ReligionsPub Date : 2024-08-09DOI: 10.3390/rel15080967
Kate L. Bradford, Kiran Lele, K. C. Leung
{"title":"Finding the Creative Synergy between Spiritual Care and the Schwartz Rounds","authors":"Kate L. Bradford, Kiran Lele, K. C. Leung","doi":"10.3390/rel15080967","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080967","url":null,"abstract":"The practice of spiritual care in health has included the goal of addressing the spiritual needs of healthcare staff. Spiritual-care practitioners have had some difficulty in fulfilling this goal, which has created the need for innovative approaches. Two approaches designed to address the spiritual and existential needs of staff are Value-Based Reflective Practice (VBRP) and Schwartz Rounds. Schwartz Rounds are a regular whole-hospital meeting where staff are invited to share and discuss the social and emotional aspects of their work. They are an evidence-based intervention to reduce psychological distress and improve staff wellbeing. This paper seeks to explore the role of spiritual care practitioners in addressing the spiritual and existential needs of staff. It then explores the synergy of these roles with the theory and practice of the above approaches, with a particular emphasis on Schwartz Rounds. The paper is grounded in the experience of the authors collaborating to establish Schwartz Rounds in a large and culturally diverse hospital while also playing a leadership role in the establishment and sustainability of Schwartz programmes in other settings.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"29 37","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141924622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-08-09DOI: 10.3390/rel15080968
Liqun Zhou
{"title":"From Modengjia Jing to Xiuyaojing: The Accumulation of Indian Astronomical Knowledge in the Chinese Buddhist Canon","authors":"Liqun Zhou","doi":"10.3390/rel15080968","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080968","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores the accumulation of Indian astronomical knowledge within Chinese Buddhist scriptures and its dissemination across Chinese society through a comparative study of the Modengjia jing (Ch1 of the ZKA) and the Xiuyao jing (XYJ). The period from the Ch1 of ZKA to the XYJ was a time when Buddhism was in the midst of developing and maturing within China. The Ch1 of the ZKA is regarded as the first Buddhist scripture including a complete account of Indian nakṣatra astrology and translated from Sanskrit parallel text, rather than a native work codified by Buddhists in Ancient China. The XYJ is not a translation but rather an authoritative handbook of Indian astrological knowledge taught by Amoghavajra. A detailed comparison of the contents of the two texts shows that the knowledge contained within Ch1 of the ZKA belongs to the Vedic era and that the XYJ belongs to the post-Vedic era. Beginning with the Ch1 of the ZKA and ending with the XYJ, Buddhist astronomical knowledge steadily grew. Yang Jingfeng’s revision and explanation of the first fascicle of the Sutra reflects Ancient Chinese intellectuals’ acceptance, digestion, and recreation of Buddhist astronomical knowledge. His abandonment of the “Calculation of weekdays” reflects the influence of the Chinese mathematical and astronomical tradition and the calendar tradition upon his perspective; perhaps this is one of the reasons why China has accepted the weekday within daily life up to the modern era. Every civilization, in learning to assimilate other cultures, has a choice between foreignization and domestication, within which a tension is reflected. Learning from foreign cultures is about keeping up with the most advanced civilizations in the world and advancing with the times, while maintaining one’s own cultural identity and cultural characteristics is necessary for one’s own civilization; these two notions are complementary and should not be neglected.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141921205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-08-08DOI: 10.3390/rel15080964
Halim Demiryürek, Refik Arıkan, Muhammet Şen
{"title":"Muslim and Christian Communities in Bilecik in 1843: A Comparative Analysis through Demography, Naming, and Anthropometric Characteristics","authors":"Halim Demiryürek, Refik Arıkan, Muhammet Şen","doi":"10.3390/rel15080964","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080964","url":null,"abstract":"This article conducts a thorough examination of the demographic structure, naming conventions, and anthropometric characteristics of the Muslim and Christian communities in Bilecik in 1843. The study utilizes qualitative content analysis methods, employing population registers from the Ottoman Archives and other contemporary documents. The findings reveal that Muslims predominantly opted for names of Arabic origin, while Armenian and Greek Christian communities enhanced regional diversity through names reflecting their religious and cultural identities. Anthropometric analyses demonstrate that both communities exhibited similar average heights. Furthermore, the use of beards and mustaches reflects cultural differences; among Muslim men, these features were significant symbols of religious identity and social status, whereas among Christian men, they signified age-related esthetic choices and cultural diversity. Ultimately, this research illuminates the social and cultural framework of 19th-century Anatolia, providing detailed documentation of Bilecik’s religious and ethnic diversity.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"46 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141928264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-08-08DOI: 10.3390/rel15080965
Ching-Ying Lin, Kenneth T. Wang
{"title":"Clergy Wives and Well-Being: The Impact of Perceived Congregational Perfectionism and Protective Factors","authors":"Ching-Ying Lin, Kenneth T. Wang","doi":"10.3390/rel15080965","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080965","url":null,"abstract":"Clergy wives often face high congregational expectations that impact their psychological well-being. This study investigates the impact of perceived congregational perfectionism on the psychological well-being of 215 Asian clergy wives and explores the moderating effects of self-compassion, social support, and communion with God. The results indicated that the two perceived congregational perfectionism dimensions—perceived congregational standards and judgment—were positively associated with depression, emotional exhaustion, and loneliness. Contrary to the previous literature, high congregational standards alone (without critical judgment) were associated with negative psychological outcomes. Additionally, self-compassion and communion with God emerged as significant buffers against depression associated with congregational perfectionism. However, these protective factors did not significantly prevent ministry burnout or loneliness. This study highlights the maladaptive nature of congregational perfectionism in clergy wives and emphasizes the importance of protective factors like communion with God and self-compassion. It also suggests the need for further research on diverse samples and additional protective factors while providing insights for clinicians and ministry organizations in developing coping strategies that emphasize self-compassion and spiritual practices.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"118 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141926232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-08-08DOI: 10.3390/rel15080960
S. Strehle
{"title":"The Doctrine of Faith, Doubt, and Assurance: A Historical, Philosophical, and Theological Analysis","authors":"S. Strehle","doi":"10.3390/rel15080960","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080960","url":null,"abstract":"How do individuals find assurance of their personal standing before God? This article discusses the way different traditions of the Christian faith tried to answer the question—some leaving room for doubt in the process and others demanding absolute certainty from the believer. All fellowships experienced some problems with the issue due to the very nature of the question. Assurance required a reflexive act that turned the eyes of the believer away from the good things of God and the promises of the gospel toward an inspection of one’s inner man and motives that were difficult to discern. Those fellowships that emphasized a human condition in the process of salvation or assurance often struggled with their depravity before God and unworthiness to claim the promises of divine grace. This paper particularly focuses upon the struggles of the so-called Calvinists, who were more enamored with the question than the other fellowships and had difficulty developing a coherent or definitive answer, caught as they were between tensions in their theology, between the Christocentric vision of John Calvin that led toward assurance and the synergistic tendences of Theodore Beza and Heinrich Bullinger that led toward doubt. The paper provides some criticism of their theology but sympathizes with their struggle and finds faith and doubt inevitable parts of the Christian life here on earth.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"19 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141926271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-08-08DOI: 10.3390/rel15080961
David H. Nikkel
{"title":"William James: The Mystical Experimentation of a Sick Soul","authors":"David H. Nikkel","doi":"10.3390/rel15080961","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080961","url":null,"abstract":"Especially in The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James developed the polar categories of healthy-minded individuals content with their once-born religion versus sick souls who need to become twice-born in order to find religious peace. Biographers of James have concluded that he does not fit well under either of his polar categories. Drawing on both data about James’ life and on his philosophical and theological writings, I demur from the biographers’ conclusion and instead advance the thesis that the overall pattern of William James’ life is best understood as a sick soul searching for—and ultimately finding—twice-born religion in connection with mystical experiences. Notably, James attempted to theorize about mystical experiences as connecting with divine reality/ies in naturalistic ways compatible with scientific knowledge of his time. Scientific knowledge today makes it more difficult to find evidence of direct divine input in religious experiences, yet one might find value in religious experiences in terms of James’ pragmatic criterion for truth: their beneficial or adaptive effects.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"80 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141926613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-08-08DOI: 10.3390/rel15080962
Boyi Pang
{"title":"Different Narratives: The Pingli Missionary Case in Wenshi Ziliao and Private Expression","authors":"Boyi Pang","doi":"10.3390/rel15080962","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080962","url":null,"abstract":"Wenshi Ziliao (Cultural and Historical Materials) are spaces where contemporary Chinese official discourse and local self-expression are coordinated. But these spaces are extremely limited on religious issues. The Pingli missionary case in the Shaanxi Wenshi Ziliao is seen as an anti-imperialist patriotic movement. However, by re-examining this conflict through the analysis of other materials, this article finds that the outbreak of the Pingli case is closely related to local power structures, the conditions of missionaries and Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E.), and the socio-cultural atmosphere. These hidden stories, although overlooked by the compilers of Wenshi Ziliao, are re-emphasized by priests of the local church, revealing attempts by Christians to continually adjust their self-expression in response to official discourse under the contemporary Chinese church–state relationship.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"34 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141928409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-08-08DOI: 10.3390/rel15080966
Joanna Lile
{"title":"More than Daughters: Women’s Experiences at Southern Baptist Colleges during the Progressive Era","authors":"Joanna Lile","doi":"10.3390/rel15080966","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080966","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines students’ experiences at Southern Baptist colleges that educated women during the Progressive era (1880–1920). Denominational leaders and school faculty attempted to recreate Christian home life on college campuses by tightly restricting students’ freedoms and behavior. This article examines female college students’ publications to better understand their views on family and home life on the college campus. Their writings indicate that students did believe that the college was like a family. However, students reinterpreted the meaning of home life and family on the college campus by reimagining the use of residential space, developing alternative hierarchical and intimate relationships on campus, and exercising more autonomy over their religious rituals.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"5 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141928852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-07-26DOI: 10.3390/rel15080902
Attila Puskás
{"title":"Perceiving God: The Spiritual Senses in Bonaventure’s Mystical Theology","authors":"Attila Puskás","doi":"10.3390/rel15080902","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080902","url":null,"abstract":"This essay examines the distinctive features; unchanging basic elements and changing emphases of Bonaventure’s interpretation of the spiritual senses based on four works selected from different periods of his life and considered significant for the subject. In the first chapter, I analyse the relevant passages of Bonaventure’s Commentary on the Book of Sentences; in the second the De reductione artium ad theologiam; in the third the Breviloquium; and in the fourth the Itinerarium mentis in Deum. The objects of investigation are as follows: the correlation between the acts of spiritual senses and their object; the basis of the hierarchical order of spiritual senses; the relationship between spiritual senses; mental excesses and mystical transit; and the relation to Dionysian mystical theology.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"41 29","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141800353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-07-26DOI: 10.3390/rel15080908
Cong Li
{"title":"Between “Jing 敬” and “Cheng 诚”: A Linguistic Study of the Internalization Process in the Pre-Qin Confucian Ethical System","authors":"Cong Li","doi":"10.3390/rel15080908","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080908","url":null,"abstract":"From a semantic viewpoint, “Jing 敬” emphasizes an attitude of external respect and adherence to ritual propriety, whereas “Cheng 诚” signifies the true alignment between one’s internal attitudes and external actions. An exploration of “Jing” and “Cheng” in The Analects, The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, and The Works of Mencius from a linguistic perspective reveals the following: In the ethical system of The Analects, “Jing” represents an attitude towards others, and “Cheng” is rarely mentioned, with personal morality anchored in the social order; in The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean, “Jing” is seldom discussed, while “Cheng” is emphasized as a requirement for individuals, highlighting the intrinsic nature and spontaneity of personal morality; The Works of Mencius, while inheriting Confucius’s concepts, also adopts the ideas from The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean and reinterprets “Jing” internally, achieving a unity between personal morality and social ethics. The shift from “Jing” to “Cheng” and the reinterpretation of “Jing” reflect the concentrated embodiment of the internal reconstruction of the Pre-Qin Confucian ethical system.","PeriodicalId":505829,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"26 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141800705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}