Author: Reimer, Kevin

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 130-139

Abstract:

L’Arche is a unique Christian community embracing the developmentally disabled and their caregiver assistants, providing a cognitively diverse context for the study of religious experience. This article considers the religious significance of a simple candle ritual in L’Arche. Based on Hutchins’ (1995) theory of distributed cognition, it is argued that problem-solving and meaning in religion are less dependent upon cognitive capacities of individual agents and more related to how knowledge is attributed to artifacts that serve as external scaffolds. To differentiate this discussion from constructivist philosophy, religious experience and cognition are considered on the basis of public language that exerts downward selection influence upon individual brains. The article concludes with methodological considerations in the study of semantically distributed cognitions relevant to the candle ritual and L’Arche religious experience.

Author: Brown, Warren S.

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 149-155

Abstract:

The understanding of persons as composed of two separate parts, a body and a soul, tends to lead Christians towards gnosticism (i.e., emphasis on the soul and disregard for the body). This view has considerable impact on one’s understanding of suffering and disability. Dualism, with its emphasis on the central importance of the inner soul or self, implies that one need be less concerned about physical suffering or the relational impoverishment associated with disability. Considering persons to be primarily physical beings in relationship with God and his people elevates the importance of the behavioral, relational, and communal lives of persons, and forces greater attention to the impact of physical suffering and disability. Based on a physicalist view of humankind, this article argues that spiritual transformation and enhancement of flourishing for those who are suffering or disabled must involve creative and imaginative action by the immediate community to intervene in ways that enhance opportunities for personal relatedness.