argumentative essay on spirituality

197 Spirituality Research Topics

Spirituality is a significant subject in psychology, healthcare, and other fields. If you’re looking for the best spirituality topics, you’re at the right place! StudyCorgi has compiled spirituality topics for research paper to inspire your argumentative essay, thesis, or other work. Read on to gain new insights!

🕯️ TOP 7 Spirituality Topics for Research Paper

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• Spiritual Barrenness in “The Waste Land” Poem
• Pregnancy and Spirituality in the Filipino Culture
• Spirituality and Mental Health
• Eco Map and Spiritual Life Map Assessment
• Worldviews in “Avatar”: Spirituality and Cult of Nature
• The Importance of Llu’s Spiritual Values
• The Role of Religious Beliefs and Spirituality in Health Care Spirituality in health care is one of the health care practices that give practitioners great challenges and determines the effectiveness of health care.
• Patient Spiritual Needs: Case Analysis Christianity accepts suffering, be it sickness, pain, death, disability as part of religious life. Some Christians feel sickness is a form of punishment for the sins they committed.
• Spirituality and Holistic Care Spirituality as a component of holistic nursing care is very vital in the process of healing. Nurses play an important role in patient care and they spend many time with patients.
• The FACT Spiritual Assessment Tool The FACT spiritual assessment tool raises care standards, minimizes patient risks, and ensures that nursing professionals are more accountable to their practice.
• Religion and Spirituality in Nursing Religious spirituality involves the religion and God in the person’s values, which shape the spiritual aspect of the individual.
• Christian Mentor Interview on Religion or Spirituality Mentorship is one of the critical components of the modern understanding of religion or spirituality. Nonetheless, some experts disregard the role of mentors in their lives.
• Spiritual Leadership Book Reflection A reflection of chapters three and four of Spiritual Leadership by Henry and Richard Blackaby provides deep insights into leadership and the role of divinity.
• Spirituality and Its Influence on Human Behavior It is crucial for social workers to acknowledge the client’s spiritual beliefs and integrate them into care delivery for optimal patient outcomes.
• Discussion of Spirituality: Description of Spirituality Spiritual wellness impacts health, and individuals learn to build and develop inner resources and thought to give meaning to their experiences.
• Christian Spirituality in History and Today The question of spirituality and relationship of a man and God should be topical today taking into consideration the present cultural and ethical situation in contemporary society.
• Is Islamic Spirituality a Key to Psychological Well-Being? This paper will try to adapt the principles of Islamic spirituality to the dimensions of psychological well-being. Islam, in general, has three dimensions – Islam, Iman, and Ihsan.
• Catholic Church as Social and Spiritual Organization The Catholic Church remains an important social and spiritual organization, which helps people find their ways and maintains a strong and supportive worldwide community.
• Spiritual Ecology and Conservation Movements Ecology is in the consciousness, and the actions of humanity are evolving. By reaching the global scale, this sphere changes human attitudes toward nature.
• Spirituality in Health Care Analysis Spirituality describes a relationship with God. It is the inward spirit away above or greater oneself. The greater power and Spirit is God.
• The New Testament: The Source of Spiritual Knowledge The New Testament represents a particularly important source of spiritual knowledge and development for present-day Christian believers.
• The Role of Spirituality in Medical Education Spirituality and health are increasingly becoming a topic of discussion in healthcare and medical schools and provide more insight into combining them.
• Patient’s Spiritual Needs: Case Analysis Christians have to keep their faith, but remember that God is not against the elimination of suffering, while doctors are better at conducting the spiritual needs assessment.
• Spiritual Growth Plan: Evaluation and Strategies The paper creates a comprehensive Spiritual Growth Plan. It assesses personal and ministry spiritual health, articulates the spiritual truths and presents strategies for growth.
• Environmental Ethics and Spiritual Dimensions Environmental messaging is a subject of great importance. This paper argues that adding a religious dimension would help bring more people to care about the environment.
• Role of Spirituality and Religion in Later Life Spirituality and religiosity play a significant role in the process of later life development. Spiritual development compensates for physical deterioration and social isolation.
• Effects of Spiritual and Moral Courage on Life Spiritual fortitude strengthens us. While many people develop inner valor through organized religion, there are more ways to cultivate this feature.
• Humanity Is One Body: Spiritual Awakening for a Peaceful World It is significant to understand that individuals should solve the problems now when they still have time to cope with the difficulties with the minor losses.
• Spiritual Considerations in the Context of a Disaster The purpose of this essay is to discuss the spiritual considerations arising after disasters and a nurse’s role in this scenario
• Spiritual Formation in the Books of Romans and Ephesians The books of Romans and Ephesians were written by Paul, and both contained extortions to the people on how to live their lives according to the dictates of Christianity.
• “Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling” by Mark McMinn In “Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling,” Mark McMinn comes up with a healing model, which involves need, sense of self, and relationship with God.
• Spiritual Perspectives on Globalization by Ira Rifkin Cultural element of globalization describes regional side and national cultural peculiarities which are seen by the world society.
• Spirituality in Health Care: Healing Hospital Components This paper explores the components of healing in the hospital and how they are related to spirituality, the challenges that exist in the process of creating a healing environment.
• Health and Spirituality Overview and Analysis This paper will attempt to determine what the healing hospital might be and how spirituality and religion connect to that.
• Yoga: A Key to Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Strength Yoga develops an individual physical strength, including cardiovascular fitness, prevents depression due to mental resilience, and fights off any other indulgences due to spiritual peace.
• Integrating Religion and Spirituality in Therapy This article asserts that religious or Christian counseling aims at promoting the spiritual growth of the patients apart from alleviating signs of diseases.
• Ignatian Spirituality: Origin, Concepts, Attitude Ignatian spirituality provides a unique perspective on the nature of reality and the role of the human being in the social and personal life.
• Tapping Into Young Children S Spirituality Temperament and Self Control
• Management Ideologies and Organizational Spirituality: A Typology
• Religiosity, Spirituality and Ethical Decision-Making: Perspectives From Executives in Indian Multinational Enterprises
• Reconciling Sexuality With Spirituality
• Millennials, Accountability, and Spirituality
• Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling by Mark Mcminn
• Cultural Diversity Does Not Heighten Spirituality
• Victorian Writers and Their Spirituality
• Humans, Technology, Nature, and Spirituality
• The Association Between Perceived Spirituality, Religiosity, and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Self-Rated Health
• The Physiological Effects Upon the Brain and Body During Processes of Spirituality
• Music, Youth, and Subcultural Spirituality
• Feminist Spirituality and Goddess Religion in the United States
• Exploring the Islamic View of Spirituality and Business
• Social Shift From Religion to Spirituality
• Workplace Spirituality and Business Ethics: Insights From an Eastern Spiritual Tradition
• Religion vs. Humanism: Isaac Asimov on Science and Spirituality
• Christian Counseling, Theology, and Spirituality
• How Society Compensates for Spirituality
• Comparing the Differences Between Spirituality and Religion
• Buddhist Spirituality: Contribution to Psychological Well-Being Buddhist Spirituality is based on the principles that can enhance one’s psychological well-being significantly. Buddhism teaches people how to avoid negative emotions and harmful mental states.
• Social Media and Spirituality: Correlation Study The study aimed to find out whether immersion in social media sites has replaced strong religious commitment and spiritual serenity leading to low psychological adjustments.
• The Spirituality’s Subjective Life Religion in daily life and subjective spirituality are typically not the same, despite how society typically uses the terms.
• Workplace Spirituality and Power Dynamics The assessment of the power dynamics starts with a review of the GM corporation culture that I have worked for the past six years.
• The Spiritual Goal of the Hindu Philosophy Hinduism developed from the teachings of different founders due to its diverse traditions and long history. It urges Hindus to worship Brahman, the universal spirit.
• Spirituality, Faith, and Placebo Effects on Health This paper strives to define spirituality, religious faith, placebos, and their anticipated health benefits for patients suffering from various diseases.
• Iconography, Cuneiform Writing, and Spiritual Beliefs The appearance of cuneiform writing meant a new phase in the development of artistic culture. Religious beliefs determined the objects of culture created by the ancient peoples.
• Mental Status and Spiritual Views in Social Work Mental status examination and biopsychosocial history are among the most critical aspects of learning during conversations between a social worker and a client.
• Diversity in Social Work: Spirituality Concept If one cannot find it in their moral belief to accept others, respecting their beliefs can help in creating a conducive working environment.
• Religious Study: Spiritual Leadership The paper states that spiritual leadership differs significantly from the forms common in politics, business, and other areas.
• Hagia Sophia and Related Spiritual Relationships An example of the conflict between social and spiritual relationships between Greek Orthodox Christians and Turkish Muslims over an artifact of humanities: the Hagia Sophia.
• Indeterminism: Ethical and Spiritual Insights The philosophy of indeterminism examines free will from the perspective of one’s regret. James claims that possibilities exceed actualities.
• The Spiritual Bond Between Youth and Adults In the work “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” Silko highlights the essential role of spiritual heritage. He depicts the spiritual bonds between different generations.
• ‘Reindeer People’ and Their Spiritual Doubles This essay analyzes the nature of the relationship between Eveny, also known as the ‘Reindeer People’, and their spiritual doubles.
• Spirituality in Nursing Palliative Care This report explains the clinician needs to demonstrate understanding of the patient’s needs and respect; this will significantly reduce the level of anxiety initially.
• Spirituality as a Coping Mechanism for Chronic Illness This paper illustrates that the spiritual beliefs of the patients are relevant in the practice of healthcare, for chronic illness, discuss how spirituality may help the patient.
• Teacher Turnover and Workplace Spirituality Teacher turnover in public and private schools is a significant problem for the US education system. Almost 14% of teachers leave their current job every year, creating vacancies that are difficult to fill.
• Healthcare Provider and Faith Diversity: Native American Spirituality, Buddhism, and Sikhism This paper outlines an explicit view on the following diverse faiths in regard to healthcare provision: Native American spirituality, Buddhism, and Sikhism.
• Spirituality in Health Care Elizabeth Kübler-Ross describes the grief process as a five-stage model and first concentrates on the person suffering from a terminal illness.
• Professional Moral Compass and Spirituality The paper will explore the professional moral compass. Additionally, it will expose the dilemmas nursing staff face in their practice.
• The Relationship Between Spirituality and Organ Donation The purpose of the study was the evaluation the differences in spirituality and attitudes between people who did not sign a card to donate organs and those that signed.
• Spiritual Needs Assessment in Nursing The Spirituality Assessment Tool (SAT) can produce the best relationships between nurses and patients. Nurses should be aware of their patients’ religious beliefs.
• Spiritual Paths in Medieval Works of Boethius and Saint Augustine Saint Augustine and Boethius are famous for the great works City of God and Consolation of Philosophy, where they reflected on philosophy, religion, and issues of being.
• Patients’ Spiritual Needs Assessment The effect of spirituality is mainly felt when one is not in good health. The pain and suffering that one goes through during this time may affect mental stability.
• Spiritual Care Is an Essential Part of the Recovery Process of Patient Spiritual care is an essential part of the recovery process of every patient, and it must be provided strictly by the patient’s needs.
• Healthcare Workers Knowledge of Spirituality A healthcare worker or a team equipped with knowledge of spiritual care will be valuable to help patients and their families during a time of crisis.
• Spiritual Needs Assessment This paper will attempt to devise a nursing assessment that can be skillfully used in assessing the spiritual needs of the patient
• Spirituality, Ethics, and Postmodern Relativism Christians believe that spirituality and ethics are extrinsic to a person and immutable, as they come from God. Postmodern relativism asserts that ethics is a social construct.
• Spirituality and Social Work Practice Spiritual care should be included in the client’s initial assessment because it has been proven to generate positive health outcomes in primary care.
• Spiritual Care For Diverse Patients Providing patients with spiritual support is one of the crucial components of a strategy that leads to successful management of their health-related concerns.
• “Workplace Spirituality, Employee Wellbeing and Intention to Stay” by Aboobaker et al. The research “Workplace Spirituality, Employee Wellbeing and Intention to Stay” by Aboobaker et al. explored spirituality among teachers and retention intentions.
• The Pride and Spirituality of Musical Talent
• Spirituality and Substance Abuse
• Faith: Islam and Native American Spirituality
• Social Networks, Spirituality, and Physical Activity
• Spirituality and Magical Realism
• Aboriginal Spirituality Smarts Seven Dimensions
• Positive Emotions and Spirituality in Older Travelers
• Spirituality and the Second Coming
• Spiritual Disciplines and Concepts of Spirituality
• Learning Wellness From the Islamic School of Spirituality
• Neo-Paganism Versus New Age Spirituality
• Spirituality, Religion, and Schizophrenia
• African Spirituality the Pivotal Force of Slave Resistance
• Contemporary Life and Spirituality’s Psychological Role
• The Implications and Impact of Spirituality in Mental Illness and Psychiatric Disability
• Islamic Spirituality and Sufism Beyond Ordinary Understanding
• Spirituality, Mateship, and Identity Within Australian Texts
• Sustainable Behavior Among Spanish University Students in Terms of Dimensions of Religion and Spirituality
• Spirituality and Death From the Perspective of Social Work
• Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality
• The Great Awakening That Refers to the Spiritual Revitalization The Great Awakening refers to the spiritual revitalization that swept across New England colonies in the 18th century, which sparked renewed religious activity in America.
• Critique of Westerhoff’s Spiritual Life Westerhoff says that it is not possible for preachers as well as the teachers to have a ministry that is fully effective if their personal divine lives are not effervescent.
• Spiritual Wellness: A Journey Toward Wholeness by Hrabe The topic is spirituality as a concept and its application in nursing. The article examined in this paper is “Spiritual Wellness: A Journey Toward Wholeness” by Hrabe.
• Patient’s Spiritual Needs and Autonomy This discussion applies the standards of practice and how caregivers can follow them to meet the needs of a patient who is in need of a kidney transplant.
• Spiritual Needs: Spurring the Unceasing Growth The outcomes of the interview show that patients are in dire need for the setting in which their spiritual needs are acknowledged and met restively.
• Spiritual Needs: Managing Challenges The process of handling issues associated with spiritual needs of patients must start with educating nurses about the need to be culturally sensitive.
• Healing and Autonomy: The Conflict Between Conventional Medical Treatment and Spiritual Beliefs The case study presents a frequent conflict between conventional medical treatment and spiritual beliefs that affect medical decision-making.
• Protestant Patient’s Spiritual Needs Assessment The interviewee is a 27 years old white Mainline Protestant male. He has never been severely ill, although he underwent several hospitalizations in the past.
• Catholic Patient’s Spiritual Needs Assessment Exploring the spiritual needs of community members is a critical step toward addressing some of the current problems with healthcare services.
• Family Spiritual Assessment for Managing Health Problems The purpose of developing a spiritual assessment is to meet the patient’s spiritual needs, a part of the daily nursing care.
• Is Religious Fundamentalism Our Default Spirituality? In the context of the worldview based on religious beliefs, prime reality should be discussed as God Himself because He created the world.
• “Spiritual Wellness: A Journey Toward Wholeness” by Hrabe, Melnyk, and Neale “Spiritual Wellness: A Journey Toward Wholeness” discusses how to achieve the unity of the soul, mind, and body in order to comprehend harmony and enjoy well-being.
• Spiritual Suicide from the Religious Perspective Suicide is a controversial issue that requires special attention. Spiritual suicide has religious importance and sees the way to enlightenment through embracing death.
• Spirituality Part in the Worldview Inventory This paper briefly discusses the various possible meanings of the term “spirituality,” and an understanding of the concepts of pluralism, scientism, and postmodernism.
• Personal Worldview and Philosophy of Spirituality Discussing one’s personal worldview has always been a complicated task since many people rarely think about their spirituality.
• Assessment of Spiritual Needs and Life Philosophy Spiritual needs assessment is crucial for planning of appropriate interventions to meet the needs of every patient.
• Spiritual Philosophy: Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism as spiritual philosophies stress on the acceptance of things the way they are, overcoming desires and humility.
• Spirituality and Personal Worldview Inventory In the formation of a personal worldview, an important place belongs to spirituality and its understanding by each individual.
• Spirituality, Pluralism, Scientism, Postmodernism This paper discusses the various possible meanings of the term “spirituality,” and understanding of the concepts of pluralism, scientism, and postmodernism.
• New Leadership Theories: Servant, Spiritual, Authentic and Ethical Leaderships Swanson, Territo, and Taylor are geared towards a more ethics-based approach to leadership and emphasize the importance of moral decision-making.
• Spiritual Needs Assessment and Reflection Concerning challenges and barriers, a major complication was associated with identifying the difference between religion and spirituality.
• Personal Worldview, Spirituality and Afterlife A personal worldview is an essential thing for any confident person to develop because it identifies his or her attitude towards one’s life and understanding of our environment.
• The School of Benedictine Spirituality This paper tends to investigate the way the School of Benedictine Spirituality and its major principles influence people’s well-being.
• Hispanic Communities’ Healthcare and Spirituality The demography of Hispanic communities in the United States demonstrates low economic standards as opposed to other communities.
• Spiritual Needs of Patients: Interview Strategies The main ways to make the interview efficient is following the logic of the conversation, and asking the clarifying questions about the spiritual experience.
• Spiritual Needs Assessment Role in Health Care The information acquired during the spiritual assessment can be instrumental in understanding the spiritual worldview of the patient as well as providing better efforts of support and care.
• Religious Studies: Spirituality in Nursing Researchers indicate that nurses should consider religious needs of a patient who has chronic pain, but they should not be his or her religious advisor.
• Anthropocentric and Theocentric Spirituality as an Object of Psychological Research
• Ethical Issues for the Integration of Religion and Spirituality
• Religious Beliefs and Spirituality Throughout the Lives of Many Young AU
• Aboriginal Religion, Spirituality, and Beliefs
• How Spirituality Can Improve Physical Health
• Value-Based Leadership and Spirituality in the Workplace
• The Line Between Spirituality and Irreligious
• Spirituality and Its Manifestation in Films
• Religion, Spirituality, and Health Status in Geriatric Outpatients
• Spirituality Across Britain Differ From Aboriginal
• The Native American Spirituality Throughout America
• Colonialism, Decolonization, and Indigenous Spirituality
• Relationship Between Spirituality and Age
• Creating Satisfied Employees Through Workplace Spirituality
• Non-objective Art and Spirituality
• How Seminary Education Forms Spirituality
• Spirituality and Its Affects on Wellness
• Spirituality and Kinesthetic Learning
• Ancient Religious Wisdom, Spirituality, and Psychoanalysis
• Religion, Spirituality, Psychological Growth, and Internal Practice
• Native American Art and Spirituality
• What Are Spirituality, Religion, and the Supernatural?
• How Spirituality Can Improve Physical Health?
• Can Spirituality Exist without Divinity?
• What Is Feminist Spirituality and Goddess Religion in the United States?
• How does Spirituality Have an Influence on Childhood Cancer Care?
• What Does Chinese and Japanese Spirituality Include, Are Beliefs Personal?
• How Do Psychedelic Drugs Affect Creativity and Spirituality?
• How Does Consumerism Affect Religion and Spirituality?
• What Is the Level of Positive Emotions and Spirituality among Senior Travelers?
• How Is a Healthy Lifestyle Taught in an Islamic Spirituality School?
• What Are the Hindu Traditions and Spirituality?
• Does Spirituality Reduce the Impact of Somatic Symptoms on Distress in Cancer Patients?
• Why Cultural Diversity Does Not Increase Spirituality?
• What Are the Main Ethical Questions of Integrating Religion and Spirituality?
• How to Develop Tolerance through Spirituality?
• What Are the Differences between Spirituality and Religion?
• How Seminary Education Forms Spirituality?
• What Are the Belief Systems and Spirituality of the Aboriginal People?
• How Society Compensates for Spirituality?
• What Is Known about Islamic Spirituality and Sufism beyond Ordinary Comprehension?
• The impact of mindfulness meditation on mental health.
• A comparison of Western and Eastern spiritual traditions.
• The role of spirituality in coping with trauma.
• The connection between spirituality and creativity.
• The influence of spirituality on business ethical decision-making.
• The link between spiritual beliefs and psychological resilience.
• Is spirituality necessary in patients at the end of life?
• The impact of spirituality on environmental consciousness.
• The connection between spiritual beliefs and attitudes toward death.
• How do religion and spirituality shape people’s moral values?
• How can mindfulness be applied in daily life?
• Eclectic spirituality: the concept of blended beliefs and practices.
• Strategies for developing employee spirituality at the workplace.
• The role of plant medicine in modern spiritual practices.
• Spiritual insights gained from near-death experiences.
• Digital spirituality: online sacred places and novel spirituality approaches.
• Yoga as a way to understand the mind-body connection.
• Non-religious spirituality: what does it mean?
• Eco-conscious approaches to spirituality.
• The power of sacred rituals in healing grief.

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StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 197 Spirituality Research Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/spirituality-essay-topics/

"197 Spirituality Research Topics." StudyCorgi , 9 Sept. 2021, studycorgi.com/ideas/spirituality-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) '197 Spirituality Research Topics'. 9 September.

1. StudyCorgi . "197 Spirituality Research Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/spirituality-essay-topics/.

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StudyCorgi . "197 Spirituality Research Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/spirituality-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "197 Spirituality Research Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/spirituality-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Spirituality were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 21, 2024 .

What Are Religion and Spirituality? Essay

Introduction, spirituality, questioning, works cited.

Human beings are unique creatures characterized by the constant thirst for cognition, self-investigation, and unique beliefs that are an integral part of our mentality. The existence of these phenomena is the main feature that differs from the rest of animals and contributes to the further rise of human society and the appearance of numerous questions related to the nature of our conscience, mind, and soul. Therefore, the issue of the soul is closely connected to such phenomena as religion and spirituality. They are interrelated, but could also go alone at the same time. Very often a person might consider himself/herself to be spiritual but not religious and on the contrary. Moreover, these definitions might be confused. That is why improved comprehending of these issues is vital.

As for religion, it comes from the Latin word religio which means to tie together (Finucane 19). The given definition shows the essence of this unique phenomenon perfectly as people who belong to the same religion are tied together by the common beliefs. values, approaches, etc. From this perspective, religion could be defined as a set of ideas and concepts followed by a group of people who take these as the main guide. However, in a broader meaning of this very term, family, work, or occupation could also be considered religion (Finucane 20). A person might appreciate family values and consider them to be the most important thing in his/her life.

Besides, spirituality is different. All human beings are spiritual (Finucane 21). It means that they have a complex inner organization and can sympathize, feel some sophisticated feelings, emotions, etc. However, spirituality might be expressed through the idea of belonging to something more. An individual might also have an idea about powers that impact our lives and contribute to the appearance of one or another phenomenon. It could also be referred to as spirituality (Mueller et al. 26). At the same time, it is closely connected to religion which is often considered a form of spirituality as both these notions tie us together and contribute to the appearance of common inclinations, values, or desires.

Furthermore, spirituality and religion are the main cognition tools that a person uses to investigate the universe and find answers to the most important questions. However, there is a tendency to associate religion and faith, doubting the allowability of questioning as if a person believes, he/she should have no doubts. The given idea contradicts human nature. Curiosity and thirst for knowledge are its basic elements that contribute to the evolution of our society. That is why only asking questions an individual can understand the most important aspects of things, including religion and spirituality. In other words, the way to God or improved comprehending of spirituality should consist of numerous questions, and when a person can find answers, he/she will also be able to understand the real nature of religion or spirituality.

Altogether, religion and spirituality often come together, comprising an essential part of any individual. However, they should not be confused. Religion is a set of beliefs and values appreciated by a person and taken as the most significant thing when spirituality creates the basis for the appearance of these feelings and contributes to the development of sophisticated ideas, emotions, and feelings. However, both these unique phenomena help individuals to cognize the world and find answers to the most important questions.

Finucane, Dan. “Introduction. Religion, Spirituality, and the Question of God.” Theological Foundations Concepts and Methods for Understanding Christian Faith , edited by John Mueller, Anselm Academic, 2007, pp. 17-26.

Mueller, John et. al. Theological Foundations . Saint Marys Press, 2007.

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"What Are Religion and Spirituality?" IvyPanda , 28 Aug. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/what-are-religion-and-spirituality/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'What Are Religion and Spirituality'. 28 August.

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1. IvyPanda . "What Are Religion and Spirituality?" August 28, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-are-religion-and-spirituality/.

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IvyPanda . "What Are Religion and Spirituality?" August 28, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-are-religion-and-spirituality/.

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Selection of compelling argumentative essay topics about religion and belief.

If you are asked to pick a topic related with religion or belief, you should select the most challenging one and showcase your thoughts for or against it. Furthermore, you should support the text with brilliant examples and evidences too from history, literature or your own life. If your topic revolves around religious beliefs, you should present your view point with appropriate defense.

Check out a list of compelling essay topics on religion and belief-

• Are people losing belief in spirituality day by day?
• Should church allow teen marriages?
• Should religion be introduced in school curriculum as a subject?
• Is the existence of God is merely our myth or it’s a reality?
• Why Bible according to Christians is their most popular spiritual scripture?
• People change their religion very often and with optimum ease. Is it right?
• Is Islam more powerful than Hinduism? Why?
• Should religious communities be allowed to interfere with government rules? Why, why not?
• Should cloning of saintly personalities be allowed? State your belief in terms of religion.
• Does God really shower his blessings on us when we perform the reverence?
• Most of the people do prayers just for the sake of doing it. Should they continue this practice even if they can’t meditate?
• Which is the best religious place in India? Why?
• Is the role of priests enough for the well fare of humanity?
• Can religious activities bring powerful change in the society? Will this change be positive or negative?
• Is Polygamy marriages in Islam should be considered as right?
• Who is more powerful personality- the one who has a firm faith in God or the one who does not have any belief in any religious activities?
• What according to you abortion is a sin?
• Should the child be allowed to enter this world even if his parents do not want to take any of the responsibility?
• Are terrorists punished by God after they are dead?
• Is terrorism on the name of God is a sinful act? Will they be blessed or punished in the other world?
• Which religious community is more powerful- That of a village or of a modern state?
• Is the purpose of religion getting fulfilled in the present day life?
• Is the freedom of choosing a religion is making people strong from inside or is making negative ailments powerful?

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Threads of Faith: a Journey into the Heart of Ancient Chinese Spiritual Traditions

This essay about the intricacies of ancient Chinese spirituality explores its core elements, including the concept of yin and yang, ancestor worship, celestial deities, and the teachings of sages. It emphasizes how these aspects interweave to form a rich tapestry of belief, tradition, and wisdom that shaped the cultural landscape of ancient China. Through reverence for cosmic balance, familial connections, and philosophical insights, ancient Chinese religion offers profound insights into the human experience and the quest for harmony amidst the complexities of existence.

How it works

Ancient China, a land steeped in mystery and tradition, whispers secrets of a bygone era where the ethereal dance between mortals and the divine painted the very fabric of existence. Within this realm of antiquity lies a tapestry woven with threads of belief, where the sacred and the mundane intertwine in a symphony of harmony and balance. Let us embark on a journey of discovery, as we unravel the intricate layers of ancient Chinese religion, illuminating its essence through the lens of time.

At the core of ancient Chinese spirituality lies a reverence for the cosmic order, a delicate equilibrium that binds together the disparate threads of the universe. This foundational principle finds expression in the concept of yin and yang, two primal forces whose interplay shapes the rhythms of existence. Yin, the essence of darkness and receptivity, finds its complement in yang, the embodiment of light and activity. Together, they form a dynamic duality that permeates every facet of life, from the cycles of nature to the complexities of human relationships. It is within this dance of opposites that the essence of ancient Chinese religion is revealed, a harmonious interplay of forces seeking balance amidst the chaos of existence.

In the tapestry of ancient Chinese spirituality, the veneration of ancestors occupies a sacred place, weaving a thread of continuity that spans the generations. Ancestor worship, rooted in the belief that the spirits of the departed wield influence over the affairs of the living, serves as a bridge between the earthly realm and the realm of the divine. Through rituals of remembrance and offerings of respect, the bonds of kinship are reaffirmed, ensuring that the wisdom and guidance of past generations are not lost to the sands of time. Thus, the ancestors become guardians of tradition, guiding their descendants along the winding path of destiny with whispered words of counsel and admonition.

Alongside the reverence for ancestors, the pantheon of celestial deities occupies a prominent place in the mosaic of ancient Chinese religion. From the Jade Emperor, ruler of the heavens, to the myriad gods and goddesses who preside over the domains of earth, water, and sky, the divine realm is populated by a colorful array of beings, each imbued with its own unique powers and attributes. These celestial beings, worshipped in temples and shrines throughout the land, serve as intermediaries between mortals and the cosmic forces that govern their fate. Through prayer and supplication, the faithful seek the favor of the gods, invoking their aid in times of need and offering thanks for blessings received. Thus, the celestial deities become partners in the dance of life, guiding the steps of humanity with divine grace and wisdom.

Yet, amidst the pantheon of celestial beings and ancestral spirits, it is the teachings of sages and philosophers that form the beating heart of ancient Chinese spirituality. From the sage-kings of antiquity to the luminaries of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, the wisdom of the ages is passed down through the generations, a beacon of light illuminating the path to enlightenment. Confucius, with his emphasis on filial piety and social harmony, Dao De Jing, with its celebration of spontaneity and naturalness, and the Buddha, with his teachings on the nature of suffering and the path to liberation, each offer a unique perspective on the human condition, guiding seekers towards a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. It is through the study and contemplation of these teachings that the faithful seek to transcend the limitations of the mortal realm, attaining union with the divine and finding peace amidst the turbulence of existence.

In conclusion, the tapestry of ancient Chinese religion is a rich and vibrant mosaic, woven from the threads of belief, tradition, and wisdom passed down through the ages. From the cosmic dance of yin and yang to the veneration of ancestors and the teachings of sages, each aspect of this spiritual tradition offers a unique perspective on the nature of existence and the quest for meaning. As we gaze upon this intricate tapestry, let us not only marvel at its beauty, but also seek to unravel the mysteries it contains, for within its folds lie the secrets of the universe itself.

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"Threads of Faith: A Journey into the Heart of Ancient Chinese Spiritual Traditions," PapersOwl.com , 12-May-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/threads-of-faith-a-journey-into-the-heart-of-ancient-chinese-spiritual-traditions/. [Accessed: 13-May-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Threads of Faith: A Journey into the Heart of Ancient Chinese Spiritual Traditions . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/threads-of-faith-a-journey-into-the-heart-of-ancient-chinese-spiritual-traditions/ [Accessed: 13-May-2024]

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The spirituality of africa.

Jacob Olupona, professor of indigenous African religions at Harvard Divinity School and professor of African and African-American studies in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, recently sat down for an interview about his lifelong research on indigenous African religions. “The success of Christianity and Islam on the African continent in the last 100 years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the expense of African indigenous religions,” said Olupona.

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Anthony Chiorazzi

Harvard Correspondent

Though larger religions have made big inroads, traditional belief systems, which are based on openness and adaptation, endure

One of Jacob Olupona’s earliest memories in Massachusetts is of nearly freezing in his apartment as a graduate student at Boston University during the great snowstorm of 1978. “I had it. I told my father that I was coming home,” he recalled. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. He went on to conduct some of the most significant research on African religions in decades.

Olupona, professor of indigenous African religions at Harvard Divinity School and professor of African and African-American studies in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, recently sat down for an interview about his lifelong research on indigenous African religions.

Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. He later earned both an M.A. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University.

Authoring or editing more than half a dozen books on religion and African culture (including the recent “African Religions: A Very Short Introduction,” Oxford University Press), Olupona has researched topics ranging from the indigenous religions of Africa to the religious practices of Africans who have settled in America. His research has helped to introduce and popularize new concepts in religious studies, such as the term “reverse missionaries,” referring to African prelates sent to Europe and the United States.

The recipient of many prestigious academic honors and research fellowships, Olupona also received the 2015–2016 Reimar Lust Award for International and Cultural Exchange, considered one of Germany’s most prestigious academic honors. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (2015–16).

Much of Olupona’s work is an attempt to provide a fuller understanding of the complexity and richness of African indigenous thought and practice by viewing it not as a foil or as a useful comparative to better understand Western religions, but as a system of thought and belief that should be valued and understood for its own ideas and contribution to global religions.

GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions?

OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by one’s ethnic identity, where one’s family came from in Africa. For instance, the Yoruba religion has historically been centered in southwestern Nigeria, the Zulu religion in southern Africa, and the Igbo religion in southeastern Nigeria.

“African spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore African religion cannot be separated from the everyday or mundane.”

For starters, the word “religion” is problematic for many Africans, because it suggests that religion is separate from the other aspects of one’s culture, society, or environment. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death.

This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism — not at all. African spirituality simply acknowledges that beliefs and practices touch on and inform every facet of human life, and therefore African religion cannot be separated from the everyday or mundane. African spirituality is truly holistic. For example, sickness in the indigenous African worldview is not only an imbalance of the body, but also an imbalance in one’s social life, which can be linked to a breakdown in one’s kinship and family relations or even to one’s relationship with one’s ancestors.

GAZETTE: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies?

OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. Ancestors can offer advice and bestow good fortune and honor to their living dependents, but they can also make demands, such as insisting that their shrines be properly maintained and propitiated. And if these shrines are not properly cared for by the designated descendant, then misfortune in the form of illness might befall the caretaker. A belief in ancestors also testifies to the inclusive nature of traditional African spirituality by positing that deceased progenitors still play a role in the lives of their living descendants.

GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology?

OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. It doesn’t have a fixed creed, like in some forms of Christianity or Islam. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. The defining line between deities and ancestors is often contested, but overall, ancestors are believed to occupy a higher level of existence than living human beings and are believed to be able to bestow either blessings or illness upon their living descendants.

GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic?

OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic. Again, it doesn’t reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. The Yoruba, however, do have a concept of a supreme being, called Olorun or Olodumare , and this creator god of the universe is empowered by the various orisa [deities] to create the earth and carry out all its related functions, including receiving the prayers and supplications of the Yoruba people.

GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today?

OLUPONA: That’s a mixed bag. Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent.

According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. Indigenous African practices tend to be strongest in the central states of Africa, but some form of their practices and beliefs can be found almost anywhere in Africa.

Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth.

Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions.

The bottom line then is that Africans who still wholly practice African indigenous religions are only about 10 percent of the African population, a fraction of what it used to be only a century ago, when indigenous religions dominated most of the continent. I should add that without claiming to be full members of indigenous traditions, there are many professed Christians and Muslims who participate in one form of indigenous religious rituals and practices or another. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa.

The success of Christianity and Islam on the African continent in the last 100 years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the expense of African indigenous religions.

GAZETTE: But yet you said it’s a mixed bag?

OLUPONA: Yes, it’s a mixed bag because in the African diaspora — mostly due to the slave trade starting in the 15th century — indigenous African religions have spread and taken root all over the world, including in the United States and Europe. Some of these African diaspora religions include Cuban Regla de Ocha, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Candomble. There is even a community deep in the American Bible Belt in Beaufort County, S.C., called Oyotunji Village that practices a type of African indigenous religion, which is a mixture of Yoruba and Ewe-Fon spiritual practices.

One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. A follower of African diaspora religions has many choices in terms of seeking spiritual help or succor. For example, followers can seek spiritual direction and relief from healers, medicine men and women, charms [adornments often worn to incur good luck], amulets [adornments often used to ward off evil], and diviners [spiritual advisers].

I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. Modernity has not put a total stop to its influence. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. Some African diasporans are returning to the continent to reconnect with their ancestral traditions, and they are encouraging and organizing the local African communities to reclaim this heritage.

GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible.

OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. African spirituality has always been able to adapt to change and allow itself to absorb the wisdom and views of other religions, much more than, for example, Christianity and Islam. While Islam and Christianity tend to be overtly resistant to adopting traditional African religious ideas or practices, indigenous African religions have always accommodated other beliefs. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. The idea is that the traditional African practitioner who constructed that amulet believes in the efficacy of other faiths and religions; there is no conflict in his mind between his traditional African spirituality and another faith. They are not mutually exclusive. He sees the “other faith” as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. It’s about getting tangible results.

GAZETTE: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating?

OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Indigenous African religion is primarily an oral tradition and has never been fully codified; thus, it allows itself to more easily be amended and influenced by other religious ideas, religious wisdom, and by modern development. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions.

GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview?

OLUPONA: We would lose a worldview that has collectively sustained, enriched, and given meaning to a continent and numerous other societies for centuries through its epistemology, metaphysics, history, and practices.

For instance, if we were to lose indigenous African religions in Africa, then diviners would disappear, and if diviners disappeared, we would not only lose an important spiritual specialist for many Africans, but also an institution that for centuries has been the repository of African history, wisdom, and knowledge. Diviners — who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program — hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. The Yoruba diviners, for example, draw on this extensive indigenous knowledge every day by consulting Ifa, an extensive literary corpus of information covering science, medicine, cosmology, and metaphysics. Ifa is an indispensable treasure trove of knowledge that can’t be duplicated elsewhere; much of its knowledge has been handed down from babalawo [Ifa priest/diviner] to babalawo for centuries. (I myself have consulted with several diviners for my research on specific academic topics regarding African culture and history; consequently, if we were to lose Africa’s diviners, we would also lose one of Africa’s best keepers and sources of African history and culture. That would be a serious loss not only for Africans, but also for academics, researchers, writers, and general seekers of wisdom the world over.

GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions?

OLUPONA: If we lose traditional African religions, we would also lose or continue to seriously undermine the African practice of rites of passage such as the much cherished age-grade initiations, which have for so long integrated and bought Africans together under a common understanding, or worldview. These initiation rituals are already not as common in Africa as they were only 50 years ago, yet age-grade initiations have always helped young Africans feel connected to their community and their past. They have also fostered a greater feeling of individual self-worth by acknowledging important milestones in one’s life, including becoming an adult or an elder.

In lieu of these traditional African ways of defining oneself, Christianity and Islam are gradually creating a social identity in Africa that cuts across these indigenous African religious and social identities. They do this by having Africans increasingly identify themselves as either Muslim or Christian, thus denying their unique African worldview that has always viewed — as evidenced in their creation myths — everything as unified and connected to the land, the place were one’s clan, lineage, and people were cosmically birthed. Foreign religions simply don’t have that same connection to the African continent.

GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity?

OLUPONA: I was raised in Africa during the 1960s, when the Yoruba community never asked you to chose between your personal faith and your collective African identity. But today that is not the case due to more exclusive-minded types of Christianity and Islam that see patronizing indigenous African beliefs and practices as violating the integrity of their Christian or Muslim principles, but I believe that one can maintain one’s religious integrity and also embrace an African worldview.

GAZETTE: How can you do that?

OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. Everywhere he went in southwestern Nigeria, he never opposed or spoke out against African culture — including initiation rites, festivals, and traditional Yoruba dress — as long as it didn’t directly conflict with Christianity.

For myself, I negotiate between my Yoruba and Christian identity by, for example, affirming those aspects of African culture that promote good life and communal human welfare. For instance, in a few years time, I pray that I will be participating in an age-grade festival — for men around 70 years of age — called Ero in my native Nigerian community in Ute, in Ondo state. I won’t pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when I’m in my country. I also celebrate and honor the king’s festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest.

In the end, I believe that Africans can make room for a plurality of religious points of view without one religious point of view excluding or compromising the other. An old African adage says: “The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.”

Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) degree at Harvard Divinity School. He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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My Speech Class

Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

60 Speech Topics on Religion and Spirituality [Persuasive, Informative]

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

Topics for an informative speech based on the religious bible and spiritual themes such as gospels, Mormonism, and new age as part of my categorial catalog of writing. Each of them is a general theme.

A starting point to brainstorm and research. The only thing you have to do is describing their historical, cultural and social meaning.

Provide your audience all interesting facts and new data you can find. Most people really want to know more about the following series of my sorted and specialized topics for an informative speech, give them what they always wanted to know …

Remember, these are general sample ideas for topics for an informative speech. The statements are easy to narrow and tweak till all fits you.

• The history of the Bible.
• Interesting details about Noah’s ark.
• The history of Rastafarians in Jamaica.
• The origin of Christmas.
• The principles of Mormonism.
• Unknown Bible stories.
• Buddhist rituals and concepts.
• Christian denominations.
• Roman gods and goddesses.
• Founders of the major religions.
• The Five Pillars of Islam.
• The Great World religions.
• How to become a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
• The Ten Commandments.
• The Forgotten Apostles.
• The Bar Mitzvah ritual.
• The story of the Black Madonna.
• Cathedral architecture.
• Intelligent Design.
• The Roman Catholic clerical organization.
• Comparison of Gospels.
• Oriental Orthodoxy.
• Confucian philosophical tradition.
• The Practice of Druidry.
• Angels and what they stand for.
• Jewish Kabbalah and esoteric mystical traditions.
• The Papal election procedure.
• Protestant Reformation.
• The Qur’an Documents.
• Occult S?©ances with Ghosts.
• Plural Marriage in Mormonism.
• Religious Pilgrimages to Holy Sites.
• Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
• The Seven Holy Sacraments.
• The Temple Complex in Jerusalem.
• Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama.
• History of Zionism.
• Female Patron Saints.
• Code of Canon Law.
• Earth divinity beliefs and Their Roots.
• The Golden Bough Explained.
• The Holy Inquisition.
• New Age Spirituality.
• Religious Signs and Wonders.
• Who is Vishnu?
• Buddhist rituals.
• Christians have practiced religious revolution through the ages.
• Hinduism, the third largest religion.
• Priests should be allowed to marry.
• The worlds most famous holy heritage sites.
• What are reformed Baptist churches?
• Christianity has too many religious symbols.
• Fanatic religious movements are dangerous for young people.
• Maintain the separation of church and state.
• Prayers in public schools are not wrong.
• Religious people are not tolerant to other religious people.
• Religious wear must be allowed in college.
• The Ten Commandments should be displayed and explained in public buildings.
• There is nothing wrong with the contents of Ten Commandments.
• You don’t need special clothing to be baptized in.

190 Society Speech Topics [Persuasive, Informative, Argumentative]

51 Speech Topic Ideas On Food, Drink, and Cooking

4 thoughts on “60 Speech Topics on Religion and Spirituality [Persuasive, Informative]”

Topic:God gives you courage I need a speech on this topic

I need a speech on harmony in religious diversity.

Flat Earth is in the Bible. So where and how would I make that persausive?

Religion..Is it a Business entity? Should churches disclose their finances and pay taxes?

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9.3: The Argumentative Essay

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Learning Objectives

• Examine types of argumentative essays

Argumentative Essays

You may have heard it said that all writing is an argument of some kind. Even if you’re writing an informative essay, you still have the job of trying to convince your audience that the information is important. However, there are times you’ll be asked to write an essay that is specifically an argumentative piece.

An argumentative essay is one that makes a clear assertion or argument about some topic or issue. When you’re writing an argumentative essay, it’s important to remember that an academic argument is quite different from a regular, emotional argument. Note that sometimes students forget the academic aspect of an argumentative essay and write essays that are much too emotional for an academic audience. It’s important for you to choose a topic you feel passionately about (if you’re allowed to pick your topic), but you have to be sure you aren’t too emotionally attached to a topic. In an academic argument, you’ll have a lot more constraints you have to consider, and you’ll focus much more on logic and reasoning than emotions.

Argumentative essays are quite common in academic writing and are often an important part of writing in all disciplines. You may be asked to take a stand on a social issue in your introduction to writing course, but you could also be asked to take a stand on an issue related to health care in your nursing courses or make a case for solving a local environmental problem in your biology class. And, since argument is such a common essay assignment, it’s important to be aware of some basic elements of a good argumentative essay.

When your professor asks you to write an argumentative essay, you’ll often be given something specific to write about. For example, you may be asked to take a stand on an issue you have been discussing in class. Perhaps, in your education class, you would be asked to write about standardized testing in public schools. Or, in your literature class, you might be asked to argue the effects of protest literature on public policy in the United States.

However, there are times when you’ll be given a choice of topics. You might even be asked to write an argumentative essay on any topic related to your field of study or a topic you feel that is important personally.

Whatever the case, having some knowledge of some basic argumentative techniques or strategies will be helpful as you write. Below are some common types of arguments.

Causal Arguments

• In this type of argument, you argue that something has caused something else. For example, you might explore the causes of the decline of large mammals in the world’s ocean and make a case for your cause.

Evaluation Arguments

• In this type of argument, you make an argumentative evaluation of something as “good” or “bad,” but you need to establish the criteria for “good” or “bad.” For example, you might evaluate a children’s book for your education class, but you would need to establish clear criteria for your evaluation for your audience.

Proposal Arguments

• In this type of argument, you must propose a solution to a problem. First, you must establish a clear problem and then propose a specific solution to that problem. For example, you might argue for a proposal that would increase retention rates at your college.

Narrative Arguments

• In this type of argument, you make your case by telling a story with a clear point related to your argument. For example, you might write a narrative about your experiences with standardized testing in order to make a case for reform.

Rebuttal Arguments

• In a rebuttal argument, you build your case around refuting an idea or ideas that have come before. In other words, your starting point is to challenge the ideas of the past.

Definition Arguments

• In this type of argument, you use a definition as the starting point for making your case. For example, in a definition argument, you might argue that NCAA basketball players should be defined as professional players and, therefore, should be paid.

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Essay Examples

• Click here to read an argumentative essay on the consequences of fast fashion . Read it and look at the comments to recognize strategies and techniques the author uses to convey her ideas.
• In this example, you’ll see a sample argumentative paper from a psychology class submitted in APA format. Key parts of the argumentative structure have been noted for you in the sample.

Link to Learning

For more examples of types of argumentative essays, visit the Argumentative Purposes section of the Excelsior OWL .

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Research Paper

Spirituality research paper.

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Spirituality refers to the search for meaning and understanding of life, with reference to nonphysical values or powers. The growing recognition of spirituality and its effects on medical outcomes leads to ethical questions including (A) proper assessment of and response to spirituality in medical situations, (B) what to do when someone’s spirituality contradicts standard biomedical judgment, and (C) the underlying assumptions of bioethics as typically presented in the West. These are questions of: how far assessing (or ignoring) patients’ spirituality would be ethical, how far accepting (or overriding) patients’ spiritually grounded decisions would be ethical, and whether the presuppositions of modern Western bioethics ultimately conflict with the presuppositions of spirituality.

Introduction

Spirituality is a term used to cover both formal religion and personal values and beliefs about the relation of consciousness to invisible dimensions “that impart vitality and meaning to life’s events” (Maugans 1996). Disaster, disease, and death challenge our sense of justice and reason; personal crises, such as divorce, unemployment, incapacitation, dying, or bereavement, lead people to ask “why me?” “how can I make sense of this?” “what is life/the universe trying to teach me?” and “what happens hereafter?” Scholars often distinguish existential elements (wonder, awe, intuited harmony, inspiration or ecstasy, commitment to a search for truth) and transcendent elements (karma and rebirth, judgment and afterlife, connection with a higher power) within spirituality. Concern with spirituality builds on Allport’s (1964) classical distinctions between extrinsic and intrinsic religion, observing that while some churchgoers apparently lack spiritual concerns, even agnostics with no religious affiliation may live by strong beliefs and commitments.

Spirituality has important implications for bioethical issues concerning war, capital punishment, and the environment, but this entry focuses on medical and psychological bioethics. Formal religions take positions on bioethical issues ranging from abortion and euthanasia to circumcision and blood transfusion. The present entry focuses on bioethical issues arising outside of formal religious belief systems but within the broader search for human meaning and interconnection known as spirituality. Concerns with spirituality raise bioethical issues on three levels, viz., (A) assessment, (B) biomedical judgment, and (C) challenging of bioethical assumptions.

History And Background

As personal worldviews have supplanted the role of community faith in secularizing societies, the term “spirituality” has largely replaced the term “religious.” In the 1970s, American public opinion polls exposed significant declines in the numbers of people willing to call themselves “religious,” despite an unmistakable upswing in “New Spirituality” and “New Age” movements.

When public opinion polls asked respondents about “spiritual” (rather than religious) interests or belief in “invisible spiritual forces” (rather than God), overwhelming affirmative responses yielded results far more congruent with the sensed tenor of the times. In the 1980s, the United Nations World Health Organization began to use the term spirituality along with religion in its discussions of health and quality of life, and by the 1990s, the WHO considered the term spirituality as an important dimension of health. While communist delegates urged adding the proviso “in some countries” or broadening spirituality to include “attitudes and philosophies,” subsequent discussions have centered more on how to put such concerns into practice.

Outside of Western medicine, care for sufferers’ spiritual needs typically has preceded and predominated over physiological care; in recent decades, even Western hospices and hospitals increasingly recognize the spiritual needs of patients and bereaved. Merely pharmaceutical response to the symptoms of an illness, injury, or bereavement, without addressing their underlying meanings, is like bombing cities in response to suicidal terrorists; ignoring the fundamental causes of disharmony, it exacerbates malaise and alienation rather than attaining long-term solutions.

Responding to patients’ spiritual needs can also improve medical care, by referring patients to chaplains or counselors, using spiritual support resources in the community, incorporating therapeutic touch and “healing” music or aromas, and teaching meditation or relaxation for chronic pain or insomnia. Although debates continue about the validity of therapeutic touch, healing prayer, and meditation, these spiritual responses to medical issues have become objects of formal research rather than of peremptory dismissal, and often complement medical procedures. Yet the areas of spirituality most subject to bioethical discussion are not the utility of prayer and meditation but how patient spirituality should be assessed and valued, especially when it influences medical decision-making.

Reasons For Assessment

Hospital ethics conferences use criteria like best interests, benefits/burdens, performance, QALYs, and DALYs to ground medical decisions, but for many patients and families, the more central questions concern the meaning of suffering: whether they can find redemption, forgiveness, or higher purpose amid tragedy. These are questions of spirituality. Scholarly studies suggest that subjects’ spirituality not only reduces suicides and unethical behaviors but also contributes to psychological well-being and physical health, including recuperation from disability, illness, and loss (Pargament 2011; Koenig 2009).

Feeling a sense of purpose in rehabilitation or of meaning in cancer treatment can significantly improve patients’ compliance and speed their recovery. Conversely, belief that suffering is good or karmically deserved can impede healthy outcomes. If doctors have an ethical duty to diagnose the causes and factors affecting their patients’ health, are they similarly obligated to assess their patients’ psycho-spiritual concerns that affect health outcomes and to become competent to do so?

Doctors often prescribe futile medicines and procedures for disabling or terminal illness, more for the sake of raising patients’ and families’ hopes than for their demonstrable cost-effectiveness. If it were known that patients and families would feel greater hope through ritual, meditation, music, prayer, sacred narratives, or inspirational readings, is it ethical to withhold those forms of spiritual care, when their side effects were less harmful than a predictably futile round of chemotherapy? The uncertainties inherent in such diagnoses and prognoses should not ethically change the patients’ set of choices.

History Of Assessment

Some doctors still think that tools for psychospiritual assessment lack the level of precision required in medicine or that diagnostic data is too weak. If the issue were the precision of medical prediction, doctors themselves would face an unbearable burden of proof. If the issue is the accuracy not of prediction but of diagnosis, a wide range of spiritual diagnostic assessment tools are demonstrably useful in treating patients.

As early as 1982, Paloutzian and Ellison’s SWBS (Spiritual Well-Being Scale) (Paloutzian and Park 2013) assessed religious well-being relating to God (e.g., “God loves me and cares about me”) and existential well-being relating to purpose in life (e.g., “life is full of conflict and unhappiness”). The SWBS has since been criticized for being too monotheistic and for failing to distinguish variations among people with high spirituality. Moberg (2001) advanced the SWBS to a 94-item questionnaire, but this proved too tedious for clinical settings.

By the late 1990s, physicians like Maugans advocated taking spiritual histories of their patients (1996); Harvard University (Puchalski 2006), and the University of Hull’s Centre for Spirituality Studies (McSherry and Ross 2010) validated reliable protocols for doing so. In the 2000s, the FACIT organization developed the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp 2014) that measures sense of meaning and the role of faith in illness, with items like “I have trouble feeling peace of mind” and “my illness has strengthened my faith or spiritual beliefs” (http://www.facit.org/FACITOrg/Questionnaires).

Of the dozens of spiritual assessment tools now circulated and taught, the FACIT-Sp and SWBS have become most widely used. The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) has developed medical school objectives (MSO) related to spirituality and culture. So the issue has evolved from how spirituality can be measured to whether it should be measured proactively.

Ethical Issues In Assessment

Can physicians and hospitals better respect and support their patients’ beliefs by ignoring them or by proactively probing them? Are they ethically required not only to respect but also to support their patients’ spirituality? Doctors maintain they are not ethically bound to pray for nor discuss karma with their patients – but are they ethically required to seek someone who will do so, if this would substantially affect their patients’ outcome? If patients ask for spiritual support, can doctors ethically deny it? Can doctors ethically prohibit praying or chanting in hospital wards? What should be done when the values of medical counseling seem to obscure or conflict with the patients’ spirituality?

Medicine tries to treat the physical aspects of pain, disease, and suffering while ignoring their important spiritual aspects. Many doctors feel ethically obliged to require and disclose the results of diagnostic tests even to patients who desire neither testing nor information. If spirituality is a major factor in health, are doctors ethically obliged to require spirituality tests, even to patients who do not desire such tests or information? (If doctors feel unprepared or uncomfortable discussing spirituality, this is a reason not to avoid such testing but to improve doctors’ preparedness.)

Religious hospitals that refuse to provide abortions should seem ethically required to inform patients of the effects of not aborting and their choices of other hospitals that will provide abortions. Then should materialist hospitals that refuse to provide spiritual assessment or counseling be ethically required to inform patients of the effects of ignoring spiritual assessment and their choices of other hospitals that will provide spiritual assessment or counseling?

Responses to these questions about ethical requirement of spiritual assessment range from “always” to “never.” To reduce the risk of intrusion and offense in directly asking all patients about their beliefs and commitments, many practitioners now suggest prescreening before spiritual assessment. In other words, before asking a patient specifically about beliefs or faith community, a prior question should be asked, “are spiritual or religious issues important to you?” or “are there any spiritual concerns you would like to have someone help you address?”

The preponderance favors assessment (often deferred to chaplains or psychologists) only when patients proactively express desire for spiritual support or counseling (McSherry and Ross 2010). Yet this may overlook many patients who harbor the same spiritual needs but hesitate to voice them in medical settings, not to mention the possibility that medical professionals themselves might benefit from spiritual care. If further evidence shows that patients and bereaved families receiving spiritual care are less devastated by grief and less likely to sue, economic reasons alone may promote the assessment and treatment of spiritual crises.

The question of universal spiritual assessment is somewhat analogous to that of universal cholesterol assessment and prescription of statins. Just as there is no precise cholesterol count indicative of statin treatment nor precise way of predicting the statins’ side effects, there is no precise level of anxiety indicative of spiritual counseling nor precise way of predicting the side effects of the counseling. In the case of cholesterol and statins, however, the debate has focused largely on the economics of screening versus the benefits of medication. In the case of spiritual pain, the focus extends to the rights and worldviews of the patients themselves – a more quintessentially ethical area.

Further spiritual dilemmas remain. Are physicians obliged to treat patients whose worldviews utterly contradict their own – like suicide attempters or terrorists who promise to repeat their attempts if their present physicians restore them? Physicians already attempt to dissuade patients from delusions about prognoses, on the grounds of their superior medical knowledge. Then should physicians also attempt to dissuade patients from what the physicians think are delusions about God’s will or the futility of life – and on what grounds?

Ethical issues can arise when doctors or patients blur medical and spiritual roles which society wants separated. The ethics of universal spiritual assessment focus on benefiting and not harming the patient, as medicine is increasingly “patient centered.” Yet the very notion of “patientcentered” medicine itself raises a second level of ethical questions.

Biomedical Judgment: Ethics Of Decision-Making

When physicians are faced with decisions about the desirability of CPR or aggressive life support, they rely on their beliefs about the meaning and value of human life or their understanding of their commitments as physicians. These are spiritual beliefs. Lacking medical knowledge, patients rely even more heavily on their beliefs about the meaning and value of human life or their understanding of their commitments to family or to God. So personal spirituality may have important implications for stances on bioethical issues. Even nonreligious physicians should not underestimate the effects of their patients’ belief systems. Yet the absence of formal denominational labels raises problems, not only in assessment but also in response to patients whose worldviews differ.

Spiritual commitments can underlie such statements as:

I want to bear my babies at home. I will not pollute my body with inorganic chemicals or animal products. I do not want to give my beating heart or liver to someone else. If I can no longer eat nor communicate, I do not want my body prolonged. My suffering here and now will burn off my previous bad karma. I must spend my last moments lying on the ground (or floor), not in a bed. I want to be frozen until medicine can revive me and cure this disease. I want no one to try to revive me, lest my soul be torn between two realms. I want everything possible done for me because the universe will save me with a miracle.

Obviously, such positions may be more or less rational, more or less negotiable. They may be based on traditionally sectarian viewpoints or on personal spirituality. To measure their depth and strength requires not only standard spiritual assessment tools but a close understanding of the patients’ lifestyle hitherto.

Whether a belief is spiritual or not, if it is almost certainly mistaken (such as “the universe will save me with a miracle” or “unfreeze and revive me after my disease becomes curable”), then physicians have the difficult task of helping people overcome such delusions while respecting them as persons (cf. Cochrane 2007). Conversely, when a patient will endure suffering or resist organ donation for spiritual reasons, it may help medical practitioners to understand the spiritual source of that resistance. In some cases, a sympathetic understanding may open the door for a deeper dialogue about what the patient thinks God or the universe wants and ultimately to a reframing or reinterpretation that allows other treatments without requiring a conversion of worldviews. The desires of Hindu patients to die on the floor, or of Tibetans not to be touched for some time after breathing stops, initially challenge hospital procedures, but cultural sensitivity can accommodate such practices if the medical system is adequately forewarned of the patient’s spiritual desires.

Thornier ethical questions concern how to deal with spirituality that conflicts with medical judgment. When a Jain or Quaker claims that their religion requires conscientious objection to military conscription, when a Jehovah’s Witness or Christian Scientist rejects blood transfusions, when a Catholic or Muslim refuses to abort a deformed fetus, their religious affiliation is prima facie evidence of their commitment. Their faith community may legally and socially support their violation of the majority ethical opinion, even calling into question the ethicality of transfusion or abortion itself.

However, when someone with no religious affiliation claims that her spiritual worldview requires physician-assisted suicide, the grounds for this claim are more difficult to demonstrate. How can a physician know that a patient really understands her situation and is deciding not from ignorance and fear but from spiritual commitment? Many would suggest that it is not a physician’s job to distinguish fear from spiritual commitment, much less to attempt to influence his patients’ spiritual commitment. But when a spiritual belief system is cited as a reason for choosing or rejecting courses of treatment in ways the physician thinks suboptimal if not dangerous, then is the physician obliged to follow the patient’s wishes or to introduce someone who will? Some countries (like America) tend to prioritize the personal rights of the patient over that of the trained medical worldview; others prioritize trained medical opinion over that of the layperson (as in Britain’s Bolam v Friern 1957).

Choice of life-prolonging treatment (among many other ethical choices like those above) is not like a choice of cream or sugar in tea or coffee; it involves our very understanding of life and the world. Since spirituality is a commitment to a particular personal understanding of life, patients’ spirituality may have important implications for their personal stances on bioethical issues. How far must law or society ethically respect the spiritual positions of others, when those positions affect life, death, or the use of common medical resources? Neither courts nor bioethicists have reached clear conclusions on such issues, but as modern people move away from organized religions toward increasingly personal spiritual belief systems, both courts and bioethicists will be increasingly forced to address these questions, particularly in situations where patients’ preferences disagree with their doctors’. Conversely, whereas hospital entrance forms could traditionally ask patients’ religious affiliation, future understanding of patients’ spiritual beliefs will require ethically sensitive measures to identify the reasons behind patients’ treatment decisions – and perhaps to provide counselors or chaplains who can discuss those decisions on spiritual as well as medical grounds.

Challenging Bioethical Assumptions

If spirituality were reducible to existential angst, then physicians might be allowed ethically to override the ignorant fears of their patients. On the other hand, if spirituality highlights cross-cultural relativity and transcendent values, then it ultimately challenges the assumptions, not merely of medicine but even of bioethics as it has evolved in the West. Western bioethics typically accepts the principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice as self-evident. Many more spiritual perspectives challenge the cultural and economic biases underlying the proselytization and use of these very “principles.”

The “principle” of “autonomy” is as recent as it is biased. The notion arose from the eighteenth-century white property-owning male enlightenment thinkers who analogized the universe to a clock and life to deducing mathematical theories from principles. They never imagined rights of women, servants, children, or other races, much less of societies or animals.

Many spiritually minded cultures find the notion of autonomy incomprehensible. The very word autonomy is untranslatable and therefore unthinkable in many cultures and languages, so to impose it on them is little less than bioethical imperialism. In other societies that have learned to translate the term “autonomy,” it exemplifies unethical rather than ethical thinking. Traditional societies from China and Japan to Polynesia and sub-Saharan Africa hold that humanhood is quintessentially relational and inextricably social. For many educated Asians and Africans, an ethical decision is one that considers all the impacts and desires of all the people and groups that might have preferences about it. Someone who decides for themselves, about themselves, and by themselves is at best lacking in social maturity and consideration and at worst criminally self-centered. In such cultures, intuitive understandings of rightness based on human interactions and concern for future generations are felt to be far more ethical than principled calculations or signatures on incomprehensible consent forms.

Beneficence

The bioethical “principle” of “beneficence” tends to prioritize short-term benefit, based on limited knowledge about long-term side effects and societal and environmental impacts. Thus, statins may provide a short-term fix for high cholesterol, but in the long run, their side effects may override their benefits, where changes of patient diet and lifestyle would prove far preferable for the patient. Steroids or antibiotics that seem beneficial in the short run may in the long run create allergies or antibiotic-resistant pathogens that threaten society. Transplanting a resected liver into a waiting recipient may benefit the recipient in the short run but may risk reducing the quantity or quality of life of the donor in the long run – and possibly lead to social commodification of human body parts. To provide such drugs or organs in ways that may threaten the physical health or ethical thinking of society in the future is unthinkably unethical from some spiritual perspectives.

Many spiritual worldviews maintain that long-term sustainability is ethically preferable to quick fixes. Many traditional cultures consider ethical effects of actions on many generations of descendants, on society, and on environments centuries hence. Their spirituality would resist using recently discovered chemicals in human foods and medications before their safety and side effects had been proven on generations of unwitting human guinea pigs. It would reject meat eating for its deleterious impacts both on environment and on human health, not to mention on the sentient animals which are butchered. Traditional spirituality would be extremely cautious about genetic engineering with the potential to disrupt many delicate balances in nature, even under the guise of “beneficence.”

The bioethical “principle” of “justice” or “fairness” tends to prioritize supposed equality of choice over equality of outcome and material quantity over psycho-spiritual quality. Modern capitalists tend to equate well-being with economic prosperity, if not reducing happiness to material wealth or longevity. Similarly, medical notions of fairness all too often look at dollars spent or length of patient survival, without considering the psycho-spiritual quality of the life of the bedridden or even unconscious patient. Many spiritual perspectives would laud the patient who wishes a shorter conscious ambulatory life over a longer unconscious bedridden one. Yet bioethical notions of fairness all too often refer implicitly to economics – the money and resources to be spent on a given patient – rather than on trying to enable patients to reach sense of meaning and peace within their situations or greater satisfaction in their deaths.

Fox and Swazey (2008) have cogently critiqued the hegemonic thrust and cultural myopia of American bioethics and its failure to address issues of international injustices and inequities in health care – partly marginalized by bioethicists’ unanalyzed tendencies to consider them as economic rather than ethical problems. For example, under the rubric of “justice” or “fairness,” Western bioethicists glibly debate the ethics of providing costly life-extending liver transplantation to a minuscule minority of wealthy Westerners while ignoring millions of children suffering organ damage and physical handicaps as a result of malnutrition. Recent debates over the desirability of costly genetic enhancement of embryos beyond any natural norm take place against an unseen background of countless babies born with crippling genetic defects that will never be addressed by their societies’ medical resources. Bioethicists debate the use of embryonic stem cells to enable infertile or homosexual couples to replicate themselves, while tens of thousands of orphans in need of good homes cry out for adoption. A more spiritual view looks not only at fairness for individuals but at fairness for a larger and longer humankind. It suggests that, while not all unfairness can be addressed, as long as a vast portion of the world lacks elementary medical care and hygiene, debates on the ethics of costly advanced medical techniques are cruel and inconsiderate at best and at worst make a travesty of any pretense to “fairness” or “justice.”

Ethics, Not Calculus

Finally, the presupposition that ethics should be deduced from culture-blind or culture transcendent principles directly violates spiritual insights that ethics arise from human emotional interactions within concrete cultural situations. Since spirituality is not a single position or denomination, it cannot be said that all spiritualities oppose such principlism. But spirituality implies a plea to consider less what scalpels or chemicals may do to patients’ cells and more what interactions or power relations may do to people’s souls. Biomedical decisions should not be made from the falsifiable fiction of a just and rational world operating according to Cartesian principles; they must address social, cultural, and long-term implications of treating people as bodies or intelligent objects, rather than as hearts, souls, and subjects in search of meaning in this life and perhaps the next. From this perspective, spiritual crises challenge not only particular medical assessments and procedures but indeed the very presuppositions underlying the unconsciously hegemonic movement of Anglo-European bioethics into traditional Asian and African worldviews.

Times of crisis require insights into their existential implications. Incurable cancer and dementia sufferers – and their caregivers or bereaved families – demand more than X-rays and drugs; they want to understand not only the causes but also the potential meanings of their tragedies. Spirituality implies prioritizing people’s feelings, beliefs, and meanings over material measurements of cells, organs, or life expectancies. Taking spirituality seriously requires not only listening to patients but also treating their worldviews with respect. Many ethical issues linger concerning the ways and extents of respecting spirituality. Ultimately, concerns with overarching meaning and transcendence may challenge not only specific medical procedures and prejudices but the very grounds and scope of twentieth-century Western biomedical ethics itself.

Bibliography :

• Allport, G. W. (1964). The Individual and His Religion: A Psychological Interpretation. New York: Macmillan, Allport.
• Cochrane, T. I. (2007). Religious delusions and the limits of spirituality in decision-making. American Journal of Bioethics, 7(7), 15.
• FACIT-Sp. (2014). http://www.facit.org/FACITOrg/ Questionnaires
• Fox, R. C., & Swazey, J. P. (2008). Observing bioethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Koenig, H. (2009). Spirituality in patient care: Why, how, when, and what (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Templeton Press.
• Maugans, T. A. (1996). The Spiritual history. Archives of Family Medicine, 5, 11–16.
• McSherry, W., & Ross, L. (2010). Spiritual assessment in healthcare practice. Cumbria: M&K Update.
• Moberg, D. O. (2001). Aging and spirituality: Spiritual dimensions of aging theory. New York: Haworth.
• Paloutzian, R. F., & Park, C. L. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
• Pargament, K. I. (2011). Spiritually integrated psychotherapy: Understanding and addressing the sacred. New York: Guilford Press.
• Puchalski, C. M. (2006). A time for listening and caring: Spirituality and the care of the chronically ill and dying. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Cobb, M., Puchalski, C. M., & Rumbold, B. (Eds.). (2012). Oxford textbook of spirituality in healthcare. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Emmons, R. A. (1999). The psychology of ultimate concerns: Motivation and spirituality in personality. New York: Guilford Press.
• Johnston-Taylor, E. (2007). What do I say? Talking with patients about spirituality. Philadelphia: Templeton Press.
• Lazenby, M., McCorkle, R., & Sulmasy, D. P. (Eds.). (2014). Safe passage: A global spiritual sourcebook for care at the end of life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Humorous, common-sensical, temperamentally conservative, Joseph Epstein may be the best familiar — that is casual, personal — essayist of the last half-century. Not, as he might point out, that there’s a lot of competition. Though occasionally a scourge of modern society’s errancies, Epstein sees himself as essentially a serious reader and “a hedonist of the intellect.” His writing is playful and bookish, the reflections of a wry observer alternately amused and appalled by the world’s never-ending carnival.

Now 87, Epstein has just published his autobiography, “ Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life: Especially if You’ve Had a Lucky Life ,” in tandem with “ Familiarity Breeds Content: New and Selected Essays .” This pair of books brings the Epstein oeuvre up to around 30 volumes of sophisticated literary entertainment. While there are some short-story collections (“The Goldin Boys,” “Fabulous Small Jews”), all the other books focus on writers, observations on American life, and topics as various as ambition, envy, snobbery, friendship, charm and gossip. For the record, let me add that I own 14 volumes of Epstein’s views and reviews and would like to own them all.

Little wonder, then, that Epstein’s idea of a good time is an afternoon spent hunched over Herodotus’s “Histories,” Marguerite Yourcenar’s “Memoirs of Hadrian” or almost anything by Henry James, with an occasional break to enjoy the latest issue of one of the magazines he subscribes to. In his younger days, there were as many as 25, and most of them probably featured Epstein’s literary journalism at one time or another. In the case of Commentary, he has been contributing pieces for more than 60 years.

As Epstein tells it, no one would have predicted this sort of intellectual life for a kid from Chicago whose main interests while growing up were sports, hanging out, smoking Lucky Strikes and sex. A lackadaisical C student, Myron Joseph Epstein placed 169th in a high school graduating class of 213. Still, he did go on to college — the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — because that’s what was expected of a son from an upper-middle-class Jewish family. But Urbana-Champaign wasn’t a good fit for a jokester and slacker: As he points out, the president of his college fraternity “had all the playfulness of a member of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers.” No matter. Caught peddling stolen copies of an upcoming accounting exam for $5 a pop, Epstein was summarily expelled.

Fortunately, our lad had already applied for a transfer to the University of Chicago, to which he was admitted the next fall. Given his record, this shows a surprising laxity of standards by that distinguished institution, but for Epstein the move was life-changing. In short order, he underwent a spiritual conversion from good ol’ boy to European intellectual in the making. In the years to come, he would count the novelist Saul Bellow and the sociologist Edward Shils among his close friends, edit the American Scholar, and teach at Northwestern University. His students, he recalls, were “good at school, a skill without any necessary carry-over, like being good at pole-vaulting or playing the harmonica.”

Note the edge to that remark. While “Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life” is nostalgia-laden, there’s a hard nut at its center. Epstein feels utter contempt for our nation’s “radical change from a traditionally moral culture to a therapeutic one.” As he explains: “Our parents’ culture and that which came long before them was about the formation of character; the therapeutic culture was about achieving happiness. The former was about courage and honor, the latter about self-esteem and freedom from stress.” This view of America’s current ethos may come across as curmudgeonly and reductionist, but many readers — whatever their political and cultural leanings — would agree with it. Still, such comments have sometimes made their author the focus of nearly histrionic vilification.

Throughout his autobiography, this lifelong Chicagoan seems able to remember the full names of everyone he’s ever met, which suggests Epstein started keeping a journal at an early age. He forthrightly despises several older writers rather similar to himself, calling Clifton Fadiman, author of “The Lifetime Reading Plan,” pretentious, then quite cruelly comparing Mortimer J. Adler, general editor of the “Great Books of the Western World” series, with Sir William Haley, one of those deft, widely read English journalists who make all Americans feel provincial. To Epstein, “no two men were more unalike; Sir William, modest, suave, intellectually sophisticated; Mortimer vain, coarse, intellectually crude.” In effect, Fadiman and Adler are both presented as cultural snake-oil salesmen. Of course, both authors were popularizers and adept at marketing their work, but helping to enrich the intellectual lives of ordinary people doesn’t strike me as an ignoble purpose.

In his own work, Epstein regularly employs humor, bits of slang or wordplay, and brief anecdotes to keep his readers smiling. For instance, in a chapter about an editorial stint at the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Epstein relates this story about a colleague named Martin Self:

“During those days, when anti-Vietnam War protests were rife, a young woman in the office wearing a protester’s black armband, asked Martin if he were going to that afternoon’s protest march. ‘No, Naomi,’ he said, ‘afternoons such as this I generally spend at the graveside of George Santayana.’”

Learned wit, no doubt, but everything — syntax, diction, the choice of the philosopher Santayana for reverence — is just perfect.

But Epstein can be earthier, too. Another colleague “was a skirt-chaser extraordinaire," a man "you would not feel safe leaving alone with your great-grandmother.” And of himself, he declares: “I don’t for a moment wish to give the impression that I live unrelievedly on the highbrow level of culture. I live there with a great deal of relief.”

In his many essays, including the sampling in “Familiarity Breeds Content,” Epstein is also markedly “quotacious,” often citing passages from his wide reading to add authority to an argument or simply to share his pleasure in a well-turned observation. Oddly enough, such borrowed finery is largely absent from “Never Say You’ve Had a Happy Life.” One partial exception might be the unpronounceable adjective “immitigable,” which appears all too often. It means unable to be mitigated or softened, and Epstein almost certainly stole it from his friend Shils, who was fond of the word.

Despite his autobiography’s jaunty title, Epstein has seen his share of trouble. As a young man working for an anti-poverty program in Little Rock, he married a waitress after she became pregnant with his child. When they separated a decade later, he found himself with four sons to care for — two from her previous marriage, two from theirs. Burt, the youngest, lost an eye in an accident while a toddler, couldn’t keep a job, fathered a child out of wedlock and eventually died of an opioid overdose at 28. Initially hesitant, Epstein came to adore Burt’s daughter, Annabelle, as did his second wife, Barbara, whom he married when they were both just past 40.

Some pages of “Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life” will be familiar to inveterate readers of Epstein’s literary journalism, all of which carries a strong first-person vibe. Not surprisingly, however, the recycled anecdotage feels less sharp or witty the second time around. But overall, this look back over a long life is consistently entertaining, certainly more page-turner than page-stopper. To enjoy Epstein at his very best, though, you should seek out his earlier essay collections such as “The Middle of My Tether,” “Partial Payments” and “A Line Out for a Walk.” Whether he writes about napping or name-dropping or a neglected writer such as Somerset Maugham, his real subject is always, at heart, the wonder and strangeness of human nature.

Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life

Especially if You’ve Had a Lucky Life

By Joseph Epstein

Free Press. 304 pp. $29.99

Familiarity Breeds Content

New and Selected Essays

Simon & Schuster. 464 pp. $20.99

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