Religion, Virtues, and Health

The literature on the relationship between religion and health is vast, but it is in a state of disarray. One empirical study has been piled upon another, while little effort has been made to integrate them into a more tightly knit theoretical whole. This book was designed to address this problem. It is the product of 40 years of empirical research, hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, and countless hours of deep reflection. This volume contributes to the literature in three ways: (1) a unique approach to theory construction and model development is presented that is designed to produce a conceptual scheme that is evidence based and empirically verifiable; (2) a new construct—communities of faith—that has largely been overlooked in empirical studies on religion is introduced; and (3) the need is highlighted for a no-holds-barred discussion of how to practice one’s research craft.

Setting the Stage

This chapter presents a detailed rationale for why this volume is needed. The discussion is divided into five sections: (1) a critical overview of the religion-and-health literature is provided; (2) some preliminary observations are made on the state of current theoretical frameworks and conceptual models in the field; (3) a new conceptual model is introduced—this model is based on the premise that religion is, in essence, a social phenomenon that serves as a key conduit for the transmission of core religious virtues; (4) a new model-building strategy is illustrated by showing how submodels (i.e., brief supplementary models) can be used to expand the conceptual scope of the core model; and (5) an overview is provided of the chapters that follow.

Conclusions

Five issues are examined in this summary chapter: (1) the major challenges that were encountered in writing his volume are reviewed and the solutions to them are identified, (2) further advice and encouragement are given to emerging scholars who wish to study religion and health, (3) the implications of the insights in this volume for the development of interventions are discussed next, (4) the author’s research agenda in the coming years is summarized, and (5) deeper and more philosophical issues that were encountered in writing this volume are identified with the goal of specifying the major insights about a scholarly life that were learned in the process.

Exploring Communities of Faith

Many researchers focus primarily on the frequency of church attendance when they study the religion-and-health relationship. The many shortcomings of this strategy are discussed in this chapter. A plea is made for focusing on communities of faith instead. Four issues involving communities of faith are examined: (1) a preliminary working definition of communities of faith is provided; (2) because communities of faith constitute a vast conceptual domain, a good deal of this chapter is spent on identifying the key characteristics of communities of faith and explaining how they arise and are maintained; (3) in an effort to move the literature forward, a detailed research plan for devising measures of communities of faith is presented; and (4) a submodel is provided that further illuminates the relationship between religious identities and communities of faith.

RELIGIÃO, ESPIRITUALIDADE E TRANSPLANTES: UMA REVISÃO INTEGRATIVA DA LITERATURA

Objetivo: Investigar a produção científica quanto à religião e espiritualidade no contexto dos transplantes de órgãos sólidos. Método: Revisão integrativa da literatura realizada nas bases de dados MEDLINE, LILACS, PUBMED, na biblioteca Scielo e no Journal of Religion and Health, por artigos primários publicados em português, inglês ou espanhol. Os dados foram coletados por meio de instrumento de fichamento e analisados de forma qualitativa. Resultados: foram selecionados 12 artigos, descritos em três categorias: vivências e perspectivas espirituais sobre o processo de doação e transplante de órgãos; influência da religião e espiritualidade na tomada de decisão diante do processo doação e transplante; religião/espiritualidade influenciando o paciente/cuidador na doença e no transplante. Conclusão: A literatura disponível tem indicado que a religião e espiritualidade são fatores que influenciam de múltiplas maneiras os pacientes nesse contexto, e demandam maiores investigações.

Conceptual and Methodological Reflections on the Intersections of Religion, Ethics and Communication in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Most of the work done to understand and combat the COVID-19 pandemic has been based on epidemiological models. These models are often devoid of human factors such as ethics, religion and communication. In this article, I endeavour to close this gap by examining whether or not religion can help in the understanding and management of the COVID-19 pandemic. Past research has made contradicting conclusions as to the influence of religion, ethics and communication on health. One body of research has concluded that strong religiosity results in greater adherence to health regulations because of the rule-abiding norms and philanthropic tendencies of religious people. On the contrary, another body of research concluded that stronger religiosity results in lower adherence as an intrusive personal and religious freedom. To address this quandary, this article attempts to answer two questions: One, what theoretical, procedural and epistemological questions does the COVID-19 pandemic invoke about the intersectionality of religion and health in the 21 first century? Two, how can we increasingly understand and discourse about the interactions of religion and health in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic without reifying and essentialising them? The article concludes by contending that an understanding of the objective and subjective nature of religion can provide the much needed nexus to understand and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.