Religion, Spirituality, and Health Revisited: Bringing Mainline Western Protestant Perspectives Back into the Discourse-Theology's "Seat at the Table".

Theological perspectives have been given short shrift in the literature on religion and health research. This study demonstrates how including different schools of mainline Western Protestant theological thought (evolutionist, correlationist, and dialectical) in the scientific process could contribute to clarifying controversies. The issue is not just theoretical: Theology can even challenge assumptions on elicitability and reproducibility. Theology perceives spirituality as a dialogue with the Total Other, thus making each encounter with the transcendent (not just the individuality of the person) unique and unpredictable. By accepting setbacks on a journey with wide-ranging aspirations, theology redefines health as the momentum of constant striving toward the divine spirit. Since these theological insights relate to interventions that affect patients' intimacy, attempting to recognize the (albeit implicit) spiritual-theological standpoint of the patient and the self-and how these relate to authentic traditions of spirituality-appears to be an essential prerequisite for ethical spiritual intervention.

The Attachment Mapping Protocol (AMP): An Assessment and Treatment Tool for General Psychotherapy, Systemic Family Therapy and Multifaith Spiritual Care.

This paper introduces the Attachment Mapping Protocol (AMP), which is an assessment and treatment tool for use in individual psychotherapy, systemic family therapy and multifaith spiritual care, using a bio-psycho-social-spiritual model of care. Attachment theory has a long and significant history in psychology, with an evolving relationship within the above clinical domains. A central aim of this paper will be to recognize and affirm the extension of attachment theory beyond the traditional parameters of nascent parental, guardianship bonds and individual, developmental psychology, to reveal a much broader spectrum of valid attachment considerations for mental health and spiritual well-being. A case study will be applied to the interviewing instrument to demonstrate its utility for broadening assessment beyond attachment figures to include surrogate attachments of other persons, places and things. A model of spiritual discernment derived from the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola will undergird this larger worldview of attachment considerations.

An Approach to Psychological Counseling from a Religious Worldview.

This article investigates counseling in a religious context while keeping human subjects' existential realities in mind. The methodology, which combines Theology and Psychology, aims to provide an alternative approach to religious counseling by overcoming religious counselors' tendency to limit human suffering to "spiritual symptoms" by utilizing religious cosmovisions structured in pre-established concepts and values. Furthermore, the approach focuses on the development of human subjects in terms of their quality of life through the spiritual and mental health pillars.

Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Caring for Pentecostal Patients.

People of the Pentecostal faith are a grouping of Protestant Christians. Pentecostals are a growing group not only in the United States, but also worldwide. This article focuses on the Pentecostal beliefs and spiritual practices in North America and their implications in the clinical environment. As the population of this faith group continues to grow, palliative care clinicians will need a basic understanding of the values and practices of Pentecostal spirituality and its potential impact on goals-of-care discussions. This article offers 10 recommendations for clinicians to better understand and support Pentecostal patients and families. These overarching concepts of Pentecostal faith and practices are presented as a point of initiation for further exploration of the support that may be needed, and not as a comprehensive guide.

Revisiting the Healing Narrative of the Gospel in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In terms of health issues, Christians often refer to the stories of Jesus' healings in the Gospels as an important spiritual resource. However, theological interpretations vary, depending on the hermeneutical method employed and the contextual factors considered. This article explores such approaches to the Gospels' healing narrative and relates them to the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the platform of practical theology, five theological approaches to the healing narrative are identified and then analyzed. The results of this study suggest that each approach has a degree of relevance that is worth developing to produce a theological contribution to ongoing mitigation and healing efforts.

A Theologian's Memoir in Time of Pandemic.

As a theology professor in a Catholic University, we are trained to teach minds, touch hearts, and transform lives. But a professor gains deeper understanding of the importance of teaching theology in time of COVID-19 pandemic. My theology is rooted in my personal religious and spiritual experiences. Therefore, experience led me to construct three themes: "Light of Faith"; "The True, Good and Beautiful"; "Religious and Spiritual Experiences."

Theophrastus Bombastus Von Hohenheim: Theological Reformer, Philosopher and Physician.

Theophrastus Bombastus Von Hohenheim (1493-1541), known as Paracelsus, was a German-Swiss Renaissance man. His interests included alchemy and medicine. During the early 1500s, he worked as a physician, introducing mineral-based therapies to treat ailments. He is credited with developing the first recipe for laudanum, a powerful opium-based pain medication. He had radical beliefs, claiming that supreme knowledge could be reached by observing nature, not by reading books. He expressed rebellious opinions on religious topics and, though devoted Christian, criticized the Catholic Church, preaching that the spirit of Christianity dwells in the human soul and not within the church walls. Paracelsus' efforts to "renovate" the expression of the Christian faith by limiting the ritual and augmenting the spirituality among believers are presented.

A Chaplain's View on Religious Delusions (and Other Extraordinary Experiences): Towards a Theological Framework of Understanding.

In this article, the author discusses the question of how to evaluate delusions with religious or spiritual content from a theological perspective. How does a spiritual care practitioner listen to such delusions? The author proposes a theory of meaning that can account for both ordinary and extraordinary experiences and discusses a list of theological criteria in terms of which spiritual care practitioners can understand delusional and other extraordinary experiences and beliefs with spiritual content.

HAVE-H: Five Attitudes for a Narratively Grounded and Embodied Spirituality.

Western cultures are becoming increasingly cognitive. While this trend has produced many advances in science and related fields, it has also resulted in the neglect of human emotions and bodies in many domains. This article argues that spiritual care practitioners can counterbalance this trend through the embodiment of five specific attitudes summarized by the acronym HAVE-H ((a) honoring the origins of perception; (b) acknowledging the inevitability of projection; (c) validating experiential neutrality; (d) embodying a commitment to truth; and (e) holding space for metaphysics/transcendence/time).

Espiritualidade nos cuidados paliativos: questão de saúde pública? / Spirituality in palliative care: a public health issue? / Espiritualidad en los cuidados paliativos: ¿un problema de salud pública?

Resumo Reconhecido pela Organização Mundial da Saúde como essencial às boas práticas em assistência paliativa, "cuidado espiritual" é termo recente na saúde brasileira e carece de reflexão específica. A fim de diminuir tal lacuna, este estudo apresenta o estado da arte sobre a temática, traz breves orientações sobre como identificar necessidades espirituais e descreve quatro ferramentas úteis para esse cuidado. Após contextualização, reflete-se, de forma introdutória e com base nos campos da bioética e da teologia pública, se esse tipo de cuidado seria questão de saúde pública. O texto conclui com recomendações para subsidiar políticas públicas voltadas à implementação do cuidado espiritual na assistência paliativa no Brasil.

Abstract Recognized by the World Health Organization as essential for good practices in palliative treatments, "spiritual care" is a recent term in the context of Brazilian healthcare, and should be more well-defined. To fill this gap, this study presents an overview of the updating of spiritual care in Brazil, the United States and Europe, provides brief guidance on how to identify spiritual needs, and outlines four useful tools for this type of care. After the contextualization follows an interdisciplinary and introductory reflection based on bioethics and public theology, questioning whether this care would be a public health issue. The text concludes by presenting some recommendations that may support public policies aimed at implementing spiritual support in palliative care in Brazil.

Resumen Aunque reconocido por la Organización Mundial de la Salud como esencial para las buenas prácticas en cuidados paliativos, "cuidado espiritual" es un término reciente en el contexto de la salud brasileña, acerca del cual todavía falta reflexión específica. Para contribuir a llenar este vacío, este estudio presenta una breve guía sobre como identificar las necesidades espirituales, describiendo cuatro herramientas útiles para este cuidado. Después de la contextualización se refleja, de forma introductoria y con base en los campos de la bioética y de la teología pública, si este tipo de cuidado es un tema de salud pública. El texto concluye con recomendaciones que pueden apoyar las políticas públicas orientadas a implementar el cuidado espiritual en la asistencia paliativa en Brasil.

The haunted heart and the Holy Ghost: on retrieval, donation and death.

This enquiry examines problems which haunt the 'heart' and its donation. It begins by examining the heart's enduring significance for culturally mediated self-understanding, its vulnerability to misunderstanding and abuse and its relevance to challenging the determination of death by neurological criteria. Despite turns to brain-centred self-conceptions, the heart remains haunted by the hybrid experiences of identity accompanying organ transplant, the relational significance attached to dead hearts witnessed in the Alder Hey scandal and claims that heart transplants commonly constitute the legitimate killing of a person. To explore these phenomena, traditions are retrieved in which the heart-as-organ was construed in terms of a person's core identity. Influential Abrahamic beliefs about 'the heart' are considered in order to explore explanations for why the heart remains culturally pre-eminent, to make intelligible our haunted hearts and to examine possible violations of solidarity in organ donation practice. Jewish and Christian Scriptures are exegeted to illumine the sources of our haunting and address the desire for holistic bodily life. In these sources, the heart is the seat of affections, intelligence and agency but requires healing, conceived via the surgical metaphors of heart transplant and circumcision, if people are to join the insightful, solidary path of pilgrimage. Absent healing, the heart experiences a judgement of the whole person-organ-and-core-at the moment of death. Through such exegesis, the doctrine of the Holy Ghost emerges as a way to make intelligible, though not dispel, the heart's haunting. The doctrine's practical significance concerns the possibility of social unity among hearts, 'intercordiality', which construes people within a covenantal life of pilgrimage which encourages heart donation in certain circumstances, makes intelligible the Alder Hey parents' experience of social misunderstanding and rejects ascribing any legitimacy in medical culture to the consensual killing of patients for the sake of retrieving their organs.

Untangling Spiritual Contradictions Through the Psychology of Lived Paradox: Integrating Theological Diversity in the Old Testament with Durand's Framework on the Imaginary.

There are many theological themes that appear in the Old Testament in Israel's relationship with Yahweh. These themes contain multiple emphases throughout different times in Israel's history that can richly inform how the contemporary believer is to relate with God. At times though, these varied themes can seem to cross in opposition with one another. Having a framework of theological diversity is helpful in untangling potential theological contradictions that can otherwise threaten to strangle the well-being of the believer trying to live faithfully in light of the whole canon of Scripture. Insights from the French anthropologist Gilbert Durand on the psyche's unconscious structures of the imaginary seem to be of help in this endeavor. They can aid the contemporary believer's journey in discerning when to take the initiative in acting on behalf of God, when to be expectantly passive while waiting for God to fulfill his promises, and when to engage in a joint decision-making process with him. They can also aid the believer toward both psychological and spiritual maturity as well as provide help in navigating different seasons in one's spiritual journey.

Reconciling as a Primary Pastoral Act of Spiritual Care.

Hiltner's shepherding perspective offered a primary reference point for pastoral theologians. This paper examines how the reconciling function of that perspective guides the care proceeding from it for Black persons experiencing medical crises. I analyze connections in the work of Archie Smith with Black persons involved in the healthcare system to show how Black persons draw upon spiritual resources and other resources implicit to the Black community itself in order to reconcile lived experiences with sickness.

Toxic Theology as a Contributing Factor in Complicated Mourning.

As an educator and spiritual caregiver to the bereaved, I offer supportive companionship and spiritual healing tools for the grief journey. In this capacity, I have encountered certain theological mindsets that can disrupt psychological well-being, and in some cases lead to complicated mourning, depression and even illness. This paper explores these "toxic theologies" and their relationship to complicated mourning, while offering alternative perspectives and cosmologies that may be helpful in supporting grievers who face spiritual challenges.

Medical Assistance in Dying: Challenges for Muslim Healthcare Professionals.

There appears to be a great deal of discussion among non-Muslim healthcare professionals, especially nurses and physicians, about medical assistance in dying. However, the discussion of medical assistance in dying among Muslim health caregivers including physicians, social workers, spiritual caregivers, etc. remains insufficient. A thorough analysis of the content of available resources revealed that we need more literature to analyze the attitude of Muslim health caregivers towards medical assistance in dying. This article describes the general attitude towards medical assistance in dying among non-Muslim. This will allow us to observe the challenges and dilemmas faced by Muslim healthcare professionals around medical assistance in dying.

"A kind of agonie in my thoughts": writing puritan and non-conformist women's pain in 17th-century England.

The relationship between pain as a physical and emotional experience and the concept of suffering as an essential aspect of sanctification for faithful believers was a paradoxical and pressing theological and phenomenological issue for puritan and non-conformist communities in 17th-century England. Pain allows the paradox of non-conformists' valorisation and suppression of corporeality to be explored due to its simultaneous impact on the mind and body and its tendency to leak across boundaries separating an individual believer from other members of their family or faith community. The material world and the human body were celebrated as theatres for the display of God's glory through the doctrines of creation and providence despite the fall. Pain as a concept and experience captures this tension as it was represented and communicated in a range of literary genres written by and about puritan and non-conformist women including manuscript letters, spiritual journals, biographies and commonplace books. For such women, targeted by state authorities for transgressing gender norms and the religion established by law, making sense of the pain they experienced was both a personal devotional duty and a political act. Three case studies comprise a microhistory of 17th-century English puritan and non-conformist women's lived experience, interpretation and representation of pain, inscribed in a series of manuscripts designed to nurture the spiritual and political activism of their communities. This microhistory contributes to a better understanding of pain in early modern England through its excavation of the connections that such writers drew between the imperative to be visibly godly, their marginalised subject position as a proscribed religious minority and their interpretation of the pain they experienced as a result.

The Evolution of Research Paradigms in Pastoral/Spiritual Care, Counseling, and Education.

This partially autobiographical article is presented as a chapter in the narrative of the evolution of research methodology in the social sciences and the impact that evolution has had on pastoral/spiritual care research as the author has experienced and observed it during the latter part of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st century.

Drawing Close to the Brokenhearted: Pastoral Responses to Parents Grieving Stillbirth.

Despite its prevalence worldwide, stillbirth is poorly understood and rarely discussed. Accordingly, ministers and other pastoral caregivers are seldom prepared to counsel and console parents suffering from this type of infant loss and to effectively design, propose, and lead ministries within their faith communities for this grieving population. This article addresses the immediate pastoral needs of bereaved parents and proposes first and second order responses that ministers and faith communities can employ to compassionately and effectively care for parents suffering from the trauma of stillbirth.

Healing and Belonging: Godly Play in Pediatric Medicine and the Theology of Disability.

Godly Play can serve as an effective therapeutic and spiritual intervention for children experiencing physical, emotional, and/or spiritual stress. As many pediatric healthcare providers note, this type of intervention is an important component to a child's healing. This article situates Wolfson Children's Hospital's practice of Godly Play within two larger discussions that advocate for improved care for children with mental and physical impairments and concludes that this practice provides insight for the church and society to create a world in which children with mental and physical impairments belong.

Myths or theories? Alternative beliefs about HIV and AIDS in South African working class communities.

Despite three decades of public health promotion based on the scientific explanation of HIV/AIDS, alternative explanations of the disease continue to circulate. While these are seen as counter-productive to health education efforts, what is rarely analysed is their plurality and their tenacity. This article analyses the 'AIDS myths' collected by African HIV/AIDS workplace peer educators during an action research project. These beliefs about HIV/AIDS are organised, in this article, around core ideas that form the basis of 'folk' and 'lay theories' of HIV/AIDS. These constitute non-scientific explanations of HIV/AIDS, with folk theories drawing on bodies of knowledge that are independent of HIV/AIDS while lay theories are generated in response to the disease. A categorisation of alternative beliefs about HIV/AIDS is presented which comprises three folk theories - African traditional beliefs, Christian theology, and racial conspiracy - and three lay theories, all focused on avoiding HIV infection. Using this schema, the article describes how the plausibility of these alternative theories of HIV/AIDS lies not in their scientific validity, but in the robustness of the core idea at the heart of each folk or lay theory. Folk and lay theories of HIV/AIDS are also often highly palatable in that they provide hope and comfort in terms of prevention, cure, and the allocation of blame. This study argue that there is coherence and value to these alternative HIV/AIDS beliefs which should not be dismissed as ignorance, idle speculation or simple misunderstandings. A serious engagement with folk and lay theories of HIV/AIDS helps explain the continued circulation of alternative beliefs of HIV/AIDS and the slow uptake of behavioural change messages around the disease.