Psychoanalysts since Sigmund Freud have tried to discuss the role of religion in modern societies. Freud himself saw religion as an illusion which had struck neurotics, while Slavoj Žižek viewed it as some sort of “perversion” which functioned in the cycle of law-transgression. In this essay, I dig into these theories to uncover traces of Lutheran interpretations of Paul’s words on the Jewish l...

Obviously, removing the supernatural from the Bible touches the foundation facts of the Christian faith: the incarnation and. resurrection of Christ. And it is interesting to observe that even scholars who engage in the demythologizing ‘process take issue with one another over their treatment of these, crucial matters. Yet the dilemma seems to be that if one does not retain the incarnation and ...

in the wisdom-faith relation debate, as one of the most important issues in theology, thomas aquinas, the renowned christian rhetoric of the middle ages, intellectually claims that wisdom is independent and even superior to faith. in the modern cartesian intellectualism, there is nothing superior to the wisdom, put differently; things which can’t be recognized through logic can’t be considered ...

INTRODUCTION In Western Europe, the Christian churches are changing at a large scale. Two examples may illustrate the new situation: In France, a traditional catholic country, until the 1960s the belief in God remained stable around 75 %. In 2006, only 52 % of the population indicate that they trust in God. While in the 1990s around 80 % attended worship services regularly, today only 51 % do s...

This study explored the participants' perceptions of using prayer and scripture in a Christian-based stress-coping support group (CSCSG). Twenty-eight church attendances were recruited from a Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. Based on the finding from qualitative analyses using a modified grounded theory approach, four themes related to the participants' learning experiences emerged. The four them...

Since it was first presented, James Fowler’s Faith Development Theory has proven influential in pastoral care/counselling, pastoral/practical theology, spiritual direction and Christian education. However, it has also been subject to substantial critical evaluation. This article reviews the major themes within psychological critiques and considers the agenda provided by these critiques for the ...

The project is a continuation of a series of governance research pieces in which the ontological question, “What does it mean to BE a governor?” is explored. This specific project is framed from the point of view of governors of faith-based organizations. Based on a previous governance peer learning research project (Seel, 2006), this project examines how governors of Christian faith-based orga...

whenever we are discussing the nature of faith, we often have a classification based on the object of faith. accordingly, faith is generally either propositional or non-propositional. it means that if faith belongs to one or several propositions, its nature is also propositional and a kind of knowledge. but if the object of faith is a real thing or person, the nature of faith is related to such...