Part of Series
'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. 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.
Author
Philip Sheldrake is a theologian who has been closely involved with the emergence of Christian Spirituality as an academic field. Sheldrake is Past President of the International Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, and was Leech Professor of Applied Theology at Durham University. His publications have focused on the interface of spirituality, theology, and religious history, and he has also written on religious reconciliation. Sheldrake trained in history, philosophy, and theology at the universities of Oxford and London, and later taught at the Universities of London and Cambridge. Sheldrake is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Senior Research Fellow, Cambridge Theological Federation, and Honorary Professor, University of Wales. He has also regularly been a visiting professor in the United States.
