Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

Who is my neighbor? The focus of various compassion ministries and public charities this time of year is naturally on helping those less fortunate--people who are cold, hungry, and lacking life's basics. What some miss in the focus on being a "Good Samaritan" is the identification of the neighbor in the famous story. Who is my neighbor? The neighbor is the compassionate Samaritan--not the beaten victim in need of much love and compassion. The focus of the story is on the people of faith who need to develop the virtue of neighborly love. Advertisement Living Well- an integration of faith and love and nine more virtues  AMAZON Story from Luke 10:25-37 Related Post How to measure compassion:  https://statistics.suttong.com/2018/05/how-to-measure-compassion.html Connections My web page www.suttong.com My Books AMAZON GOOGLE PLAY STORE FACEBOOK Geoff W. Sutton Join me on TWITTER @Geoff.W.Sutton Publications (many FREE downloads)   ...

Years ago, at a Christian college, I took a course in Christian Philosophy . I don’t remember much from the textbook but I do recall the title of another book, Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell. Looking back, I wondered why the professor chose such a text for a course in a highly conservative college. Was he trying to prepare us to challenge the author? Was he struggling with his own faith? Spiritual Struggle / Bing Free to use/share Arguably, the leading atheist of recent decades is the biologist Richard Dawkins . Following the 911 attacks on America, Dawkins and his atheist friends published several challenges to religion. A best seller, The God Delusion , caught my attention. After all, as a psychologist, I know something about delusions. And as one who studies and writes about the psychology of religion, I wondered what might be new in this arena—new since Russell, that is. Five Things Christians Can Learn From Atheists I’ve written an academic ...

Love, Prayer, and Charismatic Spirituality Picture a smallish young woman, head bowed, sitting on a wooden chair near the back of a small wooden church. As the semiformal service blended into an after service of prayer, she began to quiver. She shook, the chair began to rock on two legs, and she began to speak in tongues. It was her first time. She never forgot that experience of warmth and God’s presence. God’s love had been experienced. Soaking Prayer Photo The story of the young woman is from the 1930s but charismatic spirituality is going strong and together with Pentecostalism, represents one of the fastest growing movements in Christianity.  Although scholars argue over fine points of defining religion and spirituality, a common finding is that religious people pray. But they pray in different ways. This week I finished reading Catch the Fire: Soaking Prayer and Charismatic Renewal by Canadian Sociologist,Michael Wilkinson and Religious Studies schol...

LOVE     and Pentecostal-   Charismatic Spirituality I was intrigued by the writings of researchers who are exploring what they call the Science of Godly Love. A Templeton Foundation Report from last year (2013) featured some findings by researchers Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma, and Stephen G. Post. Here are some quotes from the report: Ø   Almost half of all Americans feel God’s love at least once a day Ø   Eight out of ten have this experience at least once in a while. Ø   A similar number have felt God’s love prompting their compassion for others at least occasionally, with almost a third feeling this compassion daily or more often. Ø   Millions of Americans frequently experience divine love and for them this sense of God’s love not only enhances existential well-being, but underlies a sense of personal meaning and purpose and enlivens compassion for others…(Matthew T. Lee) An interesting phrase is what the...