It’s no secret that we live in an increasingly isolated world. The pandemic has only exacerbated what was already a startling trend: loneliness and disconnection have been on the rise for a long time in our society. Many Christians feel disconnected, leading to emotional pain, unhealthy relational patterns, spiritual struggles, a lack of meaning, and ineffective ministry. What’s more, common models of spiritual transformation are overly rationalistic and under-developed, proving inadequate to address “the sanctification gap.” In recent decades, however, a new relational spirituality paradigm has emerged from multiple fields. There is now a critical mass of evidence that human beings are fundamentally relational—that we develop, heal, and grow to become more loving and Christ-like through relationships.
This talk covers the core elements of a relational spirituality paradigm, with a particular focus on the roles of 1) implicit relational knowledge, and 2) attachment to God and others in shaping our implicit self and capacity to love. Dr. Todd Hall (Biola University) delivers this lecture titled, “Relational Spirituality: A Psychological-Theological Paradigm for Spiritual Transformation.”
This talk was delivered on Friday, February 3 at Exploring Personhood: Human Formation. The conference began with the authority of the Scriptures and Christian theology. We then invited perspectives from the sciences (counseling and psychology), humanities (ethics, biblical studies, philosophy, and theology), and pastoral ministry. Our aim was to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue on the Imago Dei and embodiment — all for the glory of God and the good of the world.
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