This article is an abridged version of a chapter in my dissertation. In my dissertation, I examine the relationship between personal experience and public theory within certain strands of contemporary psychology of religion and pastoral theology. My guiding theory is Peter Homans's "mourning religion" thesis. In this chapter, I examine the life and work of Donald Capps, who is the most prolific contemporary writer in the fields of psychology of religion and pastoral theology. I argue that Capps addressed various personal losses in a deeply personal way during his fifties, and I believe that the key moment for Capps in overcoming his melancholia occurred after his application of his melancholia theory to Jesus, because there Capps was able to integrate and to sustain in a satisfying way his various selves and, therefore, open himself up to mourn in a non-defensive way"the way of humor.
This article interprets the parable traditionally known as the parable of the sower by arguing that it is actually a parable focusing on good soil. It analyzes the parable’s placement next to Gospel narratives in which Jesus redefines his kin network and maintains that the good soil metaphor su...
Concentrated principally in four of twenty-eight Indian states, there have been more than 33,000 Hindu-Muslim riots since 1947. Scholars have differently explained communal violence. Some have argued that there are innate qualities in Indian society which encourage what Donald Horowitz calls "dea...
The main proposal of this paper is that normal mourning is not completed after six months to a year or two as suggested in earlier literature, but may bring about a permanent alteration of psychological structures that affect various aspects of the mourning persons' lives. These structural conseq...
Psychological stress is an ubiquitous challenge across human cultures affecting mental and physical health. Recent evidence indicates that performance tasks combining elements of socio-evaluative threat and uncontrollability elicit reliable stress responses. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is...
Several computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (cCBT) packages are now available to treat mild to moderate depression with or without anxiety. These have been usually been reviewed alongside cCBT for a wide range of psychological problems. Here, we single out the results of these reviews for th...
This study examined the psychometric properties of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) with individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) in an inpatient setting (N = 96). The 10-item MLQ comprises Presence (perceived meaning) and Search (motivation to discover meaning) scales. This study foc...
Following the thinking of Karl Barth, this article demonstrates how and why reading the Bible in faith is necessary in order to understand the truth which is and remains identical with God himself speaking to us in his Word and Spirit. After developing how faith, grace, revelation and truth are c...
Using 16 non-clinical adults from the community, this study examined the effects on well-being of a group intervention consisting of a 4-week behavioural activation component followed by a 3-week mindfulness component, finishing with an integrating closure session. Results from intention-to-treat...
The search for the ideal method of treatment for mandibular fractures has continued for thousands of years. These injuries have unique and problematic features for adequate reliable wound healing. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons must learn and master several techniques for mandibular fracture tre...
Fibromyalgia is a widespread, chronic pain disorder that includes a complex constellation of somatic and emotional symptoms. Controlled clinical trials for both medication and nonmedication therapies have led to sound, evidence-based recommendations for the care of patients with fibromyalgia.This...
