Mirror of God: Christian Faith as Spiritual Practice--Lessons from Buddhism and Psychotherapy

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Overview

What are the benefits of being a spiritual person? This is the question that James Jones explores in his newest book, The Mirror of God. Jones contends that true religious belief is not a passive process and that one must work hard towards believing in God through acts such as prayer, meditation and communal worship. He explores the boundaries between psychotherapy and religious practice, looks at what Christians might learn from Buddhists and shows their effects on the body and mind. Jones is a psychologist as ...

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Overview

What are the benefits of being a spiritual person? This is the question that James Jones explores in his newest book, The Mirror of God. Jones contends that true religious belief is not a passive process and that one must work hard towards believing in God through acts such as prayer, meditation and communal worship. He explores the boundaries between psychotherapy and religious practice, looks at what Christians might learn from Buddhists and shows their effects on the body and mind. Jones is a psychologist as well as a professor of religion and, ultimately, he provides a blueprint for worship that's smart, effective and grounded in the real lives we all live.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
"...a welcome report from the fields of religious, and clinical, practice."—Publishers Weekly

"Jones uniquely blends his experience...to compellingly affirm the interdependence of mind, body, and spirit."—Donna Chavez, Booklist

Praise for Jones's In the Middle of this Road We Call Our Life:"Reminiscent of M. Scott Peck and Thomas Moore, Jones weaves a spiritual fable for our times. . . Smoothly written and gracefully argued."—The New York Times Book Review

"A beautiful, wise and profoundly moving book."—Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are

Publishers Weekly
Jones's newest offering is a paradox: a theoretical book about the benefits of religious practice, particularly those practices that promote a mystical encounter with God. Clinical psychologist, religion professor and author of 10 books, Jones draws on his two disciplines, religion and psychology, to argue that the practice of faith, not the content of one's beliefs, is what makes for a faith-filled life. The practices of prayer, meditation, worship and other disciplines are also the tools for personal transformation-what Jones calls the development of "spiritual selfhood"-and healthier, saner living. But he emphasizes that the awareness of and relationship to God that religious faith promotes must be the end sought, not better health or some other extrinsic purpose. Jones's comparative religions background produces an interesting chapter comparing Jesus Christ as "Anointed One" and Buddha as "Awakened One," two different paths taken and taught in response to human suffering. He also unpacks nuances in tracing the development over time of the Buddhist teaching of emptiness and its relationship to the logos (Word) of the Christian Gospel of John. Some parts of the book aren't as fresh (there's yet another critique of cultural materialism) while others report growing, empirically based understanding of the relationship between religion and health. Jones's dogged insistence that faith is nothing without patient, persistent practice is ultimately modest and a welcome report from the fields of religious, and clinical, practice. (Nov. 19) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781403961020
  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Publication date: 11/1/2003
  • Edition description: First Edition
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 192
  • Sales rank: 971,589
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.50 (h) x 0.56 (d)

Meet the Author

James W. Jones is a Professor of Religion and Psychology at Rutgers University.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction 1
Ch. 1 Faith as Practice 9
Ch. 2 The Paradoxical Presence Encountering God 37
Ch. 3 The Cross-Legged Buddha and the Cross-Stricken Christ 59
Ch. 4 Christian Spirituality and Modern Society Spiritual Practice as Cultural Critique 95
Ch. 5 Autobiographical Interlude The Criticism of Criticism is the Beginning of Religion 121
Ch. 6 Spiritual Selfhood Spiritual Practices and Everyday Life 141
Ch. 7 The Mirror of God: Coping and Transformation 155
Epilogue 173
Bibliographical Essay 175
Index 183
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