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Unusual perceptual, or perception-like, experiences, often
meaningful to those who have them, may be sympathetically or
unsympathetically interpreted by others. One interpretation,
especially when voices are associated with unusual behaviour, is
that they are evidence of mental disorder. Ostensibly such
interpretations are sympathetic (showing concern for someone who is
ill) but in practice they are used to deny the meaning and value of
the experiences for those concerned, thus depriving them (and
others) of creative and innovative ways of understanding the human
condition. The question is thus one of the meaning. Are such
experiences meaningful only as indicators of a diagnosis, or are
they meaningful in other ways, shedding light on human
self-understanding and perhaps even a wider spiritual reality?
Psychiatry has tended to see such phenomena as diagnostically
meaningful but not as sources of deeper insight into the human
condition. This book takes three 14th century examples of women who
heard spiritually significant voices: Margery Kempe, Julian of
Norwich, and Joan of Arc. Each of these women, in different ways,
has left an enduring legacy in literature and history. Modern
psychiatric commentary on the voices that they reported has
generally focussed on diagnosis rather than on wider questions of
meaning. These commentaries will be used as a lens through which to
consider how contemporary psychiatric practice might be enriched by
the humanities and enabled to find a more spiritually empathetic,
if not also sympathetic, enriching and meaning enhancing
perspective on unusual mental phenomena. The eBook editions of this
book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on
bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The Wellcome
Trust.
'Remarkably beautiful and pastoral' JUSTIN WELBY, ARCHBISHOP OF
CANTERBURY 'Brimming with wisdom and humanity' DAME SARAH MULLALLY,
DBE, BISHOP OF LONDON Struggling with God gets right to the heart
of a great predicament for many Christians. When it feels as if our
struggles are overwhelming - and our capacity for faith and hope
and love is diminished - how is it possible to maintain, never mind
nourish, our relationship with God? The truth, as this deeply
compassionate volume reminds us, is that Jesus came alongside
people wrestling with mental health problems. Many familiar
conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and more severe ones,
including bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia, are
addressed by the authors here. Dispelling common myths and
misconceptions, they explore the impact such mental health
disorders can have on individual Christians, Church and society..
Each chapter includes biblical reflections relevant to its theme,
prayers, questions to facilitate individual/group study, and
pointers to further reading. In short, the book presents a
Christian vision of spiritual and mental wellbeing through
prayerful struggling with God.
In recent years, resilience has become a near ubiquitous cultural
phenomenon whose influence extends into many fields of academic
enquiry. Though research suggests that religion and spirituality
are significant factors in engendering resilient adaptation,
comparatively little biblical and theological reflection has gone
into understanding this construct. This book seeks to remedy this
deficiency through a breadth of reflection upon human resilience
from canonical biblical and Christian theological sources. Divided
into three parts, biblical scholars and theologians provide
critical accounts of these perspectives, integrating biblical and
theological insight with current social scientific understandings
of resilience. Part 1 presents a range of biblical visions of
resilience. Part 2 considers a variety of theological perspectives
on resilience, drawing from figures including Thomas Aquinas,
Martin Luther, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Part 3 explores the
clinical and pastoral applications of such expressions of
resilience. This diverse yet cohesive book sets out a new and
challenging perspective of how human resilience might be
re-envisioned from a Christian perspective. As a result, it will be
of interest to scholars of practical and pastoral theology,
biblical studies, and religion, spirituality and health. It will
also be a valuable resource for chaplains, pastors, and clinicians
with an interest in religion and spirituality.
The Open Access version of this book, available at
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781472453983, has been made available
under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative
4.0 license. Experiences of hearing the voice of God (or angels,
demons, or other spiritual beings) have generally been understood
either as religious experiences or else as a feature of mental
illness. Some critics of traditional religious faith have dismissed
the visions and voices attributed to biblical characters and saints
as evidence of mental disorder. However, it is now known that many
ordinary people, with no other evidence of mental disorder, also
hear voices and that these voices not infrequently include
spiritual or religious content. Psychological and interdisciplinary
research has shed a revealing light on these experiences in recent
years, so that we now know much more about the phenomenon of
"hearing voices" than ever before. The present work considers
biblical, historical, and scientific accounts of spiritual and
mystical experiences of voice hearing in the Christian tradition in
order to explore how some voices may be understood theologically as
revelatory. It is proposed that in the incarnation, Christian faith
finds both an understanding of what it is to be fully human (a
theological anthropology), and God's perfect self-disclosure
(revelation). Within such an understanding, revelatory voices
represent a key point of interpersonal encounter between human
beings and God.
The Open Access version of this book, available at
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781472453983, has been made available
under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative
4.0 license. Experiences of hearing the voice of God (or angels,
demons, or other spiritual beings) have generally been understood
either as religious experiences or else as a feature of mental
illness. Some critics of traditional religious faith have dismissed
the visions and voices attributed to biblical characters and saints
as evidence of mental disorder. However, it is now known that many
ordinary people, with no other evidence of mental disorder, also
hear voices and that these voices not infrequently include
spiritual or religious content. Psychological and interdisciplinary
research has shed a revealing light on these experiences in recent
years, so that we now know much more about the phenomenon of
"hearing voices" than ever before. The present work considers
biblical, historical, and scientific accounts of spiritual and
mystical experiences of voice hearing in the Christian tradition in
order to explore how some voices may be understood theologically as
revelatory. It is proposed that in the incarnation, Christian faith
finds both an understanding of what it is to be fully human (a
theological anthropology), and God's perfect self-disclosure
(revelation). Within such an understanding, revelatory voices
represent a key point of interpersonal encounter between human
beings and God.
In Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice several
leading scholars explore key themes within the Christian mystical
tradition, contemporary and historical. The overall aim of the book
is to demonstrate the relevance of mystical theology to
contemporary spiritual practice. Attention is given to the works of
Baron von Hugel, Vladimir Lossky, Margery Kempe, Ludwig
Wittgenstein, Thomas Merton, and Francisco de Osuna, as well as to
a wide range of spiritual practices, including pilgrimage,
spiritual direction, contemplative prayer and the quotidian
spirituality of the New Monasticism. Christian mystical theology is
shown to be a living tradition, which has vibrant and creative new
expressions in contemporary spiritual practice. It is argued that
mystical theology affirms something both ordinary and extraordinary
which is fundamental to the Christian experience of prayer.
In Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice several
leading scholars explore key themes within the Christian mystical
tradition, contemporary and historical. The overall aim of the book
is to demonstrate the relevance of mystical theology to
contemporary spiritual practice. Attention is given to the works of
Baron von Hugel, Vladimir Lossky, Margery Kempe, Ludwig
Wittgenstein, Thomas Merton, and Francisco de Osuna, as well as to
a wide range of spiritual practices, including pilgrimage,
spiritual direction, contemplative prayer and the quotidian
spirituality of the New Monasticism. Christian mystical theology is
shown to be a living tradition, which has vibrant and creative new
expressions in contemporary spiritual practice. It is argued that
mystical theology affirms something both ordinary and extraordinary
which is fundamental to the Christian experience of prayer.
In recent years, resilience has become a near ubiquitous cultural
phenomenon whose influence extends into many fields of academic
enquiry. Though research suggests that religion and spirituality
are significant factors in engendering resilient adaptation,
comparatively little biblical and theological reflection has gone
into understanding this construct. This book seeks to remedy this
deficiency through a breadth of reflection upon human resilience
from canonical biblical and Christian theological sources. Divided
into three parts, biblical scholars and theologians provide
critical accounts of these perspectives, integrating biblical and
theological insight with current social scientific understandings
of resilience. Part 1 presents a range of biblical visions of
resilience. Part 2 considers a variety of theological perspectives
on resilience, drawing from figures including Thomas Aquinas,
Martin Luther, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Part 3 explores the
clinical and pastoral applications of such expressions of
resilience. This diverse yet cohesive book sets out a new and
challenging perspective of how human resilience might be
re-envisioned from a Christian perspective. As a result, it will be
of interest to scholars of practical and pastoral theology,
biblical studies, and religion, spirituality and health. It will
also be a valuable resource for chaplains, pastors, and clinicians
with an interest in religion and spirituality.
The Philokalia was published in Venice in 1782. It is an anthology
of patristic writings from the Eastern Church, spanning the 4th to
the 15th Centuries, which has been the subsequent focus of a
significant revival in Orthodox spirituality. It presents an
understanding of psychopathology and mental life which is
significantly different to that usually encountered in western
Christianity. It also presents accounts of both mental wellbeing
and the pathologies of the mind or soul which are radically
different to contemporary secular accounts and yet which also find
remarkable points of similarity with contemporary psychotherapeutic
approaches, such as cognitive therapy. The book provides an
introduction to the history of the Philokalia and the
philosophical, anthropological and theological influences that
contributed to its information. It presents a critical account of
the pathologies of the soul, the remedies for these pathologies,
and the therapeutic goals as portrayed by the authors of the
Philokalia. It then offers a critical engagement of this material
with a contemporary understanding of psychotherapy. Finally, it
raises important questions about the relationship between thoughts
and prayer.
This open access book explores the nature of voices identifiable as
spiritual. Unusual perceptual, or perception-like, experiences,
often meaningful to those who have them, may be sympathetically or
unsympathetically interpreted by others. One interpretation,
especially when voices are associated with unusual behaviour, is
that they are evidence of mental disorder. Ostensibly such
interpretations are sympathetic (showing concern for someone who is
ill) but in practice they are used to deny the meaning and value of
the experiences for those concerned, thus depriving them (and
others) of creative and innovative ways of understanding the human
condition. The question is thus one of the meaning. Are such
experiences meaningful only as indicators of a diagnosis, or are
they meaningful in other ways, shedding light on human
self-understanding and perhaps even a wider spiritual reality?
Psychiatry has tended to see such phenomena as diagnostically
meaningful but not as sources of deeper insight into the human
condition. This book takes three 14th century examples of women who
heard spiritually significant voices: Margery Kempe, Julian of
Norwich, and Joan of Arc. Each of these women, in different ways,
has left an enduring legacy in literature and history. Modern
psychiatric commentary on the voices that they reported has
generally focussed on diagnosis rather than on wider questions of
meaning. These commentaries will be used as a lens through which to
consider how contemporary psychiatric practice might be enriched by
the humanities and enabled to find a more spiritually empathetic,
if not also sympathetic, enriching and meaning enhancing
perspective on unusual mental phenomena. The eBook editions of this
book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on
bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The Wellcome
Trust.
This edited collection about good practice for mental health
chaplains and other related professionals looks at how spirituality
is viewed across mental health fields. It identifies what mental
health chaplaincy is, how mental health chaplaincy interacts with
other organisations like the NHS, and what good practice means with
examples of positive and fulfilling experiences in mental health
settings. The chapters consider some of the main issues of working
with the mental health community, such as the place of volunteers,
the recovery process, religious diversity and patient safety. They
are followed by uplifting case studies, including service user
perspectives, to provide a valuable overall insight into mental
health chaplaincy and its context in wider mental health services.
Offering a model of care that the church can use with survivors of
sexual abuse, this supportive book is backed up by Rene Girard's
Mimetic Theory throughout. The book proposes that the treatment
survivors receive in churches could be greatly improved if instead
of adding to a survivor's sense of guilt, difference or isolation
or trying to change survivors' thoughts, feelings or behaviour they
adopt the role of God as benevolent other. It shows that by
adopting these beliefs churches can move past unintentional
scapegoating of sexual abuse survivors and into a healing community
where survivors feel included on churchgoers' journeys towards
health and wholeness.
Is it possible to develop such a thing as a biblical theology of
mental health? How might we develop a helpful and pastoral use of
scripture to explore questions of mental health within a Christian
framework? This timely and important book integrates the highest
levels of biblical scholarship with theological and pastoral
concerns to consider how we use scripture when dealing with mental
health issues. Chapters include: *Paula Gooder on Healing and
wholeness *Joanna Collicutt on Jesus and mental health *Isabelle
Hamley on Job *David Firth on Anxiety in Scripture *John Swinton on
The Bible in Pastoral Care *Walter Brueggemann on Psalms and lament
With a foreword from Archbishop Justin Welby
Addictive disorders are characterised by a division of the will, in
which the addict is attracted both by a desire to continue the
addictive behaviour and also by a desire to stop it. Academic
perspectives on this predicament usually come from clinical and
scientific standpoints, with the 'moral model' rejected as
outmoded. But Christian theology has a long history of thinking and
writing on such problems and offers insights which are helpful to
scientific and ethical reflection upon the nature of addiction.
Chris Cook reviews Christian theological and ethical reflection
upon the problems of alcohol use and misuse, from biblical times
until the present day. Drawing particularly upon the writings of St
Paul the Apostle and Augustine of Hippo, a critical theological
model of addiction is developed. Alcohol dependence is also viewed
in the broader ethical perspective of the use and misuse of alcohol
within communities.
Addictive disorders are characterised by a division of the will, in
which the addict is attracted both by a desire to continue the
addictive behaviour and also by a desire to stop it. Academic
perspectives on this predicament usually come from clinical and
scientific standpoints, with the 'moral model' rejected as
outmoded. But Christian theology has a long history of thinking and
writing on such problems and offers insights which are helpful to
scientific and ethical reflection upon the nature of addiction.
Chris Cook reviews Christian theological and ethical reflection
upon the problems of alcohol use and misuse, from biblical times
until the present day. Drawing particularly upon the writings of St
Paul the Apostle and Augustine of Hippo, a critical theological
model of addiction is developed. Alcohol dependence is also viewed
in the broader ethical perspective of the use and misuse of alcohol
within communities.
In this insightful book, accounts of voice hearers are presented,
evaluated and interpreted by a Christian theologian and
psychiatrist. By listening to the first-hand experiences of voice
hearers and evaluating them in the light of Christian theology, the
book enables the reader to understand the experiences of voice
hearers as a part of Christian experience and to engage with the
theological issues raised by them, including the nature of
revelation. This engaging and thought-provoking collection looks at
a range of stories - ranging from comforting to complex to simply
conversational - to encourage debate and search for meaning and
also show how the reader can adapt clinical and pastoral practice
to better aid people in this situation.
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