Sacred changes: Spiritual conversion and transformation

Annette Mahoney · Kenneth I. Pargäment

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Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Contemporary Christian Leadership and Education Jungian Analytical Psychology

Abstract

We use Pargament's (1997) definition of religion-"the search for significance in ways related to the sacred"-as a framework to understand spiritual conversion. Like other life-changing transformations, spiritual conversion alters the destinations that clients perceive to be of greatest importance in life (significance) and the pathways by which clients discover what is most significant in life (search). Unlike other transformative experiences, however, spiritual conversion incorporates the third element of religion, "the sacred," into the content of change. To illustrate these points, we discuss two theological models of spiritual conversion rooted in Christianity: a traditional model based on classic western theology and an alternative model based on feminist theology. We then compare processes of spiritual conversion to nonreligious models of transformation. We also highlight the importance for clinical work of the fit between the context of a client's life and the type of spiritual conversion experienced.

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References

2001Handbook of Positive Psychology 1990Attachment Theory and Religion: Childhood Attachments, Religious Beliefs, and Conversion 1994Understanding Religious Conversion 1998God as a Substitute Attachment Figure: A Longitudinal Study of Adult Attachment Style and Religious Change in College Students 1999Religious Conversion and Personality Change 2011The Varieties of Religious Experience 1981Conversion Motifs 1997A Longitudinal Study of Changes in Religious Belief and Behavior as a Function of Individual Differences in Adult Attachment Style

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