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Aging and religion has been badly neglected in the field of Gerontology. This book, containing 13 chapters of original theory and research, is devoted to understanding the place that religion and spirituality hold in the lives of elderly persons. The authors, each experts in their own field, approach this issue from their backgrounds in the social sciences and the humanities. Overall this is a ground-breaking collection: It is one of the first attempts to seek to understand the role that religion plays in the lives of elderly persons. Based on their various multi-disciplinary perspectives, the authors make use of a variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies as well as personal narrative and literature to grapple with this issue. Finally, the book is unique in that it addresses scholars and students, including the educated layman, rather than the professional alone.
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AGING AND THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION This page intentionally left blank AGING AND THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION Edited by L. EUGENE THOMAS and SUSAN A. EISENHANDLER Foreword by HARRY R. MOODY AUBURN HOUSE Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Aging and the religious dimension / edited by L. Eugene Thomas and Susan A. Eisenhandler. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-86569-210-6 (alk. paper) 1. Aging—Religious aspects. I. Thomas, L. Eugene. II. Eisenhandler, Susan A. BL65.A46A55 1994 261.8'3426-^dc20 93-9018 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 1994 by L. Eugene Thomas and Susan A. Eisenhandler All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-9018 ISBN: 0-86569-210-6 First published in 1994 Auburn House, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Printed in the United States of America @T The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Figures and Tables vii Foreword: The Owl of Minerva by Harry R. Moody ix Introduction: A Human Science Perspective on Aging and the Religious Dimension L. Eugene Thomas and Susan A. Eisenhandler I. 1. xvii THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES 1 Values, Psychosocial Development, and the Religious Dimension L. Eugene Thomas 3 2. From Loneliness to Solitude: Religious and Spiritual Journeys in Late Life Barbara Pittard Payne and Susan H. McFadden II. CASE STUDIES 3. From Sacred to Secular: Memoir of a Midlife Transition toward Spiritual Freedom Richard B. Griffin 13 29 31 Contents VI 4. The Way of the Religious Renouncer: Power through Nothingness L. Eugene Thomas III. HISTORICAL AND LITERARY STUDIES 51 65 5. Aging and Spiritual Empowerment: The Stories of Oedipus and David Stephen Bertman and W. Andrew Achenbaum 67 6. Fairy Tales and the Spiritual Dimensions of Aging Allan B. Chinen 85 7. Spiritual Well-being, Maturity, and Aging: Biblical Illustrations J. Gordon Harris 105 8. Honor Thy Mother: Aging Women in the Jewish Tradition Dena Shenk 115 IV. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION 9. A Social Milieu for Spirituality in the Lives of Older Adults Susan A. Eisenhandler 131 133 10. Life Narrative and Spiritual Journey of Elderly Male Religious Edward J. Quinnan 147 V. 167 INTERVIEW AND SURVEY RESEARCH 11. Generativity as Pragm