Theology, Disability, and Spiritual Transformation

Theology, Disability, and Spiritual Transformation
Author: Michael Hryniuk
Publisher: Cambria Press
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2010
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1604976942

In this study, Michael Hryniuk develops a full phenomenological, psychological and theological account of spiritual transformation in the context of L'Arche, a federation of Christian communities that welcome persons with learning disabilities. The book begins with a critical examination of current perspectives on spiritual transformation in theology and Christian spirituality and constructs a new, foundational formulation of transformation as a shift in consciousness, identity and behavior. Through extensive analysis of the narratives of the caregiver-assistants who share life with those who are disabled, this case-study reveals an alternative vision of the "three-fold way" that unfolds through a series of profound awakenings in relationships of mutual care and presence: an awakening to the capacity to love, to bear inner anguish and darkness, and to experience radical human and divine acceptance. The book examines the psychological dimensions of spiritual transformation through the lens of contemporary affect theory and explores how care-givers experience a profound healing of shame in their felt sense of identity and self-worth.

Disability and Spirituality

Disability and Spirituality
Author: William C. Gaventa
Publisher:
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2018
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781481302807

Disability and spirituality have traditionally been understood as two distinct spheres: disability is physical and thus belongs to health care professionals, while spirituality is religious and belongs to the church, synagogue, or mosque and their theologians, clergy, rabbis, and imams. This division leads to stunted theoretical understanding, limited collaboration, and segregated practices, all of which contribute to a lack of capacity to see people with disabilities as whole human beings and full members of a diverse human family. Contesting the assumptions that separate disability and spirituality, William Gaventa argues for the integration of these two worlds. As Gaventa shows, the quest to understand disability inevitably leads from historical and scientific models into the world of spirituality--to the ways that values, attitudes, and beliefs shape our understanding of the meaning of disability. The reverse is also true. The path to understanding spirituality is a journey that leads to disability--to experiences of limitation and vulnerability, where the core questions of what it means to be human are often starkly and profoundly clear. In Disability and Spirituality Gaventa constructs this whole and human path before turning to examine spirituality in the lives of those individuals with disabilities, their families and those providing care, their friends and extended relationships, and finally the communities to which we all belong. At each point Gaventa shows that disability and spirituality are part of one another from the very beginning of creation. Recovering wholeness encompasses their reunion--a cohesion that changes our vision and enables us to everyone as fully human.

Disability and the Gospel

Disability and the Gospel
Author: Michael S. Beates
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2012-07-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1433530481

Michael Beates's concern with disability issues began nearly 30 years ago when his eldest child was born with multiple profound disabilities. Now, as more families like Michael's are affected by a growing number of difficulties ranging from down syndrome to autism to food allergies, the need for church programs and personal paradigm shifts is greater than ever. Working through key Bible passages on brokenness and disability while answering hard questions, Michael offers here helpful principles for believers and their churches. He shows us how to embrace our own brokenness and then to embrace those who are more physically and visibly broken, bringing hope and vision to those of us who need it most.

Lived Theology

Lived Theology
Author: Charles Marsh
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2017
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0190630728

The lived theology movement is built on the work of an emerging generation of theologians and scholars who pursue research, teaching, and writing as a form of public discipleship, motivated by the conviction that theology can enhance lived experience. This volume--based on a two-year collaboration with the Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia--offers a series of illustrations and styles of lived theology, in conversation with other major approaches to the religious interpretation of embodied life.

Transforming Spirituality

Transforming Spirituality
Author: F. LeRon Shults
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2006-06-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441201777

The twenty-first century has given rise to a growing interest in the intersection of science, religion, and spirituality. Few books address these issues from multiple perspectives and theories. To fill this void, F. LeRon Shults and Steven Sandage, coauthors of The Faces of Forgiveness (winner of the Narramore Award from the Christian Association for Psychological Studies) continue their interdisciplinary dialogue in their latest work, Transforming Spirituality. In this book Shults and Sandage address the subject of spiritual transformation through the lenses of psychology and theology. In addition to college and seminary students, Transforming Spirituality will appeal to readers interested in Christian spirituality. What is more, it provides helpful insights for counselors, psychologists, and others who work in the mental health field.

Disability and Christian Theology Embodied Limits and Constructive Possibilities

Disability and Christian Theology Embodied Limits and Constructive Possibilities
Author: Deborah Beth Creamer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2009-01-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199709076

Attention to embodiment and the religious significance of bodies is one of the most significant shifts in contemporary theology. In the midst of this, however, experiences of disability have received little attention. This book explores possibilities for theological engagement with disability, focusing on three primary alternatives: challenging existing theological models to engage with the disabled body, considering possibilities for a disability liberation theology, and exploring new theological options based on an understanding of the unsurprisingness of human limits. The overarching perspective of this book is that limits are an unavoidable aspect of being human, a fact we often seem to forget or deny. Yet not only do all humans experience limits, most of us also experience limits that take the form of disability at some point in our lives; in this way, disability is more "normal" than non-disability. If we take such experiences seriously and refuse to reduce them to mere instances of suffering, we discover insights that are lost when we take a perfect or generic body as our starting point for theological reflections. While possible applications of this insight are vast, this work focuses on two areas of particular interest: theological anthropology and metaphors for God. This project challenges theology to consider the undeniable diversity of human embodiment. It also enriches previous disability work by providing an alternative to the dominant medical and minority models, both of which fail to acknowledge the full diversity of disability experiences. Most notably, this project offers new images and possibilities for theological construction that attend appropriately and creatively to diversity in human embodiment.

Wondrously Wounded

Wondrously Wounded
Author: Brian Brock
Publisher:
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2020-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781481310130

Spiritual Theology

Spiritual Theology
Author: Diogenes Allen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 182
Release: 1997
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1561011304

Allen covers the great questions of the spiritual life: what is the Christian goal? what leads us toward that goal, and what hinders us? what is conversion? how can we discern our progress in the spiritual life? what are the fruits of the Spirit?

Relational Spirituality

Relational Spirituality
Author: Todd W. Hall
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2021-05-25
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 083089957X

Human beings are fundamentally relational—we develop, heal, and grow through relationships. Integrating insights from psychology and theology, Todd W. Hall and M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall present a definitive model of spiritual transformation based on a relational paradigm, showing how transformation works practically in the context of relationships and community.

A Process Spirituality

A Process Spirituality
Author: Sheri D. Kling
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2020-07-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1793630437

American culture is in a state of critical fragmentation. The author argues that we will solve neither the ecological crisis nor our social estrangement from each until we transform our perception of life as embodied and interconnected, and rediscover what is sacred through transformative lived experiences of wholeness. Using an embodied theological framework supported by comparative, hermeneutical, and constructive methodologies, A Process Spirituality synthesizes theoretical, empirical, and practical resources to construct a hopeful and holistic understanding of God, the world, and the self. Interweaving Alfred North Whitehead’s vision of a relational cosmos with Carl Gustav Jung’s integrated, relational psyche, and a powerful spiritual praxis of dream work creates a generative matrix through which to perceive a God-world reality characterized by value, relationality, and transformation in which individuals matter, belong, and can experience positive change. Such a Christian and transreligious vision of hope offers individuals the possibility and capacity to move from a state of fragmentation to one of psycho-spiritual wholeness and flourishing.