political and religious preferences. It finds that religious beliefs are a strong predictor of senators’ legislative behavior, while religious tradition and behavior are mostly not. Furthermore, it finds that religious beliefs are associated with legislative behavior across a wide array of policy areas and are not confined to sociocultural issues.

Personal Religion among the Ancient Scandinavians and the Fulltrúi-Concept

The question of personal religion among the ancient Scandinavians has centered around the concept of having a deity as one’s fulltrúi ‘trustworthy friend,’ ástvinr ‘close friend,’ or vinr ‘friend.’ Most scholars of the twentieth century regarded the concept as a true expression of pre-Christian Germanic belief. By contrast, modern scholarship strongly tends to see it as a construct of medieval authors who took the saints’ cult as a model to describe the personal piety of their ninth and tenth century compatriots. On the basis of a passage in the Old Norse translation of Clemens saga, corroborated with archaeological evidence and some skaldic verse, e.g. Sonatorrek, the present study argues that the religious concept of fulltrúi and its parallel terms developed in pre-Christian times.

The Reign of Ramesses III – under the Influence of Personal Religion

The phenomenon of “Personal Religion” influenced Egyptian culture for a long time and left behind an impressive heritage of literature, which shows the development of a historical-social change. The reign of Ramesses III is marked by these special religious-cultural changes and influenced the royal self-presentation of the Egyptian pharaoh and his contact with the divine world. The royal image of Ramesses III demonstrates new aspects in the relation between the king and the deities, which emphasized the effect of a special religious conception. It changed the internal structures of the Egyptian empire under the influence of “Personal Religion” and served as a special of royal legitimation.

Personal beliefs, culture and religion in kidney care

Aysha Mendes explores the ways in which culture and religion influence the way both health professionals and patients view treatments. She advises carers to become aware of their own personal backg...

The Responsive Self: Personal Religion in Biblical Literature of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods, written by Susan Niditch, 2015

The Responsive Self: Personal Religion in Biblical Literature of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods, written by Susan Niditch, 2015

"РЕЛИГИЯ", "РЕЛИГИОЗНОСТЬ", "ТРАНСЦЕНДЕНЦИЯ", "ДУХОВНОСТЬ": КЛЮЧЕВЫЕ ПОНЯТИЯ В НЕМЕЦКОЯЗЫЧНЫХ ДИСКУССИЯХ

The paper addresses major terms and theories within contemporary German studies of spirituality, that are related and largely based on the ideas of Ernst Troeltsch, Thomas Luckmann and Detlef Pollack. The authors discuss basic definitions and spirituality research results based on German sample. They aim at showing particular features of German research as well as putting it in the context of various sociological approaches to spirituality.The authors conclude that within spirituality there is a tendency to use one’s own transcendence experience as the source and moral criteria for one’s personal religion. That is why in the sociological perspective spirituality is often differed from churchliness and emancipated from the influence of historical churches.This, according to the authors, leads to the attractiveness of the concept of “spirituality” for the modern Western man: on the one hand, it refers to a transcendent reality, on the other, it does not appeal to ecclesiastic religiosity.

Niditch, Susan. The Responsive Self: Personal Religion in Biblical Literature of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015. vii+190 pp. $50.00 (cloth).

Niditch, Susan. <i>The Responsive Self: Personal Religion in Biblical Literature of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods</i>. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015. vii+190 pp. $50.00 (cloth).

Beyond the Temple and the Cave: William James, E.J. Pratt, and Christian-Spiritualist Syncretisms

Although the Canadian poet E.J. Pratt had lifelong attachments to the Methodist and then United Church, critics have struggled to reconcile the various aspects of Pratt's religious vision as they materialize in his writing. Focusing on one largely ignored aspect of that vision, this article examines Pratt's mystical and spiritualist poetry of the 1920s and 1930s. More precisely, it considers Pratt's blending of spiritualist and Christian thought in relation to the syncretistic, non-dogmatic, anti-institutional notion of “personal religion” advanced in William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience, thus illuminating at once both Pratt's religious commitments and a seldom-discussed point of contact between James's philosophy and modernist literature. Ultimately, this article argues that, as a result of his exposure to James and to spiritualism in the crucible of Toronto's liberal Protestant milieu, Pratt – like many other writers of his time – began to move beyond the polarities of personal and institutional religion.