Page 136 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8

Foundational Discussions in Christian Psychology

tegories. Paul’s remarks should be read within to estrangement and disorientation in life – in-
his eschatological understanding of the king- toxication of life).
dom of God and its implication for the new life
in Christ. The intriguing question now is how do one
trace back signals of spirituality that function
In some places in the New Testament, soul is as possible expressions of soulfulness in our at-
connected to spirit (pneuma). For Paul there tempt to come to terms with life demands, and
8
is interconnectedness between soul and spirit. the quest to find spaces and places (safe havens)
In some texts, the meaning is actually more or which communicate peace as well as signals of
less the same. When Paul indeed refers to spirit/ wholeness and transcendence?
pneuma, he wants to describe a unique relati-
onship between God and human beings. With The following spiritual expressions can be de-
reference to Christology, soul then becomes an scribed as indicators/signals of soulfulness in
indication and expression of a very specific sta- our life journey towards peace and healing. It
te of being due to justification (salvation). One can be applied in our attempt to make a spiri-
can say that pneuma indicates the condition of tual assessment (McSherry 2013:61) regarding
the new person in Christ over against the con- the value of life, the appropriateness of belief sy-
dition of the old person, captured by death and stems, the quality of our being human and the
sin, pneuma constitutes spiritual wholeness attempt of people to find meaning in life
and a condition of a peaceful mind and hopeful
state of being. In this regard the Spirit of God • Vocation and meaning: healing as a sense
(pneumatology) plays a fundamental role in of purposefulness, belongingness and signi-
Christian anthropology. ficance. The meaning-question boils down
to the following: towards what? The what-
To sum up: With aesthetics in soulfulness is issue in life refers to inter alia meaningful
meant: meaning, healing, hope, compassion, frameworks of interpretation that gives di-
wise decision-making, helping (support/ou- rection and helps one to commit oneself
treach), a sense of well-being and the ethos of to some-thing or some-body. Vocation is
unconditional love. Wholeness without passion embedded in a network and systemic dyna-
and compassion easily becomes soullessness mics of human relationships that appeal to
and an ideological endeavour on an abstract ra- the general fostering of human dignity and
tional level of theoretical speculation. human rights. Herewith the importance
The dynamics of spiritual soulfulness can be ex- of the interplay between communion and
pressed in terms of: community.
• Virtue and value: healing as sense of mo-
(a) The quest for integration within experiences ral integrity, responsibility (respondeo ergo
of disintegration (congruence and consistency). sum) and sensitivity. Values create a nor-
(b) The quest for appropriate categories, philo- mative framework for meaningful living. If
sophies of life and paradigms to interpret life values become internalized in customs and
issues in a comprehensive way, as well within a behaviour they attain the meaning of virtue
constructive, positive perspective (hermeneu- and help to indicate direction, as well as an
tics of life). awareness of limitation, accountability and
(c) The quest for healing and wholeness within being empowered and equipped. Virtue and
the existential realities of anxiety; guilt/shame; value bring about authenticity, integrity and
despair/dread; helplessness and loneliness; fru- sincerity.
stration and anger; greed and exploitation (mo- • Vision and hope: the healing sense of ex-
des of human suffering and factors contributing pectation, anticipation of something new
and constructive change. The pivotal que-
8 To speculate about a psychology of personhood by Paul, stion in hoping and visioning is where to?
is to overestimate his use of the concept. See Malina &
Neyrey 1996:14-15). In this regard, healing-interventions need

135