Journey Articles

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Journey Articles

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Read the 3 Articles Written By

Rev. Dr. Lee B. Spitzer

which have been published in the

Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development

(edited by Elizabeth Dowling and W. George Scarlett, Sage Publications, 2005)

The Spiritual Journeys of Children in the Old and New Testaments

Though they are few in number, the importance of the Bible’s descriptions of childhood and adolescent journeys should not be underestimated. Joseph, Samuel, David, Mary, John the Baptist and Jesus are towering figures in the Biblical world, and the Biblical chroniclers of their childhood journeys consider their pre-adult experiences to be significant and instructive for future generations.

Religious Experiences in Lives of Contemporary Youth

In reaction to the challenges posed by a twenty-first century postmodern cultural context, religious communities are grappling with how to provide effective spiritual education for youth. The goal of these activities is to provide a firm foundation of childhood spiritual experience so that youth may subsequently take their place as committed adult members of the religious community.

Religious Development in Baptist Youth

The Baptist family of churches arose out of the Protestant Reformation and Anabaptist movements of the sixteenth century. The first Baptist churches were founded in Holland (1609) and England (1611). In the United States, the First Baptist Church in America was established in Providence, Rhode Island by Roger Williams in 1638-1639. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, Baptist denominations have over 37 million adherents who live throughout the world.

Although a non-creedal and individualistic people, Baptists have nevertheless upheld certain defining values, including separation of church and state (religious liberty), soul freedom (the right and obligation of the individual to express his/her own understanding of the Christian life), the autonomy or self-governance of the local church, a commitment to live according to the standards of the New Testament, regenerate church membership (only those who can testify to a personal saving experience may join the church as a member), and believer’s baptism by immersion. These defining features have influenced how Baptists have sought to promote the spiritual formation and development of children under their care.

From Amazon.com:

The Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development is the first reference work to focus on the developmental process of religion and spirituality across the human life span. Spiritual development is an important part of human development that has links to identity development, moral development, and civic engagement. This innovative Encyclopedia offers insight into the characteristics of people and their contexts that interact to influence religious and spiritual development over time. Editors Elizabeth M. Dowling and W. George Scarlett provide readers with glimpses into the religious and spiritual developmental trajectories of people from all over the world, from many different religious and spiritual backgrounds.

Key Features:

	Includes short, accessible entries written by leading specialists and theorists from a wide range of disciplines and professions, both within the U.S. and internationally, to provide a broad, multidisciplinary scope
	Offers entries that are unrelated to religion and religious experiences in order to examine spirituality in the broadest sense that encompasses religion as just one path toward spiritual development
	Explores community-based programs that focus on enhancing spiritual development, as well as the links between spiritual development and positive personal and social development in youth
	Offers reference lists for each entry that enable readers to gain further information related to the topic

Key Themes:

	Leading Religious and Spiritual Figures
	Traditions
	Texts
	Places, Religious and Spiritual
	Practices, Religious and Spiritual Concepts
	Religious and Spiritual Theory
	Supports/Contexts
	Nature Health Art Organizations

The Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development makes a significant contribution to the research and scholarship looking at the similarities and differences in religiousness and spirituality. It is a welcome addition to any academic library or religious reference collection.

All of our spiritual journey articles have been placed in topical collections. Just click any of the buttons on the left. You can still see all of our articles below (listed by date). Do you know what the 5 phases of our journeys are? Go to Journey Phases to find out! Previous articles can be accessed by using the links below.

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