Childbearing women and infants in developing countries continue to experience unacceptably high rates of mortality and morbidity in spite of targeted initiatives to address the problem. The aim of this study was to identify the beliefs and rituals of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in one indigenous Guatemalan community to better understand the cultural influences on perinatal care practice...

Brad J. Kallenberg, Ph.D., is Professor of Theology & Ethics at the University of Dayton (OH) where he has pioneered a course in engineering ethics that compares ethics to engineering design. After studying chemistry, then physics, on a scholarship to the University of Minnesota, Kallenberg eventually shifted his attention to topics arising at the interface of science, engineering and theology....

Recent publications on Old Testament wisdom literature perpetuate the theory of a ‘crisis in wisdom’ and leave unresolved the question of its provenance within Old Testament theology. Despite considerable diversity within the wisdom corpus, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job are in basic agreement regarding wisdom’s limitations and benefits, as well as regarding divine freedom and retribution. Thu...

This paper has three parts. In the first part, we bring to the fore an ancient Vedic concept of mesocosm and discuss its religious and cosmic significance within Indian religion. This part also brings an initial approach towards philosophy of spirituality by focusing on the role of breath within the very concept of mesocosm. In the second part, based on our preliminary analysis, we present an o...

‘‘Our land is sacred, and not tradable.’’ ‘‘Jerusalem is not up for discussion.’’ ‘‘As a matter of principle, I will not give that crook a dime!’’ ‘‘Human life cannot be given a dollar value.’’ Each of these statements suggests that the actor places a sacred value on some issue. But, what does sacred mean? One possible answer is that it is a constraint and that the issue is truly not open for d...

This article surveys the beliefs concerning the supernatural characteristics and powers of sacred trees in Israel; it is based on a field study as well as a survey of the literature and includes 118 interviews with Muslims and Druze. Both the Muslims and Druze in this study attribute supernatural dimensions to sacred trees which are directly related to ancient, deep-rooted pagan traditions. The...

Looking back on my work in practical theology so far, I have always searched for teaching and research that matters to real people. My student years were not always too fulfilling in that respect. I learned a lot of course, and some of the material we studied was intellectually rather challenging, but I found it difficult to understand the connection between the conceptual systems and ritual tr...

In this article the author first gives an introduction to his own approach to comparative theology (CT). After some introductory considerations, an outline of the idea and foundation of CT is given and is contrasted with traditional approaches to other religions; the methods, goals, and also the limits of CT are discussed; CT is differentiated from religious studies and the theology of religion...

A growing body of research is beginning to identify characteristics that influence or are related to helping professionals’ integration of clients’ religion and spirituality (RS) in mental health treatment. This article presents Namaste Theory, a new theory for understanding the role of mental health practitioners’ RS in clinical practice. Using Glaser’s (2008) formal quantitative grounded theo...