E-Book Overview
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
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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