The Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion and the Medical Humanities by Slominski, Kristy L.; Powell, Adam J.; Cook, Christopher C. H.;

Short description:

Currently, religion is severely underemphasized within the medical humanities, and this book forges direct engagements between the fields of medical and health humanities on one hand, and religious studies and theological studies on the other. This volume includes 35 chapters from an international and interdisciplinary range of contributors.

Long description:

Currently, religion is absent or severely underemphasized within the medical humanities, and The Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, and the Medical Humanities forges direct engagements between the fields of medical and health humanities, on the one hand, and religious studies and theological studies on the other. This volume consists of 35 chapters from an international and interdisciplinary range of contributors, organized into 6 parts:

• Religious Studies and Theology in the Medical Humanities: Tensions and Transformations


• The Socio-Spiritual Self


• Culture and the Culturally Mediated


• Space, Place, and Bodies


• Beliefs, Brains, and Behaviours


• Spirituality and Religion in Healthcare: Application and Impact

By directly connecting major questions and themes from each of these domains, this volume firmly establishes a needed bridge and valuable resource for stakeholders with an interest in how mental and physical health relates to the human drive for meaning.

Table of Contents:

Introduction  Part I. Religious Studies and Theology in the Medical Humanities: Tensions and Transformations  1. The Line of Beauty: Religion, Medicine, and the Humanities  2. The Politics of Life and Death: The Medical Humanities and Religion in Public Health  3. Mystical Theology and the Phenomenology of Health  4. How May the Medical/Scientific Investigation of Spiritual Experiences Impact Religious Discourse and Theology?  5. Toward Shared Meaning: How Resilience Uncovers and Reshapes Transdisciplinary Common Ground  6. Medical Anthropology and New Testament Texts: Examining the Use of the Disease-Illness and Curing-Healing Distinctions in New Testament Scholarship  Part II. The Socio-Spiritual Self  7. Medieval Visionary Writing and the Spiritual Self: Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe  8. Dividuality and Death: Identity, Wellbeing, and Grief in Western and Non-Western Thought  9. American Muslim Identities at the Intersection of Religion and Health  10. Methods of Wellbeing: Amplifying the Culture and Experiences of Working-Class Clergy in the Church of England  11. Revisiting Ars Moriendi: End-of-Life Narratives, Spiritual Meaning, and Legacy-Making in West-European End-of-Life Care  Part III. Culture and the Culturally Mediated  12. Rituals and Cultural Expressions of Health During Pandemics in East Africa: COVID-19 Control in Kenya  13. Navigating the Counters of Religion vis-à-vis Abortion and Contraception in Contemporary Iran: A Sociological Approach  14. Jewish Bioethics: Arguments, Persuasions and Histories  15. Himalayan Buddhist Views on Women's Health and Wellness  16. Health Sermons in National Negro Health Week  17. Importance of Heat Revived: Premodern Medical Beliefs on Health and Gender in the East and West  Part IV. Space, Place, and Bodies  18. Producing Healing Spaces for Body and Soul in Byzantine Hospitals  19. Nineteenth-Century British Asylum Chapels: Healing Spaces of Worship  20. Being and Becoming 'At Home': Place and Time in End-of-Life Care  21. Sitting With Grief: Towards an Infrastructure of Intimacy on the Oncology Unit  22. Lee Jema’s Sasang Constitutional Medicine and Its Influence on Contemporary Dietary Therapy in South Korea  23. Dreaming for Her Daughter: Surrogacy and the Silent Subject in The Miracles of St. Artemios  Part V. Beliefs, Brains, and Behaviours  24. Sacred Moments for Health and Wellbeing  25. Christian Beliefs About Mental Ill-health  26. R/S as a Meaning-making System: The Embodied Self in a Relational Environment  27. Military Moral Injury and the Importance of Christian Theologies of Guilt, Forgiveness, and Hope in Preventing Negative Outcomes  28. Spirituality, Religion, and Recovery from Addictions  Part VI. Spirituality and Religion in Healthcare: Application and Impact  29. Inclusive Spirituality or Particular Religion? Contrasting Approaches to Religion and Spirituality Education and Formation in American Medical Education  30. Cultural Humility: A Mindset for Excellent Healthcare  31. “Making It Known to Your People”: Speaking and Acting Cancer in the Contemporary Diné World  32. Integration of Spirituality in Mental Health Care in Brazil: The Case of Spiritism  33. Integrative Spiritual Care for Mental Health Concerns: Lessons from an Intensive Chaplaincy Training Program  34. Spiritual Care in End-of-Life Care: A Challenge For All Health Care Professionals  35. Epilogue