Graduate Theological Union

This article critically addresses one of the most pressing questions of the current moment of the psychedelic wave: Is mainstreaming psychedelics a good thing? Our aim is not to provide a simple “yes” or “no” as an answer but to explore the tensions, controversies, disparities, inequalities, and risks that have risen in the last decades. We discuss the limits of psychedelic science as the paradigm leading this movement and the risks of an overemphasis on biomedicalization to the detriment of the social sciences, humanities, and traditional knowledge. We also examine policy considerations, the dangers of commodification, and the ecological burdens that the expansion of the use of psychedelics is causing. Additionally, the article reflects on the tendency to prioritize the psychotherapeutic approach to care, a topic that has been neglected in the field. The authors put forward the need for inclusion, ethics, and reciprocity to balance the inequalities that risk recreating the psychedelic movement as another expression of mainstream capitalist endeavors. Given the Food and Drug Administration's delay in approval of MDMA for PTSD and the hurdles for regulating access to psychedelics in ceremonial and therapeutic contexts, such as Colorado and Oregon, there is an urgent need to engage in an informed conversation about the future of the psychedelic movement. It is important to avoid the tendency to romanticize this landscape and to do a proper assessment of the contemporary challenges and ethical risks that we face in the future.

In this paper we provide a descriptive account of the interacting morphological, phonological, and lexical factors determining how diminutives are marked in Tiania [etianíá], an understudied variant of the Central Kenya Bantu language Kimeru. As in other languages, diminutivization in Tiania can indicate a decrease in size or quantity or express positive endearment or negative scorn, depending on the noun and the context. We will show that diminutivization is effected by transferring nouns into singular noun class 12 and plural class 13, as in other Bantu languages, but with two interesting variations: First, depending on the lexical class of the input noun, the diminutive prefixes will either replace or precede the noun’s prefix. In the latter case, the diminutive plural prefix may be added to either the singular or plural form of the base noun, again depending on the latter’s noun class. The second interesting variation is that the majority of nouns which have an /r/ in their stem or prefix replace such /r/’s by [l], something we refer to as “expressive lateralization”, e.g. e-rinyá ‘pit, cave (class 5)’ → ka-linyá ‘a small pit (class 12)’, ri-étwa˚ ‘name (class 5)’ → ka-li-étwa˚ ‘a sweet name’. To study the first variation, we systematically survey the diminutivization of nouns from all noun classes, singular and plural. To study the second variation, we track every one of 330 nouns with /r/ with respect to lateralization. In attempting to explain why such lateralization should occur, we consider augmentative and depreciative noun to noun derivations which also undergo /r/ → [l] as well as other derived word classes, e.g. adjectives, which sometimes undergo expressive lateralization, depending on whether they are denominal or deverbal (verbs never show such effects). Being that this is the only reported case we know of expressive lateralization, Tiania is both of typological interest as well as a mystery within Bantu and beyond.

Healthcare provided without attending to patients’ religious/spiritual needs contributes to inequities. Assess Muslim American views on the importance and accessibility of religious/spiritual resources in hospitals. A survey was distributed at community events and online to self-reported Muslim adults. It contained measures of religiosity, importance and availability of specific religious/spiritual resources, and conventional sociodemographic descriptors. Analyses utilized chi-squared tests and regression models to test associations between participant characteristics and views on the importance and availability of religious/spiritual resources in hospitals. Of the 1281 respondents, many (68%; n = 875) were women, and South Asian (39%; n = 492) or Arab (37%; n = 469). Almost all (95%; n = 1203) noted it was important to have their religious/spiritual needs met in the hospital. The most important resources were halal food (93%; n = 1188), a neutral prayer space (93%; n = 1188), and medications without pork or alcohol (92%; n = 1177), yet a minority found such resources available; halal food (17%; n = 111), prayer space (26%; n = 169), and medication without pork or alcohol (9.3%; n = 59). Almost all (92%, N = 1180) felt comfortable identifying as Muslim in the hospital, yet few (27%, N = 173) were asked. Participants with higher positive religious coping placed greater importance on religious/spiritual needs being met (OR 1.15, p < .05). Those regularly attending congregational prayer services (β 0.2, p < 0.001), with more positive religious coping (β 0.11, p < 0.001), for whom Islam informed their whole approach to life (β 0.34, p < 0.001), and those with greater perceived discrimination in medical settings (β 0.03, p < 0.022) placed greater importance on the availability of Islamic resources in hospital. Those asked about religious affiliation (OR 2.23, p < 0.01) had higher odds of believing their religious/spiritual needs were met. Muslim Americans have substantial unmet religious/spiritual resource needs in hospital settings. Patient-centered, equitable care may be enhanced by clinicians inquiring about, and mobilizing resources to attend to these.

This paper argues that the missio Dei continues into the new creation. God’s mission is his sending of the Son into the created world in his revelation, so it is a movement from eternity to time. Karl Barth’s ‘infinite qualitative distinction’ between time and eternity distinguishes God’s eternal being from human existence as temporal creatures, which is maintained in the new creation. Thus, it is necessary for God’s continuing mission in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the mediator between God and humanity in the union of his two natures.

Theological education faces the task of forming leaders and scholars with the capacity for personal and social transformation. This effort requires a deeper understanding of habit formation as both problem and potential. Utilizing the example of how racism functions through embodied habits, this article emphasizes bodily awareness and repeated practice as necessary components for theological formation. In doing so, this approach integrates contemplative and embodied pedagogies and suggests ways to address the research gap in these areas, especially regarding the study and teaching of religion. The tools and resources of somatic abolitionism offer a way to rewire bodily perceptions with theological classrooms.

This article is a review of David Hummel’s The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism, a book that questions whether the academic debate around dispensationalism is truly dead. By exploring through the lens of metaphorical theology, we look at how commercialization caused academic dispensationalism to self-cannibalize. Applying analysis to both the ouroboros and butterfly metaphors we can examine whether dispensationalism is dead or if there is a potential for a newer, stronger version of academic debate on the topic to resurface once again. Equally as plausible, is the notion that dispensationalism has changed its meaning through the metamorphosis process of changing from academic dispensationalism to pop-dispensationalism. By looking at the meaning change that occurs at the point of transaction, we see that the biography of dispensationalism shows a significant shift in meaning as it becomes a commercial hit.

Hindu sacred scriptures are a rich interweave of cosmological revelation that is embedded in melopoeia (melodic poetry) and sung in designated meters during rituals, liturgical services, festivals, and personal prayers. Revelation is conveyed through enigmatic dialogues, debates, parables, anecdotes, legends, and narratives. These occur between mendicants and saints, kings and mystics, and sometimes fables that include the natural world. These narrative accounts appeal to the young and the old and influence the body–mind–sense complex. A growing body of evidence attests to the positive effects of music and storytelling in the classroom setting. Drawing from these data and Hindu understandings of sacred mantric sound and storytelling, I discuss my experiments with musical frameworks and storytelling in my classes at the Graduate Theological Union, the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, and Starr King School for the Ministry in California. I contend that the incorporation of parables, tales, legends, and narratives within a musical melodic framework, as is used in Hindu texts, is an effective means of imparting Hindu–Christian theological education.

This annotated bibliography comprises 49 texts concerning psilocybin mushroom practices developed by Indigenous peoples. The books and articles have been selected for their academic rigor, relevance, and historical significance, and to foreground overlooked research and subject matter. This includes research on a plurality of contemporary practices and evidence of historical uses, from cultural traditions in Mexico and other regions of the world. The curated texts are sourced from various disciplines, including anthropology, history, archaeology, ethnolinguistics, and ethnomycology. Employing diverse methodological and analytical frameworks, the texts explore the diversity of ways Indigenous cultures have related with, utilized, and conceptualized psilocybin mushrooms and the effects occasioned by their consumption. The annotations include brief summaries of the texts, contextualization of the research, and more critical appraisals. The aim of this annotated bibliography is to offer the reader a diverse overview of the research to date and provide an accessible resource for further exploration of historical and contemporary Indigenous psilocybin practices. The team of psychedelic researchers behind this annotated bibliography hope it will contribute to more nuanced dialogue around Indigenous people and practices in the context of the so-called psychedelic renaissance.

This paper examines collective intentionality, one of the three fundamental elements in a classic theory of social ontology, and how we locate its emergence in the way that individuals and social groups transform the meaning of art and other objects used in the context of contemporary birth rituals. In this context, religious art and other objects often undergo an ontological transformation during the rituals of birth when participants secularize them, marking them with new status functions that diverge from their original functions as religious objects. However, some of these same objects are then re-sacralized when used ritualistically during birth. In these cases, the social ontology of the object shifts away from that of a religious or secular identification, collectively recognized instead as encompassing sacred meaning. This sacredness is not part of the object’s original symbolic function as a religious object, however. Instead, the object is re-sacralized and takes on a new ontological status associated with a collective understanding that the nonreligious act of birth is a sacred act in itself.

When you think back to your own experiences as a student, what was meaningful? Memorable? Had a lasting effect? Who are the teachers that stand out? And why? Throughout our lives, we have instructors both in and beyond the classroom, and upon intentional reflection, we can pick up on some qualities that make certain teachers more effective than others. Passionate, kind, humorous, and grace‐filled teachers, who used wholistic, multi‐modal, and multi‐layered pedagogical practices, enabled us to learn in “thick” and lasting ways. This article examines wholistic, multi‐modal, and multi‐layered andragogic practices in theological education that lead to “thick,” collaborative, and lasting learning. I argue that these practices should be embodied in theological education so that students can become not only story receivers but also fellow storytellers in their own journey of lifelong learning.

Languages have played a significant role in the shaping of theological and religious leaders. Historically consisting mostly of biblical and ancient languages, contemporary theological education includes the study of modern foreign languages for research and ministerial purposes. If written and spoken communication in a variety of languages is a foundational aspect of the theological classroom, why is it, then, that seminaries and theological institutions give little attention to theories and pedagogies of second language acquisition? This article seeks to expose theological educators to the most significant theory in the study of language pedagogy and provides a case study of a course taught to students in a seminary setting. In addition to scholarly studies, it relies on the influence of autodidactic polyglots, an indispensable source of experience and wisdom in the world of language acquisition. By improving practices around language instruction, the future of theological education can better engage with a multi‐cultural and global society.