-
Inspiring Change in Catholic Religious Education Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2024-03-01 Jeroen Hendrickx
The task of Bible teaching in Catholic religious education (RE) is to bring the world of the Bible and that of the contemporary reader into dialogue. This is not an easy task. After all, the (postmodern) processes of detraditionalisation and pluralisation have greatly widened the gap between the Bible and today’s culture. To meet this challenge, the hermeneutic-communicative model of Catholic RE in
-
Breathing for Life and Talking to God: Spiritual Contemplations of Muslim Patients during the COVID-19 Pandemic Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2024-02-13 Naveed Baig
As research on religion and spirituality at healthcare institutions gains momentum, there is still scarce knowledge pertaining to Muslim patients’ spirituality living in the West. In this article, I present and discuss the results from my qualitative study of 12 Muslim patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at Danish hospitals. Based on the empirical data, using thematic analysis, the major emergent theme
-
Measuring the Academic Aspects of Religious Literacy of Estonian Basic School Graduates Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2024-01-25 Aleksandra Sooniste
This paper reports on two domains of a survey to map the religious literacy of Estonian basic school graduates undertaken in 2022 to understand how well the respondents distinguish religion as a discursive category and how much they know about basic concepts of world religions and the Estonian religious landscape. The sample consisted of 392 respondents from schools all over Estonia, both from large
-
Allah, God, YHWH, Gott*: Language-Aware Perspectives on References to God in Religious and Worldview Education. A Comparative Study of Finnish and German School Textbooks Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2024-01-24 Niina Putkonen, Lena Tacke
Language awareness is part of religious and worldview education. In this study, we understand religious and worldview education as language-sensitive and argue that it is necessary to investigate the perspectives on religious language in language-aware school pedagogy. In our view, religious language can be an identity marker which navigates and reflects one’s position. We analysed the language used
-
Church School Students’ Narratives on Their Schools and the Hidden Curricular Effects Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Eszter Kodácsy-Simon, Etelka Seres-Busi
The particular atmosphere of church schools in Hungary is an exciting field of research. Of special interest is the question as to how students perceive their schools, what image they construct of them, and what they think about its purposes and hidden messages. In our exploratory research, we conducted 37 student interviews, followed by content analysis, during which we identified “diversity” as a
-
Engaging in a Secularized Public Sphere – a Possible Qur’anic Perspective? Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Sara Rahman
For Habermas, social cohesion in liberal democratic societies is created and ensured by public discourse, which creates and regulates democratic virtues through non-hierarchical communication in which all citizens participate equally. According to the understanding of post-secularism, this public discourse must be secular. This requires religious citizens to translate religious arguments into secular
-
Diagnostic Competencies of Religious Education Teachers – Requirements and Challenges Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2024-01-09 Annalena Sieveke
Assessing and supporting are, in addition to teaching, educating and innovating, core competencies of teaching professionals. Particularly in the field of didactics of mathematics and educational sciences an increased interest in the conceptualization of diagnostic competencies of teachers has emerged in recent years. In contrast, research on diagnostic competencies of RE teachers is still limited
-
Learning to Judge Religious Conflicts: A Model of Religious Judgement Competence for RE Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2024-01-09 Frederike Gabelt
In times of increasing polarisation and fragmentation in societies, the ability to form a judgement gain in importance. Judgement competence is, therefore, one of the key competencies that students at German schools should develop. In RE, however, teachers often avoid addressing religious conflicts that disrupt social cohesion. This is due to the circumstance, that it is widely undefined in RE didactics
-
Religion, Ecology and Human Flourishing Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-11-07 Francis-Vincent Anthony
During the past six decades, there has been an ever-growing awareness of the global ecological crisis threatening human survival. Concern for the future of human life has led to the necessity of upholding environmental rights and sustainable development. As in the case of other human rights, obligations of the state that derive from these need to be complemented by civic engagements, and sustained
-
Towards an ‘Eco-Theo-Logy’ Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-11-07 Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam
The paper seeks to draw the contours of an “Eco-Theo-Logy” in the context of the unprecedented crisis of our Common Home and with special reference to Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical on creation care. An “eco” theology would begin with the sense of awe and gratitude for Earth, our unique common planetary home blessed with the gift of life, and listen attentively to the growing “cry of
-
Human Rights Education and Religious Education: Design-based Research on Integrating HRE into RE Teacher Education Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-09-08 Franziska M. Trefzer, Manfred L. Pirner
This paper explicates the conceptual background, design and first results of the empirical research project “The Rights of the Child and the School Subject of Religious Education” that aims to integrate children’s rights into RE as well as into RE teacher education with a design-based research (DBR) approach. It starts by claiming a central significance of human rights for humanity and social cohesion
-
Debated issues in the Church of England: The Roles of Theology and Psychology Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-09-08 Andrew Village
This paper tests whether or not psychological type preferences predicted the extent of liberal versus conservative attitudes towards a range of controversial moral issues among 3,515 clergy and laity from the Church of England who took part in the 2013 Church Times survey. Summated rating scales were produced from Likert items related to four different issues: same-sex relationships, the ordination
-
Young Adults Doing Lived Theology: Three Modes of Theologising Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Marjukka Laiho
This study asks: “How do young adults theologise?” It explores creative processes of navigating a gap or a wound experienced by Finnish young adults’ between their personal beliefs and values and the Lutheran religious tradition. The dramatic religious decline and change among young adults has been shown in many studies. Here, the situation is explored through co-theologising with young adults. Based
-
Is Discussing Controversial Issues in RE a Magic Bullet to Promote Social Cohesion? Mapping Opportunities and Challenges Based on Previous Research Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-08-29 Jan-Hendrik Herbst
In the public debate, it is often argued that RE is important because it promotes social cohesion. In the academic debate, however, this position is controversial because, firstly, this goal is associated with a politicization of RE and, secondly, empirical evidence on whether or how RE causes this effect seems to be lacking. In this article, I argue first that cohesion is an adequate subgoal of RE
-
Christmas in Norwegian Kindergartens: How Are Muslim Children Included? Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-07-31 Ine Bratsvedal
Like the rest of Norwegian society, Norwegian kindergartens are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of religion. This is also reflected in the governing documents of kindergartens, which state that they should work with religion. This article explores to what extent Christmas in kindergartens is adapted to include Muslim children in the group. The article is based on interviews with six kindergarten
-
Civic Purpose among Higher Education Students – A Study of Four Dutch and Finnish Institutions Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-07-27 Elina Kuusisto, Isolde de Groot, Ingrid Schutte, Inkeri Rissanen
Given the increasing interest in academic citizenship in higher education, this study examines the civic purposes of higher education students in two European countries, namely the Netherlands and Finland, and relations between students’ worldviews and their civic purposes. The majority of students was categorized as so-called disengaged or dreamers, respectively either not civically interested or
-
COVID-19, Meaning and Mental Health in Higher Education: An International Comparison Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-07-14 Hans Schilderman, Joris Kregting, Michael Scherer-Rath, Ulrich Riegel, Alexander Unser
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is studied among Dutch and German university students and staff, at the inception of the pandemic in April 2020. The effects of conditions of study and work are studied on mental health, while taking into account the adaptive function of meaning and controlling for relevant demographic characteristics. Results indicate that negative experiences of study and work
-
Safety and Closeness in Religious Socialization: A Mixed Methods Study of Finnish Families Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-06-30 Laura Kallatsa, Jenni Spännäri, Kati Tervo-Niemelä
In this study, we analyze how do safety and closeness, or the lack of them, affect religious socialization in Finnish families. Our empirical data consist of family interviews and a large survey data. As a result, three key dimensions were found: 1) the atmosphere in families, 2) the atmosphere related to religious communities, and 3) the atmosphere related to one’s own spirituality. Our study suggests
-
Religion and Attitude towards Sustainability: An Analysis on the Effects of Individual Religiosity and Church Membership on Value Orientation Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-06-30 Ulrich Riegel
Climate change and sustainable lifestyles are discussed intensely in civil society, again. Unlike in the the 1970s and 1980s, however, religious communities seem to play a minor role in this discussion. This raises the question of the importance of religion in regard to an ecological attitude. Based on a sample of N = 4131 (former) church members (age: 14 to 89 years – 47% females – 60% with Bachelor-degree
-
Theology’s Concern for Wellbeing and Human Flourishing: A Research Program Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-04-11 Lluis Oviedo
This article proposes a new perspective for theology calling for fresh studies on religion and coping, resilience, wellbeing and flourishing. These studies have grown far from theological areas and could be seen as quite strange to that tradition, its methods, and views. However, theology can learn a lot from these new studies when trying to update its message of salvation, endowing it with a more
-
Developing a Research Tool for Investigating Religious Knowledge as Part of Religious Literacy: The Questionnaire – First Results – Possibilities for International Comparisons Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-03-14 Evelyn Schnaufer, Mirjam Rutkowski, Antti Räsänen, Christina Osbeck, Friedrich Schweitzer
This article makes international debates on religious literacy as well as forms of assessment in RE related to these debates its starting point by identifying the lack of an empirical basis for the respective discussions. A questionnaire for 15-year-old pupils with a focus on religious knowledge, based on prior studies and tried out in Finland, Germany and Sweden is introduced. The results, although
-
Monetized Religion in the Public Church: An Empirical Investigation into Religious Donation Practices in the Interplay of Individual and Institution Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-03-03 Felix Roleder
The quantitative study undertakes a systematic investigation of the church-related donation practice in the context of the Protestant Church in Germany. The characteristic logics of membership and participation in this publicly regulated institutionalized church are considered as well as the multidimensionality of donation practice. Religious donations are located at the interface of the individual
-
Social Exclusion as Spiritual Inclusion: Collective Identity-Making and Urban Theology in Faith-Based Food Assistance in Finland Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-03-03 Rosa Huotari
Through ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2020–2021, this paper investigates how people experiencing poverty and social exclusion process their collective in-group/ out-group identity as the urban ‘others’ in faith-based food assistance in Finland. By building on the concept of collective identity and employing narrative construction, the analysis shows that not only does perceived social exclusion
-
Finnish Confirmation Training in Religious Biographies Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2023-02-23 Heidi Toivanen
Several recent studies have examined religious biographies, i.e. individual religious trajectories. However, little research has been conducted on the relevance of single life events in religious biographies, such as religious rites of passage. One such rite of passage, confirmation training, has preserved its popularity in Finland despite declining church membership. The aim of this study, therefore
-
Empirical Theology as Theological Netnography: Methodological Considerations Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-12-14 Mark J. Cartledge
It is clear that the role of the internet is ubiquitous in everyday life. With smart phones almost everyone can access the internet 24/7 and use it for emails, social network activity, searching for information and navigation when driving a car to a new destination. It is also the case that the online world intersects directly with and is embedded in the off-line world of our everyday lives. Almost
-
Ministers on Salvation: Soteriological Views of Pioneers and Pastors in the Protestant Church in the Netherlands Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-12-05 Stefan Paas, Sake Stoppels, Karen Zwijze-Koning
Missiology has always been inspired by soteriology, that is, Christian views of salvation. However, little is known about the actual soteriological beliefs of missionary practitioners. This article is an explorative qualitative study of soteriological beliefs among Dutch Protestant ministers who work in pioneer settings (N=20) and established churches (N=40). Our research shows that, contrary to what
-
Spirituality of Professional Pastoral Caregivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Distress, Resources, and Consequences Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-11-28 Annette Haussmann
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on mental health in general and on care professionals in particular. Studies have shown that professional pastoral caregivers are challenged concerning stabilizing their mental health and coping with stress experiences. Spirituality, on the other hand, has been considered as a helpful coping resource. This study examines professional pastoral caregivers
-
The Charism Scale: Assessing the Characteristics of Marist Education in the Champagnat Tradition Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-11-11 Didier Pollefeyt, Fons van Rooij, Jan Bouwens
Educational Charismic traditions, like Marist Education in the Champagnat tradition, among many other charisms, are different ways of ‘enfleshing’ and ‘flavouring’ the Gospel of Christ. They are about the incarnation of the Christian message, a particular expression of what it means to be Christian within the context of one’s own time, place and culture. What are the characteristics, and particular
-
Christianity, Personality and Environmental Concern among 13- to 15-year-old Students in England and Wales Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-11-04 Leslie J. Francis, David S. Walker, Andrew Village
This study explores the connection between Christianity and environmental concern among a sample of 23,714 13- to 15-year-old students (who self-identify as Christian or self-identify as no religion) employing three scales of Attitude toward Christianity, Conservative Christian Belief, and Environmental Concern and Behaviour, together with measures of personality, church attendance, and personal prayer
-
Spiritual Awakening among Church Members during the Pandemic: An Empirical Study in England and Wales Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-10-19 Leslie J. Francis, Andrew Village, Christopher Alan Lewis
For some church members the pandemic may have been a challenge to faith, while for others the pandemic may have been an opportunity to re-kindle faith and to trigger spiritual awakening. A sample of 3,673 churchgoers (Anglican and Catholic) completed an online survey during the early months of the lockdown including the Lewis Index of Spiritual Awakening (LISA). The data demonstrated that more participants
-
Attitude toward Virtual Communion in Relation to Church Tradition during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Kingdom Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-09-16 Andrew Village
Attitude toward virtual communion was assessed among 3,300 Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Free Church clergy and laity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK in 2021. A six-item unidimensional scale (Scale of Attitude Toward Virtual Communion, SATVC) assessed attitude related to receiving communion during online services, the necessity of priests for consecration and lay presidency of communion at home
-
Protestant Parishioners, Their Pastors, and Euthanasia Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-09-09 Wim Graafland, A. Stef Groenewoud, T. Theo J. Pleizier, Theo A. Boer
In the past, research was done in the Netherlands among pastors to study their attitudes and experiences regarding euthanasia. Also, the attitudes of protestant believers have been studied, however very superficially. This paper presents the results of a survey among 736 parishioners of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands about their experiences, views, and understanding of euthanasia and about
-
Internal Conflict Associated with Disaffiliation from the Roman Catholic Church Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-05-20 Ulrich Riegel, Marie Jäckel, Tobias Faix
In modern Western societies, disaffiliation frequently occurs within the field of religion. To date, many studies have analysed what motivates people to leave religious institutions. However, whether they face internal conflicts during this process has not been intensely studied. Based on Festinger’s concept of cognitive dissonance, this paper re-analyses 27 interviews of persons who left the Catholic
-
Revisiting the Religious Openness Hypothesis in a Migration Context: The Case of Muslims with a Turkish Migration Background in Germany Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2022-01-12 Sarah Demmrich, Havagül Akçe
The religious openness hypothesis, which states that religious traditions have the potential to integrate faith with intellect, is examined in this study within a migration context for the first time. Based on two lines of research, our central question is whether the sociological context or the Islamic tradition per se explains the (in)compatibility of faith and intellect orientation and their relation
-
‘This is a Call of God … or is it?’: Narratives about Humans, God and Eschatology in the Dutch Reformed Pietist Community during the COVID-19 Outbreak Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-12-16 Tobias Cinjee, Hanneke Schaap-Jonker
In this study, we examine which narratives were put forward by key figures of the Dutch reformed pietist community during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyse sermons and news articles from the period March–November 2020. We find, as expected, a dominant narrative of COVID-19 as God’s judgment, a calling to repentance and an event which emphasizes the need for prayer. Although the pandemic was seen as
-
Religious and Secular Coping Strategies of Reappraisal: Validating a Secular Supplement to the Reappraisal-Dimensions of RCOPE Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-10-28 Ulrich Riegel, Alexander Unser
In times of disaster, religion is said to be a powerful resource of meaning-focused coping. If offers motifs, symbols, and stories to reappraise situations and thereby ascribe meaning to them. Aside from religion, in modern times secular resources are feasible for meaning making during disaster as well. Empirical instruments that assess both religious and secular types of meaning-focused coping, however
-
Shaping Attitudes toward Church in a Time of Coronavirus: Exploring the Effects of Personal, Psychological, Social, and Theological Factors among Church of England Clergy and Laity Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-10-28 Andrew Village, Leslie J. Francis
This paper reports on the effect of personal, psychological, social, and theological factors in shaping attitudes toward church buildings, the lockup of churches, and the trajectory into virtual church among 4,374 clergy and lay people from the Church of England during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Data from an online survey were used to create three scales, Pro Church Buildings, Anti Church
-
This Blessed Sacrament of Unity? Holy Communion, the Pandemic, and the Church of England Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-10-28 Leslie J. Francis, Andrew Village
A major consequence of the pandemic for the Church of England was the decision of the Archbishops on 24 March 2020 to prevent the use of churches (even for the broadcasting of services by the clergy), and the consequent sudden trajectory into online worship streamed by clergy from their homes. On Easter Sunday the Archbishop of Canterbury exemplified the challenge confronting Anglican clergy by presiding
-
The Development and Validation of the Christian Environmentalism Scale (CES) from a Philippine Sample Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-11-04 Rito Baring, Jeramie Molino, Stephen Reysen
Responding to emerging ecotheologies, we articulated a new environmental construct distinct from previous environmental measures which largely follow developmental models. In the present study we developed and reviewed the psychometric properties of the Christian Environmentalism Scale (CES) initially in three dimensions from 970 youth participants in the Philippines. Study design included exploratory
-
Religious and Spiritual Struggles in a German-Speaking Sample: a Validation Study Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-11-04 Jessica Lampe, Isabelle Noth, Hansjörg Znoj
This paper presents the German adaptation and validation of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSSS) (Exline et al. 2014). Religious and spiritual (r/s) struggles consist of inner conflicts regarding supernatural, interpersonal and intrapersonal concerns, which in the RSSS are categorized into six struggles: Divine, Demonic, Doubt, Interpersonal, Moral and Ultimate Meaning. The prevalence
-
Growth of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion): Fishing for Converts, but Are There Holes in the Net? Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-10-29 Andrew McKinnon
This paper contributes to the emerging debate and revaluation of the growth and membership of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Building on literature which has shown that the Church is unlikely to have nearly the membership of more than 18 million that it usually claims, this paper considers evidence of conversion to and defection from Anglican identification in Nigeria. The analysis uses
-
Canadian Calvinists Help to Overcome Intolerance against Muslims: Dutch Reformed Theology behind a Pluralist Worldview Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-09-20 Mariia Alekseevskaia
This paper presents a case study of the dialogue groups organized by the members of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) to hold dialogue with Muslims in Canada. Being profoundly influenced by Dutch neo-Calvinist theology, members of CRCNA promote an idea of confessional plurality, which has resulted in building relationships with Muslim communities. This study is based on fifteen
-
Insights from Adolescents’ Prayer Requests within a Christian Ethos School: A Qualitative Perspective Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-06-25 Tania ap Siôn
State-maintained Christian ethos schools are a prominent part of the educational landscape of England and Wales, and a growing body of empirical research has sought to access, study and interpret the voices of their students in order to contribute to a fuller understanding of life within these schools and their place in contemporary Britain. As part of this endeavour, this study focuses on what may
-
Religion, Spirituality, Well-Being, and Ill-Being in a Church-Renewal Movement: The Case of Finland Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2021-02-04 Pietari Hannikainen
An expanding body of research connects religiosity/spirituality (later R/S) with human well-being and health. While psychological and medical research lacks a common theoretical or theological framework, these dimensions are measured by instruments with a wide variation in quality. As the religious landscapes in Western societies are becoming increasingly plural and complex, the need for developing
-
Churchgoing and Christian Ethics: an Empirical Study among 13- to 15-Year-Old Students in England and Wales Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-12-14 Leslie J. Francis
This study explores the connections between churchgoing and two fields of Christian moral values (sex-related and substance-related) among 23,714 13- to 15-year-old students in England and Wales who self-identified as either Christian or as of no religion. Bivariate crosstabulation identifies clear patterns of association. Multiple regression analyses confirm that the associations persist after controlling
-
Death Attitudes in Clergy Work: Death Attitudes and Their Linkage to Work Orientation and Wellbeing among the Finnish Clergy Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-12-14 Kati Tervo-Niemelä
In this study, the focus is on death attitudes among the clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and their role in clergy work. The aim is to find out whether these attitudes have any practical relevance in clergy work and to see if the death attitudes are linked to the work orientation and wellbeing among the clergy. The death attitudes are measured by the Death Attitude Profile-Revised
-
The Function of Speech Acts in a Vatican II Declaration: Gravissimum Educationis Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-12-14 Toon van Gestel, Fred van Iersel, Kees de Groot
This paper provides an analysis of Gravissimum Educationis, the Vatican II declaration on Christian Education. The paper focusses on speech acts as text signals for an ideal reader within the declaration’s communication framework. To date, speech acts have not been scrutinized in Vatican II constitutions, decrees, or declarations. An analysis of performative utterances in Gravissimum Educationis is
-
The Missional Future of Free Churches in a Secular Context: A German Case Study Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-12-14 Stefan Paas, Philipp Bartholomä
Similar to most Western nations, Germany has experienced a history of secularization, resulting in church decline. However, some Christian communities have been less affected by decline. The historical free churches (Freikirchen), usually of an evangelical nature, have not only developed a more explicit missionary identity than the mainline churches, some of them have also been able to experience church
-
The Prohibition of Discrimination and Unequal Treatment of Women and Homosexuals in the Spheres of Work and in Public Life: An Empirical Comparative Study on the Influence of Religion and National Culture Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-12-14 Hans-Georg Ziebertz, Alexander Unser
Differences in race, ethnic origin, gender, belief and worldview, disability and chronic disease, age, and sexual orientation must not be a reason for discriminating against people. Non-discrimination is enshrined as a fundamental right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in numerous subsequent documents and in the constitutions of democratic states. Also the major religions are hostile to
-
Psychological and Theological Predictors of Environmental Attitudes among a Sample of UK Churchgoers Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-12-14 Andrew Village
This paper builds on previous studies of UK churchgoers by examining the factors that predict concern for the environment and willingness to make sacrifices to preserve it. A sample of 825 churchgoers from a range of denominations completed a questionnaire that contained items used to assess psychological preferences, biblical literalism, and a range of theological stances toward creation. Psychological
-
Editorial to the Special Issue: Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-06-19 Sarah Demmrich,Ulrich Riegel
-
Religion in the Modern World—Celebrating Pluralism and Diversity, written by Ward, Keith Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-06-19 David Ellis
-
Indigenous Perspectives on Sacred Natural Sites: Culture, Governance and Conservation, edited by Jonathan Liljeblad and Bas Verschuuren Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-06-19 Bettina E. Schmidt
-
-
Celebrations: Religious Events beyond the Dichotomy of Individualization and Communitization Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-06-19 Meike Haken
This contribution contrasts the dichotomization of individualization and communitization of religion, which is still prominent in the social sciences, with a religious phenomenon that shows that religion must be understood beyond the opposition of these spheres. Against the background of a corresponding concept of religion, the popular religion (Knoblauch 2009), which continues Thomas Luckmann’s theory
-
The Challenges of Research in the Psychology of Religion among Jewish (Israeli) Samples Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-06-19 Aryeh Lazar
Measures and conceptualizations in the psychology of religion have been developed on predominantly Christian samples and their transportation to the study of other religions can be problematic. A review of empirical research on Israeli Jewish samples in different research areas—measuring religiousness, religious motivation, mystical experience, prayer, religious support, religious fundamentalism, and
-
A Critical Overview of Turkish Measures of Religiosity Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-06-19 Zuhal Agilkaya-Sahin
Turkish measures of religiosity are mainly developed in sociology and psychology of religion and trace back to the 1960s. The first attempts in measuring religiosity in Turkey are weak in terms of statistical analysis and scientific soundness. By the 1980s Turkish measures increase in quantity and quality but show poor originality. Most are adaptations of Western-Christianity religiosity scales and
-
Development in Religious and Non-Religious Biographies from a Cross-Cultural Perspective Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-06-19 Ramona Bullik, Sakin Özışık, Anika Steppacher
How do people perceive their own religious, spiritual or atheist biography? This is a question that our research team has been focusing on for nearly two decades. Our developmental perspective critically, but constructively relates to Fowler’s (1981) Faith Development Theory, as described in Streib’s (2001) approach of religious styles, paying tribute to the fact that development is not, in most cases
-
Spiritual but not Religious?: New Mevlevis of Contemporary Mevleviye in Turkey Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2020-06-19 Hande Gür
Mevleviye as an Islamic religious order is established in Anatolia after the passing of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi in the 13th century. Based on bigger ethnographic research, this paper tries to delve into the distinction between spiritual and religious from the perspective of new Mevlevis of contemporary Mevleviye in Turkey. The authenticity of new Mevlevis’ standpoint while defining themselves as
-
Contingency and Meaning-Focused Coping Journal of Empirical Theology Pub Date : 2019-11-11 Jos Pieper
This article examines the similarities and differences between a religious-philosophical approach to contingency and a (religious) psychological approach to coping with health problems. We elaborate on theoretical and empirical developments in research on coping, meaning-focused coping and religious coping. Religious coping is seen as a special form of meaning-focused coping. These coping perspectives