An Exploration of Suffering and Spirituality Among Older African American Cancer Patients as Guided by Howard Thurman’s Theological Perspective on Spirituality

The use of the religious experience to mitigate suffering within the context of a cancer diagnosis and treatment is poorly understood. Specifically, in this article, we explore suffering and the religious experience using Howard Thurman’s theological perspective. This perspective permits an explorat...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Hamilton, Jill B. (Author) ; Fluker, Walter E. 1951- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. 2021
In: Journal of religion and health
Year: 2021, Volume: 60, Issue: 4, Pages: 2810-2829
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B Howard Thurman
B Psychological Distress
B African American cancer patients
B Emotional Suffering
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The use of the religious experience to mitigate suffering within the context of a cancer diagnosis and treatment is poorly understood. Specifically, in this article, we explore suffering and the religious experience using Howard Thurman’s theological perspective. This perspective permits an exploration of the ways in which spirituality enables African American cancer patients to better manage suffering through: (1) a positive self-image as a child of God or the identification with the sufferings of Jesus; (2) seeking harmony in one’s environment; (3) the use of spirituality as self-nourishment; and, (4) the perspective of suffering as sacrament. In this paper, we use the narratives of African American cancer patients to argue that these theological perspectives are indeed relevant to the relief of suffering among this population.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10943-021-01215-8