Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed

Professor Philip Sheldrake

ISBN 10: 144119133X / ISBN 13: 9781441191335

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2014

About this Item

Series: Guides for the Perplexed. Num Pages: 216 pages, illustrations. BIC Classification: HRLK. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 216 x 137 x 13. Weight in Grams: 278. . 2014. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9781441191335

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 144119133X
• ISBN 13: 9781441191335
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

'Spirituality' is a word that is used increasingly these days yet it is often ill-defined. What exactly is spirituality? Is it distinct from religion and can we separate it from beliefs and traditions? Does spirituality mainly focus on spiritual experiences and practices or is it something more? This book suggests that, while there may be common features in the use of the word, 'spirituality' is not a single reality. Different 'spiritualities' reflect particular religious or philosophical viewpoints, as well as the cultural contexts in which they arise and develop.

Spirituality: A Guide for the Perplexed provides students and general readers with a reliable and comprehensive guide to 'spirituality' as an area of study, religiously, historically, philosophically and in the social sciences. It explores the tools that are used to study the subject and to interpret spiritual classics (whether these are written texts or other forms such as art) from different times and cultures. Attention is paid to spirituality in a variety of religious and non-religious forms in their own terms and comparatively. However, for the sake of simplicity greatest attention is given to the study of spirituality within a religious perspective with illustrations drawn from texts, personalities and themes associated with five major world religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. The book concludes with an exploration of spirituality in contemporary perspective - in particular how spirituality is currently employed in areas such as health-care, education and business among other examples.

About the Author

Philip Sheldrake is Senior Research Fellow at the Cambridge Theological Foundation, UK, and Director at the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality at Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, USA. He is author of a dozen books, editor of the New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (2005) and is a Past President of the International Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.