Humility is an integral virtue within Benedictine spiritual traditions. It is also the subject of a burgeoning body of empirical literature in the field of psychology. This dissertation undertakes an interdisciplinary dialogue between Benedictine spirituality and contemporary psychological science, exploring the potential for both fields to mutually inform as well as critique respective understandings of humility. Scholarship in Benedictine spirituality has not shown substantial engagement with the field of psychology around the topic of humility since the 1980’s. Likewise, no in-depth analysis of the Benedictine spirituality of humility has been conducted within psychology, despite increasing interest in interdisciplinary projects among psychologists of spirituality and religion. In the body of this dissertation, chapter one sets out to locate this project within the disciplines of practical theology, spirituality studies, and the psychology of religion and spirituality. It also describes the methods used in this dissertation, with particular focus on the dynamics of mutually critical correlation, a method that gives room for both fields to inform, critique, and question the other around their positions regarding the theory and practice of humility. Chapter two presents an in-depth exploration of Benedictine humility, focusing in particular on themes in the Rule of St. Benedict as well as different contemporary interpretations of humility that have emerged over the last thirty years. Chapter three then offers an exploration of the contemporary state of the psychology of humility, documenting the growing body of research on this subject over the last two decades. Chapter four moves into the interdisciplinary analysis of this dissertation, inquiring how contemporary psychological research on humility could potentially inform Benedictine spirituality. Chapter five then switches to consider how insights and perspectives on humility from Benedictine traditions can also inform theoretical perspectives on humility within psychology, as well as applications in psychological interventions that integrate spirituality. Finally, a concluding chapter highlights some points of learning regarding interdisciplinary research on humility in spirituality and psychology, along with questions for future research and a final selection of key points for practice in both fields.

This practical theological study draws on the theological method of Don S. Browning to implement a mutually critical correlation between the everyday experiences of people with disabilities depicted in six case study narratives and selected texts of two mystical authors, Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila. The study brings to light the harsh everyday reality of living with a physical disability, articulates disability as a practice, and outlines the operative effective history of the United States associated with physical disability. This operative history has long kept the harsh reality of embodied vulnerability hidden from view and thus has contributed to the marginalization of people with disabilities. The critical dialogue between the narratives of persons with disabilities and the selected mystical texts provides a new hermeneutical lens through which to read mystical theology and reveals insights into embodiment and marginalization that bear implications for spirituality studies, disability studies, and practical theology. This dissertation argues that scholars in disability studies neglect embodied vulnerability when they define disability only as a social construction. Chapter One proposes that disability is both a social construction and a biological reality. The next chapter illustrates that people with disabilities still experience existential absurdity and that predominant norms in the United States (however unconscious) continue to try to conceal or avoid the negative effects of embodied difference. The study then analyzes the themes of embodiment and marginalization in the mystical theologies of Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila. Chapter Three reveals that Julian’s relational conception of the Trinity and God’s immanence in the humblest of needs offer ways to establish dignity for people with disabilities. Chapter Four shows that mystical prayer provides impetus for Teresa’s work as a social reformer, which challenges sixteenth century Spain to welcome conversos and value women. The final chapter shows that the mutually critical conversation offers a starting point for building theological constructs of embodied spirituality to respond to the avoidance of embodied vulnerability and the challenges of living with physical disability.

This project is a practical theological response to the so-called "rise of fundamentalism" and its extreme inverse—uncritical progressivism—in contemporary Orthodoxy within the United States. The dissertation argues that it is possible, and even traditional, for contemporary Orthodox communities to shape their religious practices in a manner that addresses fundamental needs in the present, without relying or insisting upon contextually inappropriate practices. Drawing on the so-called Christian practices approach to practical theology as found in the writings of Dorothy Bass and Craig Dykstra and the theology, spirituality, and mysticism of the Christian East—as exemplified by the writings of Maximus the Confessor—this project cultivates four critical lenses that contemporary Orthodox Christian communities can employ as they begin to explore the possibility of adapting traditional practices and incorporating innovative practices into their existing way of life. In order to concretize such an endeavor, this project includes a case study of the Communities at New Skete. In their own unique way, they have adapted their monastic life to meet their 20th and 21st century circumstances. Notably, they have engaged in a reform and renewal of the inherited liturgical tradition to meet not only their own needs, but also those of the Orthodox Church here in the United States. Additionally, and more significantly, they have allowed other spontaneously-arising activities to shape their way of life. For this latter point, the project focuses on the way that their dog breeding and training program has functionally become a spiritual practice for the monks and nuns. Their example can help contemporary Orthodox Christian communities consider the ways in which activities, which arise naturally in their own contexts, similarly function as spiritual or religious practices. In doing so, these communities can cultivate a contextually appropriate Orthodoxy, without falling into the trap of fundamentalist thought. This project will contribute to ongoing conversations around Christian practices, and to research at the intersection of practical theology and spirituality studies.