Use of the Phrase “Personal Relationship with Jesus”: Toward a Comprehensive Interdisciplinary Explanation

When people use the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus,” how does one explain its significance? Normally attributed to evangelical Protestant Christians, use of the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus” is a complicated phenomenon, and an explanation of it requires drawing upon resources f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zygon
Main Author: Bennett-Carpenter, Benjamin (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2017]
In: Zygon
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Jesus Christus / Relationship / Evangelical movement
RelBib Classification:AE Psychology of religion
CB Christian life; spirituality
NBF Christology
Further subjects:B Psychological
B Social
B rhetorical
B Jesus
B Religion
B biological
B Cognitive
B Evolutionary Psychology
B Interdisciplinary
B Person
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:When people use the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus,” how does one explain its significance? Normally attributed to evangelical Protestant Christians, use of the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus” is a complicated phenomenon, and an explanation of it requires drawing upon resources from across multiple disciplines rather than a single discipline only. Attempts to explain exactly what the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus” means frequently can be mystifying, on the one hand, or dismissive and simplistic, on the other hand. This article moves potentially toward a better context for understanding use of the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus” by drawing upon insights from multiple disciplines, including (1) rhetorical and cultural-historical studies, (2) evolutionary and cognitive psychology, and (3) biological/behavioral and social/anthropological studies in order to set forth some basic lines of explanation for use of the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus.” The article concludes with some possible testable statements for future empirical studies.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12348