Reformation Resources for Contemporary Eco‐Justice Theology

Reformation theology has two significant contributions to make to a renewal of environmental theology. Its heritage of sin exposes the fact that human efforts at intervention in the environment are only ambiguously good and in need of redemption themselves. Its heritage of freedom exposes some efforts toward environmental healing as works‐righteousness, available to be transformed by God in hope for a heavenly and earthly future.     

The secular and the sacred: reflections on Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age

Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age represents a remarkable achievement. Taylor insists in a reasoned way that the sacred continues to have an important and legitimate role, and challenges assumptions, whether based on Weberian or Durkheimian understandings of religion in society, that faith no longer has a place. In doing this, he distinguishes among different aspects of the secularisation thesis. In this article I assert that there is a coherence to Taylor’s body of work, including A Secular Age, and I trace certain themes, such as a concern with notions of the self, that run through his work. I also identify in Taylor’s argument links to the thought of thinkers like Blondel, Gilson, Maritain and Marcel, and to the notion of an apologetics of hope.     

Epiphanies: Small Miracles in Everyday Experiences of Dementia

This article approaches experiences of dementia from the perspective of key Quaker Testimonies, Quaker faith and practice. It is framed around five dimensions: the practice of reflection, the peace of silent worship, guidance of the Spirit, respect for “that of God in everyone,” and the mystery of faith. Each dimension includes contributions from persons with dementia and care partners. The stories illustrate times when individuals broke step with the old, made space for the new, reached for and experienced hope.     

The positive contributions of hope to maintaining and restoring health: An integrative,mixed-method approach

A link between hope and physical well-being has long been suspected. To shed further light on this issue, an integrative theory of hope was used to design three health-related studies. In studies one and two, an integrative hope scale was used. In study one, greater hope was associated with depth of commitment to a healthier diet and regular exercise. In study two, the integrative hope scale was associated with a wider array of health behaviors as compared to a standard goal-oriented hope scale. In study three, a hope-centered content analysis of testimonies provided by long-term breast cancer survivors revealed a strong reliance on attachment and spirituality, dimensions typically neglected in psychological studies of this [hope] construct. An integrative approach to hope offers a framework for further research on hope and health as well as a blueprint for developing positive interventions to sustain and restore physical well-being.     

Appreciating a Scientist-Theologian: Some Remarks on the Work of John Polkinghorne

Perhaps the greatest irony about the contemporary religion-science dialogue is the fact that, despite their own strongly articulated denials, many thinkers implicitly accept the "warfare" thesis of A. D. White—that is, they agree with White that traditional theology has proved unable to engage science in fruitful conversation. More than most others, John Polkinghorne understands just how badly White misread the history of Christianity and science, and how much theology has been impoverished by its failure to challenge this core assumption of modernity.     

Twenty Years in the Science and Theology Alpine Climbing Club

The important role of hope in the author's thinking is acknowledged. While natural theology is important in its proper place, Christian theology centers on the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Its discourse will need to avail itself of the power of symbol.     

Hope as an irreducible concept

I argue for a novel answer to the question “What is hope?”. On my view, rather than aiming for a compound account, i.e. analysing hope in terms of desire and belief, we should understand hope as an irreducible concept. After criticizing influential compound accounts of hope, I discuss Segal and Textor's alternative of describing hope as a primitive mental state. While Segal and Textor argue that available developments of the standard definition do not offer sufficient conditions for hope, I question the deep‐seated idea that desire and belief are even necessary conditions for hope. My suggestion is that we should take seriously the fact that we hope in a great variety of ways and should question the search for elements that are common to all cases. A promising alternative follows the Wittgensteinian idea that cases of hope are related in terms of family resemblance, i.e. are multiply realizable on the ontological level while falling under the non‐definable concept of hope.     

From Traumatic Language to Posttraumatic Language: The Development of Language in Therapy According to the “Phenomenon of Hope” Model

Hope and language are part of the human development process starting from birth and continuing through all the stages of development. They are tools that help us to cope in complex situations. Environmental failure produces trauma, which damages the “self” and impairs the development of hope and language. The individual experiences “pessimistic hope” and “drained hope” and begins using “concrete language” and “pseudo-language.” Such profiles and languages indicate functional difficulties, including the inability to establish mature intimate personal relationships. When traumatic events such as those experienced in military combat compound childhood trauma (environmental failure), mental and functional difficulties buried by our defense systems may rise to the surface and worsen and chronic complex trauma may ensue. Psychotherapy for chronic complex trauma is complex. The therapeutic approach that is used in the “hope phenomenon” model includes five therapy stages that allow us to examine the effect of a trauma on personality and function. Here we examine the link between the five stages of therapy and the use of language. According to my experience, patients use concrete language and pseudo-language in the beginning of the therapeutic connection. As this connection and therapist-patient alliance evolves and deepens and the client and therapist move through the various stages, the patient then starts to use “plural language.” Concrete language and pseudo-language are used in the pessimistic hope and drawn hope stages, respectively, until a profile characterized by a realistic and mature hope emerges. This profile goes hand in hand with an ability to use plural language. This article examines the development of hope and language in a complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patient who was treated using the hope phenomenon model. Consent for the therapy details to be used in this article was given by the patient.     

Divine Disaster Management: Cross and Resurrection as an Event of Creative Vulnerability

This article argues for a concept of a “responsive and creative divine vulnerability.” Such an understanding of the divine life relates differentiated conceptions of vulnerability, passion, and power. The article unfolds this specific understanding of divine vulnerability through a detailed analysis of the relation between the cross on the one hand and the resurrection of Christ in the power of the Spirit on the other hand.