A large body of empirical research has documented strong beneficial effects of educational attainment on a wide range of health outcomes. In addition, there has been growing interest in the links between religion and health, and some studies have suggested that the benefits of religious involvement on health are strongest for persons with low-to-moderate levels of education. To date, however, the bulk of this work has been conducted in the U.S. or other nations in the developed West. Although researchers have called for more comparative and cross-cultural studies on these topics, few if any studies have focused on the interplay of education, religion, and multiple health outcomes in China, particularly among its most elderly citizens. This project aims to address this gap in the research literature, with the following objectives: (1) to examine whether and how education is related to emotional and cognitive well-being, and reflects possible gender differences; (2) to explore whether and how religious participation is associated with various health indicators; and (3) to examine whether religious practice may complement or moderate the association between individual-level SES or community-level SES and health in this distinctive population. To investigate these issues, I use data from the Chinese Healthy Longevity Survey, a nationwide survey of the oldest old adults in China; my analyses involve the 1998 baseline survey, as well as data from the 2000 and 2002 follow-up surveys. Findings suggest that: (1) education impacts emotional and cognitive well-being through different mechanisms; (2) the indirect effects of religion on health are primarily mediated by psychological resources and lifestyle, but not by social resources; (3) females report higher levels of religious participation and get more cognitive benefits from it than males; (4) individual-level SES is negatively associated with religious participation, whereas community-level SES is positively associated with religious participation; and (5) the beneficial effects of religion on psychological wellbeing are more pronounced for residents in poorer areas. The theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed and elaborated.

This research project arose from my journeys with Protestant Christian women who were living in sexually unhappy marriages. In South African Protestant faith communities there is the expectation that Christian marriages will experience sexual fulfilment. For many Christian women however, sexual unhappiness becomes their reality. Sexuality is cocooned in silence not only within the church, but also in many Christian marriages. This leaves many Christian women (and men) with little or no recourse to address sexually unhappy marriages. My research journey briefly explored the social construction of sexuality within the history of Christianity to see which discourses underpin current constructions of White Christian female sexuality. This participatory feminist action research journey centralised the voices of present-day contexts: Protestant Christian women, as well as clergy, were invited to share their understandings and interpretations of matrimony and sexual practices in relation to their faith. With the help of narrative therapeutic practices, some of the dominant social and religious discourses that constitute White Christian female sexuality were explored, deconstructed and challenged. This research journey aimed to penetrate this silence and to invite Christian women, who are living in sexually unhappy marriages, to share their experiences. This exploration included the faith predicaments and relational complexities, challenges and dilemmas Protestant Christian women experience when living in sexually unhappy marriages. This feminist-grounded action research explored the effects and consequences which living in sexually unhappy marriages held for the cosearchers. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Specialisation in Pastoral Therapy)

In broad terms, this thesis is a study of what Protestant theologians in early modern England taught regarding the interdependence between physical health and spirituality. More precisely, it examines the specific and complex doctrines taught regarding health-related issues in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and evaluates the consistency of these messages over time. A component of the controversial Protestant-science hypothesis introduced in the early twentieth century is that advancements in science were driven by the Protestant ethic of needing to control nature and every aspect therein. This thesis challenges this notion. Within the context of health, sickness and death, the doctrine of providence evident in Protestant soteriology emphasised complete submission to God's sovereign will. Rather, this overriding doctrine negated the need to assume any control. Moreover, this thesis affirms that the directives theologians delivered governing physical health remained consistent across this span, despite radical changes taking place in medicine during the same period. This consistency shows the stability and strength of this message. Each chapter offers a comprehensive analysis on what Protestant theologians taught regarding the health of the body as well as the soul. The inclusion of more than one hundred seventy sermons and religious treatises by as many as one hundred twenty different authors spanning more than two hundred years laid a fertile groundwork for this study. The result of this work provides an extensive survey of theological teachings from these religious writers over a large span of time.