Show simple item record

dc.contributor.creatorO'Connell, Daniel
dc.date.accessioned2013-05-29T11:34:35Z
dc.date.available2013-05-29T11:34:35Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.identifier.citationO'Connell, D. (2008),'Educating Religiously toward a Public Spirituality', Boston:Boston College.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10395/1912
dc.description.abstractThe question at the heart of this dissertation is: “How can Christian religious education help people know the value and importance of a healthy public/common life and further their interest and ability to participate in the public sphere toward the common good?” Care for our public lives must to be a part of our spirituality. It is not enough to know about the importance of the public realm to our well-being, rather, this concern must be part of what matters to us, a dimension of our affect and desire, something we want and care about. Hence the coupling of ‘public’ with ‘spirituality.’ A public spirituality is something that helps us see beyond the interpersonal dimension of life and recognize the wider public context for these relationships. It appreciates the importance of public life, civil society, and the public sphere. It is grounded in the public dimension of Catholic faith and connected to rich sources of wisdom from Christian tradition. This spirituality draws the person or community into the public sphere to participate in sustained, persuasive, respectful, and critical conversations about issues that matter to them. This dissertation argues that the task of religious education is to educate for such a spirituality and using the work of Thomas H. Groome, it outlines a particular way that in which this can happen. Chapter 1 demonstrates the importance of ‘the public’ to our well-being, looking closely at the role of civil society, the public sphere, and secularization. Chapter 2 articulates the public dimension of Catholic faith, with attention to the themes of participation, the common good, and how theology is done in public. Chapter 3 lays the foundation for a public spirituality, focusing on the Trinity, the challenge of the stranger, the mystical-transformational dimension of Christian spirituality, and Christianity as a way of seeing. Chapter 4 offers illustrations of public spirituality at work in three organizations: the Conference of Religious of Ireland Justice, Theos, U.K., and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization. Finally, Chapter 5, proposes a shared Christian praxis approach to Christian religious education as a model to nurture and nourish a public spirituality.en
dc.language.isoengen
dc.publisherBoston Collegeen
dc.rightsUsed by permission © Daniel O'Connellen
dc.subjectReligious Educationen
dc.subjectChurchen
dc.subjectSocial justiceen
dc.titleEducating religiously toward a public spiritualityen
dc.typeDoctoral thesisen
dc.type.supercollectionmic_theses_dissertationsen
dc.type.restrictionnoneen
dc.description.versionNoen


Files in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record