Literatura científica selecionada sobre o tema "Loss (Psychology) – Religious aspects – Christianity"

A sample of 165 regular churchgoers completed the short form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, together with the Francis scale of attitude towards Christianity. While the data demonstrate that the central thesis of Eysenck's theory relating personality with religious attitudes holds good among a religious sample, they also suggest that other aspects of personality theory and measurement relating personality with religious attitudes may function differently in a religiously committed sample than in more general samples.

Abstract This article considers Bonhoeffer’s treatment of time and space and their relationship to worldly Christianity, and asks how this might be important for life in the Anthropocene. It engages with time and space via aspects of several of his texts including his first published monograph, Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1–3 (1937) delivered as the ‘Creation and Sin’ lectures at the University of Berlin through 1932–33; the short lecture, “Thy Kingdom Come: The Prayer of the Church-Community for God’s Kingdom on Earth” (19 November 1932); as well as his Ethics (incomplete manuscripts from 1940–43). It applies these findings to Bonhoeffer’s notion of worldly Christianity. In doing so, it pursues a contemporary development of worldly Christianity in the form of Earthly Christianity, one suitable for the demands of the new age, the Anthropocene, characterised by disruption, dissociation with the world, and a loss of hope.

This article reviews Mary Daly's five books published between 1968 and 1987. Mary Daly is a key contributor to the feminist view of religion. The focus of this discussion is her intellectual trajectory that includes critique and reconstruction of both psychology and religion. As she moves from reform to radical feminism and from Christianity to postchristian feminist spirituality, Daly increasingly views both psychology and religion as aspects of oppressively patriarchal culture. Simultaneously, her own work includes psychological insights and envisions psychic integrity as a goal of the spiritual revolution of feminism. Daly's work sponsors a psychology of religion and dialogue between psychology and religion that opposes sexism.

Christianity is the predominant religious affiliation for Chinese Americans. The divide and loss of connectedness of cultural values between first and second generations has left both parties deeply grieved. Research has confirmed this intergenerational divide and the potential of Christian faith to help cohere the family unit. Notably, the influence of the new primary culture of Christianity may enable a way for the two generations to better understand one another. In addition to the church providing a new model for the strengthening of familial relationships, it is suggested that the enhanced ability for mentalization developed through one’s relationship with God and connecting self-states may also translate to the improvement of personal and family connectedness. This article presents a case of a second-generation Christian Chinese American woman who found links of connection with her first-generation immigrant parents and between the multiplicity of her identity through her Christian faith.

This article considers what integration efforts in psychology would look like if informed by a trinitarian account of creation. Further theological reflection about the doctrine of creation reveals four key conclusions that are valuable for conceiving the relationship between theology and psychology: (1) The goodness of the created realm establishes the investigation and exploration of human nature through science and psychology; (2) Human nature can be explored through psychology because God’s providential care allows a certain “order” of creation to be preserved despite the reality of sin; (3) God endows humanity with creative abilities to discover and develop the created realm and culture through the science of psychology; (4) God’s trinitarian relations with the world establishes the theological basis for the social, embodied, and relational aspects of human nature that are able to be discerned through the study of psychology. The implications that these four key conclusions have for psychological research and clinical psychology will also be discussed.

Poetry is greatly influenced by the cultural background and personal experiences of the poets. Emily Dickson’s poems exemplify this because she draws a lot of her motivation from her heritage of New England and her life experience which had harsh incidents such as loss of friends and relatives. She lives a life of seclusion, where she rarely has face-to-face encounter with her friends as she prefers communicating through letters. Her limited interaction with the society gives her adequate space to reflect and write about different aspects of life. Emily’s poetry is also influenced by the doubts she holds about Christianity, especially in relation with survival of the soul after death. "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" and "I Heard a Fly Buzz- when I Died" are among her popular poems that indicate her religious doubt. She agrees with some of the Calvinist religious beliefs, but still has some doubts about the innate depravity of mankind and the concept of the afterlife.Dickinson’s spiritual background is indicated by her religious beliefs, which form the basis of her preoccupation with death. Although Dickinson is a religious person who believes in the inevitability of death and afterlife, she is a non-conformist as she is skeptical and curious about the nature of death. Transcendentalism is the other factor that contributes to Dickinson’s preoccupation with death as indicated in her poems. Dickinson’s preoccupation with death also results from her obsession, which is greatly contributed by the life experiences she has with death including loss of her family, mentors and close friends.

AbstractIn this deeply personal article, Mark Solomon explores the universal dichotomy between group solidarity and individual dissent by reflecting on two formative experiences of his own life. The first was his inspiring teenage encounter with Lubavitch Hasidism and his revulsion at its extreme, particularistic views about Jewish souls, which led to a loss of faith in Judaism and a four-year spiritual struggle over whether to convert to Christianity. Later, as an Orthodox rabbi, he had to deal with a growing awareness of being gay and the need to come out, once again leaving the solidarity of the traditional Jewish family structure for a dissenting way of life. Individual dissent can create a new sense of community and bring with it a solidarity among outsiders. The challenges of belonging and personal freedom are part of the perpetual rhythm of life and can be a source of growth and energy.

In her recent book, Kierkegaard and Religion: Personality, Character, and Virtue, Sylvia Walsh argues that Kierkegaard is not a virtue ethicist in the most common senses associated with eudaimonism, which he understands as enlightened self-interest. However, recent disputes about whether the aspects of “character” that Kierkegaard praises are virtues rely partly on whether the “ethical stage” in Kierkegaard’s moral psychology remains important within Christian faith, even when most strictly conceived in his late works. This in turn depends on how we understand the difficult works–grace relation in Kierkegaard’s conception of Christian faith. In this essay, I argue that the ethical existence sphere remains important even though, in works like Practice in Christianity and Judge for Yourself!, Kierkegaard argues that Christian faith is not a mere outgrowth or natural “development” of ethical earnestness or care—hardening the break with immanence that he introduced in earlier works. While he emphasizes a total transformation, a break from natural moral consciousness, and describes Christian qualities as a reversal of ordinary human expectations, there remains an underlying continuity with the attitudes and stances constitutive of the ethical and religiousness A (as existence spheres). This becomes visible when we identify three aspects found across the aesthetic, ethical, and Christian religious versions of major concepts in Kierkegaard’s work, including positive character terms. I use “sobriety” as discussed in Judge for Yourself! as my main example. This analysis confirms several important points advanced by Lee Barrett on the works–grace relation. The paradoxical standoff between ethical effort and grace is bridged to some extent by the continuing significance of the ethical “sphere” as a part of the “religious”, even in Kierkegaard’s late works and journal entries.

Manuscripts is the result of handwriting which contains various things such as thoughts, community culture, history of one's life journey and customs in the past. Religious texts are related to the spread of religion in Jember, such as there are Islamic boarding school texts for the spread of Islam and there are Bible texts for the spread of Christianity in Jember.. The research was conducted using a philological research method with a codicological approach. There are several steps in this research method. First, tracing the manuscripts obtained from the people who inherited the manuscripts. Second, an inventory of manuscripts is carried out by means of field studies, namely visiting directly the location where the manuscripts are stored by the community who is the owner or inheritor of the manuscripts. Third, preservation by caring for and maintaining the manuscript to prevent the loss of the information contained in the manuscript due to damage to the manuscript due to certain factors. The results of this study explain aspects of codicology, manuscript descriptions and efforts to save the findings of eight ancient manuscripts in Jember Regency. .

There were four major purposes of this study: (1) to evaluate the level of grief experience by bereaved individuals who attend either a grief support group or grief psycho-educational group in the Inland Empire, (2) to evaluate the level of spirtuality experienced by bereaved individuals who attend either a grief support or grief psycho-educational group in the Inland Empire, (3) to correlate the level of grief reactions with the level of spiritual experience within bereaved individuals, and (4) to describe demongraphic and grief/spiritual-related factors that may influence a bereaved individual's spiritual experience and grief process.

This study utilized both qualitative and quantitative procedures to examine the relationship between religiosity and eating disorders among a sample of nineteen eating disordered individuals who sought treatment at one of two college counseling centers, or at a hospital unit which specializes in treating eating disorders. Following theoretical works that point to asceticism as the link between religion and eating disorders, it was hypothesized that subject scores on the Shepherd Scale, a measure of religiosity from a Christian perspective, would positively correlate with scores on the Eating Disorder Inventory, a measure of eating disorder symptomatology, which includes a subscale that assesses asceticism. Analysis of subject scores shows no statistically significant correlation between religiosity and asceticism, though statistically significant negative correlations were found between religiosity and other Eating Disorder Inventory subscales. A marked difference in asceticism scores was found between subjects treated at the college counseling centers and those treated at the hospital unit.
Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study was designed to investigate two hypotheses. The first was to determine if either an individual's epistemic style or Christian maturity were capable of predicting marital satisfaction among couples where at least one spouse was a church attender. The second was to determine if a matching score between spouses on epistemic style and Christian maturity would be able to predict marital satisfaction among couples where at least one spouse was a church attender. The Global Distress Scale (GDS) of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory was used as the dependent variable. The Psycho-Epistemological Profile (PEP) was used to measure epistemic style while the Shepherd Scale was used to measure Christian maturity.Fifty-two couples where at least one spouse was a church attender ultimately participated in the study. These couples were obtained by randomly contacting churches and soliciting the assistance of church representatives to help elicit participation. Ultimately seven of the churches contacted in this manner participated in the study.The results indicate that only the metaphorical epistemic style was a moderate predictor of marital satisfaction accounting for approximately 4% of the variance. Neither the matching score on epistemic style nor on Christian maturity were able to predict marital satisfaction.
Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This thesis will investigate the significance of the Eastern Orthodox perspective of theosis, for the bioethical principle of autonomy, specifically with regard to its respect for the elderly. Theosis is a central doctrine of the Orthodox Church which pertains to the salvation of human persons and their free and cooperative response to God's grace, and as such, has an intimate relationship with the Eastern Orthodox understanding of personhood.
On the one hand there are a number of areas of mutual concern or overlap between the concept of respect for autonomy and the Orthodox understanding of personhood and the goal of theosis. There are, however, significant differences which prevent them from being viewed as synonymous or even as totally compatible.
There are complementary aspects, some of which will be identified in this initial study. It is hoped that such an investigation can help to further develop Eastern Orthodox thinking with regard to bioethical issues and be of value when dealing with the complex issues related to the elderly. This topic will also be of interest to a wider audience involved in bioethical reflection from both Christian and secular perspectives.

Divorce is a common phenomenon in South Africa, affecting many families across the country. On the other hand, there are many couples who choose to remain married, despite having endured significant stress. In a review of literature there have been studies conducted exploring enduring marriages (marriages that have lasted twenty years or more), but little on resilience in the early years of marriage. With many couples choosing to divorce within the first ten years of marriage, there is value in exploring the strengths of young marriages that contribute towards resilience. The following question then arises: what are the stressors that couples experience during the early years of marriage (under ten years) and how does the way they cope with these challenges enhance resilience in their marriages? This question has resulted in this qualitative study, employing an exploratory descriptive and contextual research design with the aim of exploring the strengths that contribute towards resilience in the early years of marriage. The study is based within the framework of positive psychology, as this facilitates the exploration of the factors that have contributed towards the resilience of the couples that were interviewed. A non-probability, purposive sampling technique was employed to obtain research participants. Data was collected through the use of individual semistructured interviews conducted with five couples (ten individuals) who have been married for ten years or less, have endured significant stress, have chosen to remain married, and experience their relationship as satisfying. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic content analysis. The results of the study may be used to develop a strengths based-intervention programme for couples in the early years of marriage.

Thesis (DTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2000
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research seeks to establish whether the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Africa have a characteristic personality type and temperament that relates to their style of spirituality. Style of spirituality here refers to all spiritual behaviour in a broad sense - how they pray, worship, use the Bible, care about others, relate to social needs, care about the environment, administer and organize their church activities, etc. This study does not deal with what they believe, but rather focuses on how they believe. This research further seeks to establish what impact participant's God-image has upon their level of spiritual maturity, if any at all. To what extent does one's personality and temperament influence spiritual maturity and God-image? What instruments were used? I used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to measure personality and temperament, the Personal Orientation Inventory of Everett Shostrom to measure levels of self-actualization and psychological maturity, the Faith Maturity Scale of Benson, Donahue, and Erickson, to measure faith maturity, and the Christian Preference Profile scale, which I developed to measure preferences of Christian religiosity, which also gave an indication of God-image. How was the study conducted? I visited approximately 22 SDA churches in the Western Cape and distributed the inventories to willing participants myself. I explained the purpose of the research and how to complete the inventories. Participants were requested to complete it at home and return it the next week. I made use of two supervised students who helped to mark the answer sheets and capture the data. What were the findings? The personality type of the SDA laity was more introverted, compared to a similar study indicating that SDA clergy were more extraverted. The most significant finding was that the dominant temperament was sensing/judging (SJ=70%), slightly higher than that for the clergy. The self-actualizing levels were relatively low - the two main measures, time competency and locus of control measured both in the non-actualizing range, as well as three of the ten sub-scales, relating to a rigid implementation of values, a pessimistic view of humanity, and a lack of acceptance of synergy between opposite characteristics. The faith maturity levels were slightly above the average, and were low on three of the eight measures, relating to integration of faith and life, social concerns, and involvement in social and environmental issues. The religious preference scale indicated a dominant relational style, followed by a dependent, personal, evangelical style, and a bureaucratic organizational style of religious preference. Some of the main characteristics of the SDA profile were a resistance to change, preservation of the status quo, stable, able administrators, favour a hierarchical, bureaucratic structure, substance-oriented rather than relationship-oriented, preserving their identity is a high priority, and is evidenced in preserving the purity of their beliefs, affectionately referred to as the "truth."
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsing het ten doel om vas te stel of die lidmate van die Sewendedag- Adventistekerk in Suid-Afrika 'n kenmerkende persoonlikheidstipe en temperament het wat ooreenkom met hulle styl van spiritualiteit. Die styl van spiritualiteit verwys hier na aile spirituele gedrag in die bree sin - hoe hulle bid, aanbid, die Bybel gebruik, omgee vir andere, verhouding tot sosiale behoeftes, besorgdheid oor die omgewing, adrninistrasie en organisasie van kerklike aktiwiteite, ens. Hierdie studie het nie te make met wat hulle glo nie, maar eerder met hoe hulle glo. Hierdie navorsing poog verder om vas te stel watter impak deelnemers se Godsbeeld op hulle vlak van geestelike volwassenheid het, indien enige. Tot watter mate beinvloed 'n persoon se persoonlikheid en temperament sy/haar geestelike volwassenheid en Godsbeeld? Watter instrumente is gebruik? Ek het die Myers-Briggs Type Indicator gebruik om persoonlikheid en temperament te meet, die Personal Orientation Inventory van Everett Shostrom, om die vlakke van selfverwesenliking en psigologiese volwassenheid te meet, die Faith Maturity Scale van Benson, Donahue en Erickson, om geloofsvolwassenheid te meet en die Christian Preference Profile scale, wat ek self ontwikkel het om voorkeure van Christelike religieuse gedrag te meet en wat ook 'n aanduiding van Godsbeeld gegee het. Hoe is die studie aangepak? Ek het ongeveer 22 SDA gemeentes in die Weskaap besoek en het die vraelyste self uitgehandig aan gewillige deelnemers. Ek het die doel van die navorsing en hoe om die vraelyste in te vul verduidelik. Deelnemers is versoek om die vraelyste tuis in te vul en die volgende week terug te bring Ek het gebruik gemaak van twee studente wat onder my toesig die vraelyste help merk en die data op rekenaar geplaas het. Wat was die bevindinge? Die persoonlikheidstipe van die SDA leke was meer introverties as 'n vroeer vergelykende studie met SDA predikante wat aangedui het dat hulle meer ekstroverties was. Die beduidendste bevinding was dat die dorninante temperament "sensing/judging" (SJ=70%) was, effens hcer as die van die predikante. Die selfverwesenlikheidsvlakke was relatieflaag - die twee hoofskale, tydvaardigheid en lokus van kontrole, het beide in die nie-selfverwesenlikheidsgebied gemeet, asook drie van die tien subskale, naamlik rigiditeit ten opsigte van die toepassing van waardes, 'n pessimistiese mensesiening en 'n gebrek aan aanvaarding van sinergie tussen teenoorgestelde eienskappe. Die geloofsvolwassenheidsvlakke was effens bo die gemiddelde en was laag op drie van die agt skale, naamlik integrasie van geloof en lewe, sosiale aangeleenthede en betrokkenheid by sosiale en orngewingsake. Die godsdienstige voorkeurskaal het 'n dominante verhoudingstyl aangedui, gevolg deur 'n afhanklike, persoonlike, evangeliese styl en daarna 'n burokratiese organisasiestyl van religieuse voorkeur. Sommige van die hoofkenmerke van die SDA profiel was 'n weerstand tot verandering, behoud van die status quo, stabiele en vaardige adrninistrateurs, voorkeur vir 'n hierargiese, burokratiese struktuur, substansgeorienteerd eerder as verhoudingsgeorienteerd, behoud van eie identiteit as hoe prioriteit wat veral sigbaar is in die bewaring van die suiwerheid van hulle geloofsleer, alombekend as die "waarheid" binne Adventistekringe.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
This study sought to verify the influence of spiritual/religious coping (SRC) on the quality of life of a father and/or mother who has lost a child by external causes. It is a cross-sectional, quantitative and qualitative study. Participants were invited to collaborate voluntarily and after agreeing, they answered the questionnaires Spiritual Religious Coping Scale Brief (SRCOPE brief Scale), WHOQOL Spirituality Religiousness and Personal Beliefs, and the Duke Religious Index, DUREL. The population was composed by forty participants, constituted equally by twenty mothers and twenty fathers, who lost the child by external causes, with more than three months of time of the loss. The cause of death by homicide, represents 67.5%, traffic accident composes 15%, tragedy of Kiss Nightclub constitutes 12.5%, suicide evidences 2.45%, as well as and 2.45% for lost bullet. Fathers and mothers present high frequency of IR, as well as RO and RNO. Fathers and mothers aged 29 to 44 years have a higher religiosity than those aged over 44 years. Fathers manifest a higher Positive SRC (PSRC) Offer of Help (p = 0.0001), Positive attitude towards God (p = 0.0005) and lower Negative SRC (NSRC) (p = 0.007) than mothers. No correlation was found between quality of life, religious frequency and SRC. The qualitative results revealed that mothers have greater difficulty in dealing with loss, according to Stroebe and Shut (1999; 2001), Rando (1997), Schatz (1997); There was a marked presence of illusions related to the departed child, considered expressions of continuous bonds. The positive SRC (PSRC) was highlighted in the narrative of fathers and mothers, used as a resource to serve others, through volunteering and/or building prosocial institutions, to be beneficial for well-being as well as in the construction of meaning and in the search for purpose in life
Este estudo buscou verificar a influência do coping religioso-espiritual (CRE) na qualidade de vida de um pai e/ou de uma mãe que perderam um filho por causas externas. Trata-se de um estudo transversal, quantitativo e qualitativo. Os participantes deste estudo foram convidados a colaborar voluntariamente e, após concordarem, responderam aos questionários: Escala de Coping Religioso-Espiritual Abreviada (Escala CRE-abreviada), WHOQOL Spirituality Religiousness and Personal Beliefs e a Escala de Religiosidade de Duke (DUREL). A população foi composta por 40 participantes, constituída igualitariamente por vinte mães e vinte pais, que perderam o filho por causas externas, com mais de três meses de tempo da perda. A morte por homicídio representa 67,5%, por acidente de trânsito compõe 15%, na tragédia da Boate Kiss constitui 12,5%, por suicídio evidencia 2,45% e, por bala perdida, 2,45%. Pais e mães, apresentam alta frequência de RI, assim como de RO e RNO. Pais e mães de 29 a 44 anos têm maior religiosidade do que aqueles com idade superior a 44 anos. Os pais evidenciaram maior CRE Positivo (CREP) de Oferta de Ajuda (p=0,0001), Posição Positiva Frente a Deus (p=0,0005) e menor CRE Negativo (CREN) (p=0,007) do que as mães. Não foi encontrada correlação entre qualidade de vida, religiosidade e CRE. Os resultados qualitativos revelaram que mães tem maior dificuldade em lidar com a perda, conforme apontam Stroebe e Shut (1999; 2001), Rando (1997), Schatz (1997); houve uma acentuada presença de ilusões relacionadas à criança que partiu, consideradas expressões de vínculos contínuos. O CRE Positivo (CREP) se destacou nos relatos de pais e mães, utilizado como recurso para servir ao outro por meio de voluntariado e/ou na formação de instituições pró-sociais, evidenciando benefícios para o bem-estar, assim como na construção de significado e busca de sentido da vida

Thesis (MTh (Practical Theology and Missiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus of the thesis is on the HIV and AIDS-related stigma and stigmatisation of people who try to live positively with HIV/AIDS within the pandemic. The basic assumption is that there is interplay between the HIVAIDS-related stigma as a cultural phenomenon and the negative perception of the human body. Since a human being is created corporeal and re-created due to the fact that human embodiment is a fundamental ingredient for the understanding of soul, It is argued that in a pastoral approach, a person should be understood holistically. Anthropology within the traditional kerygmatic approach focused mainly on the notion of sin (corruption totalis) within the theological understanding of God’s judgement (judgemental attitude). I have proposed that pastoral anthropology should adopt constructive paradigms and point towards the integration of embodiment (wholeness) in a realistic approach rather than emphasising the notion of sin and forms of dualism. The thesis departs from an eschatological and pneumatological view of the human being, in which the concepts of resurrection and hope are equally crucial. I further argue that a Christian spiritual perspective on embodiment is potentially destigmatising itself. In terms of a pastoral hermeneutic I have shown that in destigmatisation the transformation of the HIV and AIDS-related stigma corresponds to the transformation of the mindset and paradigm of a person (habitus). Through the process of destigmatisation people discover meaning and are enabled to live fully embodied and responsible lives. The thesis is designed as a literature study based on text analysis and hermeneutical reflection. Moreover, in order to develop a pastoral anthropological view, the Scripture is used as a reference point.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing fokus op die fenomeen van stigmatisiering binne die HIV/AIDS pandemie. Die kernargument is dat stigmatisering as 'n sosiaal-kulturele konstrukt binne die netwerk van verhoudinge direk in verband staan met 'n bepaalde destruktiewe persepsie wat die vraagstuk van liggaamlikheid onmiddellik raak. Vandaar die verdere fokus op die verband tussen liggaamlikheid en die verstaan van die menslike siel binne die raamwerk van 'n pastorale antropologie. Die teologiese invalshoek is die eskatologiese paradigma, die mens as 'n pneumatiese wese en nuwe skepping. Liggaamlikheid deel gelykoorspronklik aan hierdie nuwe wees-funksie van die mens sodat verstaan van die mens as „beliggaamde siel“ en „besielde liggaam“ alle vorme van dualisme in teologiese antropologie teëwerk. Die totale mens is as ‘n beliggaamde mens geskep sodat in pastorale antropologie die menslike persoon holisties verstaan moet word. Om menswees bloot vanuit die perspektief van sonde te benader hou nie rekening met die realisme van die Bybel wat die mens binne die raamwerk van die wysheidsliteratuur sien vanuit die perspektief van genade en vernuwing. Eensydige fokus op die paradigma van sonde dra by tot destruktiewe veroordelende houding (judgemental attitude). Volgens die aard van kruisteologie is die „smet“ en „stigma“ van sonde daar oorwin. In die lig van die opstandingsperspektief is die „dood van stigma“ totaal uitgewis. Hierdie opstandingperspektief moet verreken word in teologiese model wat gerig is op prosesse van destigmatisering binne pastorale hermeneutiek. Die implikasie hiervan is die transformasie van stigmatisernde paradigmas en die skep van pastorale houding (habitus) van begrip en medelye. Deur ‘n dergelike proses van destigmatisasie word mense in die kern van hul weesfunksie kwalitatief bemagtig ten einde vervulde lewens te kan ly. Die tesis volg kwalitatiewe benadering. Dit is voorts literêre studie gebaseer op teks-analises, kritiese reflektering en hermeneutiese metodologie.

This chapter employs a historicising approach to laughter, of the kind elaborated in the same author’s Greek Laughter: a Study of Cultural Psychology from Homer to Early Christianity, in order to investigate some important but elusive aspects of the Greek mythico-religious imagination. Its central focus is on depictions of divine laughter at opposite ends of the spectrum of ancient Greek culture, in Homeric epic and Lucianic satire. What does it mean to imagine gods who can laugh at and/or with one another, as well as at and/or with humans? Is such laughter a marker of distance between divine and human conditions of existence, or does the idea of laughter serve to limit the gods by subjecting them to inescapably human evaluation? The chapter rejects models of explanation (both ancient and modern) which treat the laughter of the Olympians either as a contamination of an originally purer conception of the gods or as consistently expressing a serenely detached state of immortality. It argues, instead, that divine laughter reflects tensions between the literal and the symbolic which are intrinsic to anthropomorphising Greek religious sensibilities, and that far from conveying blissful detachment divine laughter characterises gods who are heavily invested in the conflicts of the human world.