When Prayers Go Unanswered

Many Americans believe God answers prayers, but scholars know little about how individuals handle situations in which they perceive that prayers have gone unanswered. Using data from an in‐depth interview project with current and former victims of intimate partner violence, I argue that perceived unanswered prayers cause challenges to belief systems that elicit attribution processes—or cognitive processes through which individuals try to explain the causes of actors’ behavior—whose outcomes are explanations for why God did not answer their prayers. I find that the outcomes of these attribution processes are God‐serving justifications, or attributions of God's perceived unanticipated or problematic behavior that define this behavior as appropriate to the situation. God‐serving justifications for unanswered prayers fall into three types: (1) appeal to higher loyalties, (2) affirmation of benefits, and (3) denial of the pray‐er. I conclude with a discussion of the implications and limitations of the analysis.     

Trust,organisational boundaries and gender: Mothers Prayers in Ukraine

This article is focused on the Ukrainian branch of an international prayer network Mothers Prayers and its relations with the hierarchy of the Greek Catholic Church. The argument made here can be located within investigations on the transformations of religion and gender relations under Soviet socialism and the post-Soviet conditions (Buckley 1997; Kormina et al. 2015; Luehrmann 2011; Ngo and Quijada 2015; Wanner 2012). While a gender-focused analysis can undoubtedly help us understand some crucial aspects of this movement’s development, here I put forward a complementary interpretation which stresses the need to understand religious vitality and the role of religion, including religious organisations such as churches, in social and political struggles as an outcome of the Soviet secularisation project. The secularisation politics in the Soviet Union resulted both in the appearance of an ‘ambient faith’ (Engelke 2012; Wanner 2014) in unexpected areas of life and in changes of how people perceive the role of religious organisations in religious and political life. I argue that the praying mothers mobilise their motherhood to challenge the male-dominated hierarchical religious organisation in ways that are implicit and indirect, but nevertheless significant.     

Attributional Style,Self-Esteem,and Celebrity Worship

Two studies were carried out to investigate the relationship between attributional style (Study 1), self-esteem (Study 2), and different forms of celebrity worship. Entertainment social celebrity worship (the most normal form considered) was unrelated to attributional style or self-esteem; intense personal celebrity worship was related positively to self-esteem but also to a propensity toward stable and global attributions; and borderline pathological celebrity worship (the most negative form considered) was related to external, stable, and global attributions. These results were independent of whether participants were located in Europe or North America, and are discussed in terms of whether celebrity worship should be regarded as positive or negative and as a unitary concept.     

Unanswered Prayers: Religiosity and the God-Serving Bias

Two self-report experiments examined how religiosity affects attributions made for a target person’s death. Online adults (Study 1, N = 427) and undergraduate students (Study 2, N = 326) read about Chris who had a heart attack, used religious or health behaviors, and lived or died. Participants made attributions to Chris and God (both studies), and reported their emotions (Study 2). Participants made more attributions to Chris when he lived than when he died, but only when he used health behaviors. The highly religious made more attributions to God, but not when Chris used religious behaviors and died (the God-serving bias); they reported the most positive emotions when Chris lived after using religious behaviors (the Hallelujah effect). Directions for future research in terms of implicit religious beliefs and normative evaluations of religion are discussed.     

The Perceived Prayers of Others,Stress, and Change in Depressive Symptoms Over Time

The purpose of this study was to see if believing that others are praying for them reduces the noxious effect of living in a rundown neighborhood on change in depressive symptoms among older people. Findings from a longitudinal nationwide survey of older adults reveal that the deleterious effect of living in a dilapidated neighborhood on depressive symptoms is significantly reduced for older individuals who believe others often pray for them. Further analyses suggest that the stress-buffering properties of beliefs about being prayed for by others remain virtually unchanged after emotional support from family members and close friends is taken into account. The findings have potentially important implications for studying church-based prayer groups as well as assessing the ways in which individuals might support each other during difficult times.     

咒语的本源、演变、基本特征以及与祷词、神谕的区别

巫术与神灵崇拜仪式中出现的仪式语言有咒语、祷词与神谕。在现代社会尚存的以民俗信仰为主的中国本土传统的宗教仪式中,三种仪式语言往往连用或混杂在一起,而咒语的情况最为复杂。原始形态的咒语源自巫术活动中的语言灵力崇拜,而在后世有各种与神灵崇拜相结合的形态。依照咒语形成的原理和基本特征,可以判别具体仪式中咒语的灵力构成形态。根据三种仪式语言的性质、特征的差异,以及所用词句的不同,可以将三者加以比较细致的区分,借此可以明了特定仪式的超自然力崇拜的具体状况。     

Religion,Poverty, and Development

This article serves two purposes. First, it introduces the forum that follows in this issue on religion and development. Second, it serves as a review of the small but quickly growing literature on how religion interacts with efforts by (often religious) people and organizations to ameliorate poverty worldwide. We address the need to define both “religion” and “development” with clarity and precision. We also call for further research in this area by sociologists, particularly at a time when the landscape of development practice is shifting, from changes in funding sources and priorities to competition between religious and secular organizations.     

Prayers, spiritual support, and positive attitudes in coping with the September 11 national crisis

This study was designed to help fill gaps in faith-related and positive psychology research. Psychologists have called for precise assessment of effective faith factors inherent within spiritual experiences that may explain their beneficial effects. Positive psychologists suggest the need to examine social and faith-related origins of optimism. Based on previous research, we redefined spiritual support and developed a new assessment. The study is a survey of 453 graduate and undergraduate students 3 months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The results showed that participants, who believed in diverse spiritual entities, used various types of prayer for coping. A structural equation model showed that a linkage of spiritual support and positive attitudes mediated the effect of faith-based and secular factors on post-September 11 distress. Higher levels of initial negative emotional response were associated with the use of prayer for coping, which was, in turn, related to less distress through the pathway of the above linkage.     

Orthodox Worship

Abstract

This article attempts to convey both the riches of the experience of Orthodox Christian worship and the wealth of materials used in the liturgical celebration. There will be a discussion of the setting, the temple, and the modes of participation in the worship experience. The place of the senses in the experience will be noted, along with a sampling of the texts used. The article also contains a full discussion of the many liturgical texts required. An annotated bibliography of books and list of websites, together with a select glossary, are included.     

The Missional Shape of Worship in Evangelical Lutheran Worship

Abstract : Mission stands out as an orienting concept in ELW unlike its predecessors. ELW has a missional theological framework as well as a practical missional orientation, a situation in which worship and mission are understood and practiced in relation to one another. It is possible that ELW will help congregations claim the missional character of worship.     

哈尼族祖先崇拜丧葬习俗及调适作用探讨

本文在实际调查和广泛收集资料的基础上,运用民俗学、社会学、民族学、文化人类学等学科理论梳理和分析了哈尼族祖先崇拜在丧葬期间和节假日中的不同礼仪分类及其特点,探讨了哈尼族祖先崇拜在道德评价、行为约束、情感凝聚等三方面的调适作用。