The modern world is experiencing a spiritual and moral crisis. Associated with this, Christian spirituality and ethics have become separated in the life of the individual Christian and the community of the church. The Christian understanding of human beings and the integrated nature of spirituality and ethics provides a solution to this crisis. Christian spirituality and morality both originate in the character and purposes of God as revealed in the biblical record. The value and effects of the. integral relationship between spirituality and morality can be traced throughout scripture and the history of the church. The. encounter and relationship with God, in Jesus Christ and through the presence and power of God's Spirit, transforms the disciple of Christ, which means that spirituality is the basic framework and motivation for morality. Integrated spiritual and moral formation creates moral character and moral communities which enable believers to act with love and justice. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Specialisation in Christian Spirituality)

This dissertation explores the relationship between Christian spirituality and the general wellbeing of the individual. To this end a literature review is conducted, as well as qualitative interviews with eleven individuals in the Cape Town area (South Africa). Snowball sampling was used to gain access to these eleven research participants who fitted the criteria of adults exhibiting a particular Christian lifestyle. The literature review revealed that nurturing, non-punitive religion has been associated with mental and physical health and that active participation in church activities that enhance a person’s social support system is beneficial. The qualitative interviews yielded the finding that those interviewees who had positive experiences with Christian spirituality during their childhood regard it as a significant contributor to meaning, hope and happiness in their lives. / Christian Spirituality Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

This dissertation explores the relationship between Christian spirituality and the general wellbeing of the individual. To this end a literature review is conducted, as well as qualitative interviews with eleven individuals in the Cape Town area (South Africa). Snowball sampling was used to gain access to these eleven research participants who fitted the criteria of adults exhibiting a particular Christian lifestyle. The literature review revealed that nurturing, non-punitive religion has been associated with mental and physical health and that active participation in church activities that enhance a person’s social support system is beneficial. The qualitative interviews yielded the finding that those interviewees who had positive experiences with Christian spirituality during their childhood regard it as a significant contributor to meaning, hope and happiness in their lives. / Christian Spirituality Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th (Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology)

Spiritualita při léčbě závislosti Spirituality in the Addiction Treatment Lydie Kárová In my work, Spirituality in the Addiction Treatment, I focus on spirituality as a component of personality, which is involved in its formation and development. The work falls into three parts, in the first one I place spirituality into the Czech environment and present its definition, in the second part I look for the role of spirituality in the conception and treatment of addiction and in the third one I present four specific spiritual methods applied in the treatment of addiction. In all parts I work with a spirituality model by Zdeněk Vojtíšek. Seven levels of this model together form a complex component, which is spirituality. The starting concept of the spirituality model is that the individual levels transmit each other, they do not function separately, they can be variously represented and their source can be anything. This confirms an example of addiction that operates on all these levels. I define addiction as a dependent relationship that does not distinguish between forms of addiction, but emphasizes their common features. Spirituality and addiction are complex components of an individual that relate to his/her whole person. In order to change the personality, a safe and stimulating environment is...

Research suggest that Black couples tend to marry later, with less frequency, have marriages that do not last as long, and are more prone to divorce than other racial categories. However, religion may play an important role to counteract the negative marriage trends among Black heterosexual couples. As a growing subfield of family psychology this study examines the influence of religion on marital sanctification and relational spirituality among 33 Black married couples (N = 66). In-depth qualitative interviews with Black married couples were analyzed to see how religion informed and shaped perceptions of marital sanctification as well as unique relational domains of relational spirituality. Major findings indicate that religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, and communities helped to form a perceptual framework that marriage was holy and sacred. Findings about marital sanctification suggested that religious couples may view their marriage as sacred or holy in four distinct ways: a) God-given; b) God-ordained; c) God-created; and, d) God-inspired. These perceptions of marriage a sacred institution seemed to influence four relational domains of relational spirituality by: a) creating a religiously-inspired goal-oriented perspective for partner or mate selection; b) encouraging a sense of sacred permanence to the relationship; c) fostering a willingness to sacrifice for one's relationship; and, d) evoking a pattern of religious and spiritual relational maintenance within the context of marriage. Marital sanctification was associated with increase in relational spirituality. Likewise, relational spirituality seemed to perpetuate an increase in marital sanctification. Thus, suggesting the potential for positive bi-directionality between marital sanctification and relational spirituality that may foster increased marital satisfaction, quality, and commitment and may also serve as a potential buffer against divorce among Black religious couples. Additional subthemes of marital sanctification and relational spirituality were also discussed as well as limitations of this study and suggestions for future research.Contemporary societal and media portrayals of Black masculinity and fatherhood often give a limited, or potentially negative view of manhood, and/or parenthood among Black males. Black American males are often represented and lauded as sports stars and rappers or marginalized as gangsters and deadbeat dads. The present study seeks to expand the paradigm of Black masculinity and fatherhood and provide a potentially positive, more expansive view of Black males in the success frame of religion and family life. In depth qualitative interview data was analyzed from a subsection of the American Families of Faith Dataset involving 33 religious Black couples (N = 66) from different religious backgrounds (Muslim and Christian) across the United States. Major findings identified two psychological processes that seemed to suggest a religious and family-oriented success frame for defining masculinity and manliness. Participants described undergoing a process of personal spiritual growth and maturity in which individuals left behind the "street life" mentality, in favor of becoming a "Godly man." This process was positively connected with the process of religious or spiritual masculine-identity transformation in which manhood was defined in terms of being relational with God and family, rather than the "bachelor mindset" or "single life" which suggested a relationally isolated view of masculinity. Implications, applications, limitations, and future directions for research were also discussed.

Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th (Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology)

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<p> This research asks the question, <i>How does yoga help women heal when coping with divorce?</i> To answer this question, the researcher asked four women to tell their stories through interviews. Those interviews were then synthesized into narratives. The research was completed using the heuristic inquiry method as well as story-telling and photo elicitation. The heuristics method recognizes that the primary researcher has intimate knowledge of the subject. Therefore, the researcher became the fifth participant. Through cross-referencing the five stories, two primary and two secondary themes were uncovered. The primary themes were a connection to nature and the support of a community. The researcher presents the data as stories punctuated with photos self-selected by each participant. The themes are then further explored and corroborated using scholarly literature. This research will assist yoga teachers in supporting their students who are healing during or after divorce. It may also inform teaching practices and curriculum inside yoga classrooms. </p>

This thesis will examine the issues of women's spirituality, suffering, their survival in the midst of suffering. These issues will be examined in the context of a post-apartheid South Africa within a Christian framework looking at issues of faith and spirituality. More particularly the Methodist church will be examined, looking at key aspects of its spirituality and how that might have contributed and provided for its women. Two of the Methodist Women's organisations, the Women's Manyano and the Women's Auxiliary will be looked at; their history and significant aspects of their programmes and structures that have led them to be important places for the women who are part of them. The thesis will seek to determine how the Methodist Women's organisations have impacted the spirituality of two women especially when they have gone through difficult times. The lives of these two women are examined through conversations the author has with them. In particular the author will examine particular circumstances of these women and seek to set them against a background of their spirituality and in particular whether their particular Methodist organisation played any role during this time. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Christian Spirituality)