Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The study of Christian spirituality is rapidly developing as an interdisciplinary field. According to Sandra Schneiders, “it seeks to understand [Christian experience] as it actually occurs, as it actually transforms its subject toward fullness of life in Christ, that is, toward self-transcending life-integration within the Christian community of faith” (1998: 3). As such, Christian spirituality is studied within the horizon of meaning and practice created by its specifically Christian content and context. Its interdisciplinary partners will ordinarily include the history of Christian spirituality, Scripture as its foundational source, and the particular history and theological emphases of specific Christian traditions. The particular aspect of spirituality, a given issue or problem constituting a scholar's inquiry, will dictate which additional disciplines the researcher will bring to bear on the particular problem. Because of the intrinsic inter-relationships between spirituality and psychology-both fields concentrating on human interiority and its patterns of deformation, development, integration, and its relationship to the sacred - this particular dialogue has moved from hostility to rivalry, to mutual cooperation, and to mutual respect. In many schools of psychology today, the significance of spirituality as one aspect of the client's worldview and its importance in contributing ... log in or subscribe to read full text