Beliefs in Miraculous Healings, Religiosity and Meaning in Life
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2015, Vol 6, Issue 3
Abstract
Throughout centuries, many interpretations of miraculous healings have been offered by philosophers, theologians, physicians and psychologists. Different approaches to miracles originate from the differences in understanding of causative factors, concepts of nature and the relationship between God and nature. Despite many skeptical arguments, a vast majority of people (approximately 70%) in modern Western societies share a belief in miracles and millions of sick people pilgrimage to sanctuaries seeking their occurrence. The aim of the research was to describe the social perception of miraculous healings, and the relationship between beliefs in miraculous healings, religiosity and meaning in life. A survey was conducted on a group of 178 respondents aged 18 to 30 (M = 21.5; SD = 2.31), 90% Catholics. The obtained results show that it is possible to describe the perception of miraculous healings in category of the essence of the causative factors (natural/supranatural) and definiteness (defined/undefined). The majority (88%) of the respondents believed in miracles and most frequently associated them with God's action/intervention, less often with the still undiscovered possibilities of the human organism or the nature, and the least with medical biases. Respondents with stronger religiosity more often understood miraculous healings as an act of God than the activity of unspecified supernatural powers. Moreover, higher religiosity and understanding of miraculous healings as an effect of the supernatural specified determinant was connected with higher meaning in life.
Authors and Affiliations
Jakub Pawlikowski, Michał Wiechetek, Jarosław Sak and Marek Jarosz
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25477
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6031113
- Views 255
- Downloads 8
The Physics of Augustine: The Matter of Time, Change and an Unchanging God
Scientific questions posed by St. Augustine, early father of the Christian church, are presented as a part of a proposed undergraduate course for religion and philosophy students. Augustine regularly seasons his religi...
Women’s Voice and Religious Utterances in Ancient Greece
This paper tackles the issue of women and religion through a particular looking glass: religious utterances such as curses, supplication, and prayer, as reflected in some passages from ancient Greek epic and tragedy—pi...
“Santísima Muerte, Vístete de Negro, Santísima Muerte, Vístete de Blanco”: La Santa Muerte’s Illegal Marginalizations
La Santísima Muerte, the death saint patron of the marginalized and dispossessed in Mexico, the United States, and beyond, is especially favored by devotees who identify with her duality between dark and light, and goo...
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Religions in 2017
Peer review is an essential part in the publication process, ensuring that Religions maintains high quality standards for its published papers. In 2017, a total of 265 papers were published in the journal. Thanks to th...
Asian American Evangelicals in Multiracial Church Ministry
Since the 1990s, evangelical efforts to create multiracial churches (MRCs) have grown exponentially. This article analyzes the experiences of Asian American evangelical ministers leading MRCs. Through interviews we exp...