The rise of neurology, psychology, and psychiatry over the last 100 years has challenged the clergy's historical monopoly on dealing with “personal problems” and mental well-being. In this study, I document the changing language of pastoral care by analyzing over seventy years of academic articles in the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling (N = 4,054) using structural topic modeling. Ultimately, I reveal a linguistic shift from the universal to the particular as pastoral care professionals drop language of human nature and morality for that of individual narratives. I also find a decline of overtly religious language since the 1950s in favor of a more ecumenical language of spirituality, hope, and presence. Both of these trends take place alongside a push for “evidence-based” pastoral care. Together, these linguistic shifts offer insight into a seventy-year struggle to provide authentic religious care in a world of competing alternatives.

中文翻译：

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从基督到同情：牧师关怀的语言变化

过去 100 年神经病学、心理学和精神病学的兴起挑战了神职人员在处理“个人问题”和心理健康方面的历史垄断地位。在这项研究中，我通过分析年过七旬的学术文章的记录牧养的改变语言杂志教牧关怀与辅导（ñ= 4,054）使用结构主题建模。最终，我揭示了一种从普遍到特殊的语言转变，因为教牧护理专业人士将人性和道德的语言换成了个人叙事的语言。我还发现，自 1950 年代以来，公开的宗教语言有所下降，而有利于更普遍的灵性、希望和存在的语言。这两种趋势都是在推动“基于证据的”教牧关怀的同时发生的。总之，这些语言变化提供了对在一个充满竞争的选择的世界中提供真正的宗教关怀的七十年斗争的洞察力。