Souls in Transition

by Christian Smith

Author	: Christian Smith
Publisher	: Oxford University Press
Total Pages	: 364
Release	: 2009-09-14
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 0199707499

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How important is religion for young people in America today? What are the major influences on their developing spiritual lives? How do their religious beliefs and practices change as young people enter into adulthood? Christian Smith's Souls in Transition explores these questions and many others as it tells the definitive story of the religious and spiritual lives of emerging adults, ages 18 to 24, in the U.S. today. This is the much-anticipated follow-up study to the landmark book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Based on candid interviews with thousands of young people tracked over a five-year period, Souls in Transition reveals how the religious practices of the teenagers portrayed in Soul Searching have been strengthened, challenged, and often changed as they have moved into adulthood. The book vividly describes as well the broader cultural world of today's emerging adults, how that culture shapes their religious outlooks, and what the consequences are for religious faith and practice in America more generally. Some of Smith's findings are surprising. Parents turn out to be the single most important influence on the religious outcomes in the lives of young adults. On the other hand, teenage participation in evangelization missions and youth groups does not predict a high level of religiosity just a few years later. Moreover, the common wisdom that religiosity declines sharply during the young adult years is shown to be greatly exaggerated. Painstakingly researched and filled with remarkable findings, Souls in Transition will be essential reading for youth ministers, pastors, parents, teachers and students at church-related schools, and anyone who wishes to know how religious practice is affected by the transition into adulthood in America today.

Soul Searching : The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers

by Christian Smith Dr William R Kenan Jr Professor of Sociology University of Notre Dame

Author	: Christian Smith Dr William R Kenan Jr Professor of Sociology University of Notre Dame
Publisher	: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages	: 358
Release	: 2005-01-25
Genre	: Family & Relationships
ISBN	: 0198039972

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In innumerable discussions and activities dedicated to better understanding and helping teenagers, one aspect of teenage life is curiously overlooked. Very few such efforts pay serious attention to the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of American adolescents. But many teenagers are very involved in religion. Surveys reveal that 35% attend religious services weekly and another 15% attend at least monthly. 60% say that religious faith is important in their lives. 40% report that they pray daily. 25% say that they have been "born again." Teenagers feel good about the congregations they belong to. Some say that faith provides them with guidance and resources for knowing how to live well. What is going on in the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers? What do they actually believe? What religious practices do they engage in? Do they expect to remain loyal to the faith of their parents? Or are they abandoning traditional religious institutions in search of a new, more authentic "spirituality"? This book attempts to answer these and related questions as definitively as possible. It reports the findings of The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most detailed such study ever undertaken. The NYSR conducted a nationwide telephone survey of teens and significant caregivers, as well as nearly 300 in-depth face-to-face interviews with a sample of the population that was surveyed. The results show that religion and spirituality are indeed very significant in the lives of many American teenagers. Among many other discoveries, they find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and caregivers than commonly thought. They refute the conventional wisdom that teens are "spiritual but not religious." And they confirm that greater religiosity is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes. This eagerly-awaited volume not only provides an unprecedented understanding of adolescent religion and spirituality but, because teenagers serve as bellwethers for possible future trends, it affords an important and distinctive window through which to observe and assess the current state and future direction of American religion as a whole.

Lost in Transition

by Christian Smith

Author	: Christian Smith
Publisher	: OUP USA
Total Pages	: 291
Release	: 2011-09
Genre	: Family & Relationships
ISBN	: 0199828024

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In Lost in Transition, Christian Smith and his collaborators draw on 230 in-depth interviews with a broad cross-section of emerging adults (ages 18-23) to investigate the difficulties young people face today, the underlying causes of those difficulties, and the consequences both for individuals and for American society as a whole. --From publisher description.

Transitions of the Soul

by Nick Bunick

Author	: Nick Bunick
Publisher	: Hampton Roads Publishing
Total Pages	: 320
Release	: 2001-02-01
Genre	: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN	: 1612831745

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Death is not an ending, but a transition of the soul. Here are true-life stories of ordinary men, women, and children who no longer fear death or grieve for deceased loved ones. Why? Because they know the human spirit survives death--and lives on. But how do they know this with such certainty? The proof lies in what they have seen with their own eyes and felt with their own hearts. Each was present when a grandmother, best friend, spouse, or child appeared to them in a luminous visitation to ease their grief and to show them that no one had really died. They were graced to witness angels, or Jesus, or other spiritual beings who came to announce the well-being of their recently passed dear ones. Here, told in simple but emotionally rich words, are seventy-eight unforgettable tales of grief allayed and solace attained. Housewives, mechanics and mothers, sons and daughters, truck drivers and nurses, young and old--all attest to the survival of the spirit after death. What is remarkable is that many of them had no previous mystical experiences or even beliefs that such occurrences were possible. Read their miraculous stories and you'll begin to understand why Nick Bunick, subject of The Messengers, assures us that with every transition of the soul, grief dissolves and it is only death that dies.

A Faith of Their Own

by Lisa Pearce

Author	: Lisa Pearce
Publisher	: Oxford University Press
Total Pages	: 247
Release	: 2011-01-07
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 0199792844

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Adding to the contributions made by Soul Searching and Souls in Transition--two books which revolutionized our understanding of the religious lives of young Americans--Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton here offer a new portrait of teenage faith. Drawing on the massive National Study of Youth and Religion's telephone surveys and in-depth interviews with more than 120 youth at two points in time, the authors chart the spiritual trajectory of American adolescents and young adults over a period of three years. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, the authors find that religion is an important force in the lives of most--though their involvement with religion changes over time, just as teenagers themselves do. Pearce and Denton weave in fascinating portraits of actual youth to give depth to mere numerical rankings of religiosity, which tend to prevail in large studies. One teenager might rarely attend a service, yet count herself profoundly religious; another might be deeply involved in a church's social world, yet claim to be "not, like, deep into the faith." They provide a new set of qualitative categories--Abiders, Assenters, Adapters, Avoiders, and Atheists--quoting from interviews to illuminate the shading between them. And, with their three-year study, they offer a rich understanding of the dynamic nature of faith in young people's lives during a period of rapid change in biology, personality, and social interaction. Not only do degrees of religiosity change, but so does its nature, whether expressed in institutional practices or personal belief. By presenting a new model of religious development and change, illustrated with compelling personal accounts of real teenagers, Pearce and Denton offer parents, scholars, and religious leaders a new guide for understanding religious development in teens.

Spiritual Formation in Emerging Adulthood

by David P. Setran

Author	: David P. Setran
Publisher	: Baker Academic
Total Pages	: 413
Release	: 2013-08-15
Genre	: Religion
ISBN	: 1441242880

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The shift from adolescence to adulthood, a recently identified stage of life called "emerging adulthood," covers an increasing span of years in today's culture (roughly ages 18-30) due to later marriages and extended education. During this prolonged stage of exploration and self-definition, many young adults drift away from the church. Here two authors--both veteran teachers who are experienced in young adult and campus ministry--address this new and urgent field of study, offering a Christian perspective on what it means to be spiritually formed into adulthood. They provide a "practical theology" for emerging adult ministry and offer insight into the key developmental issues of this stage of life, including identity, intimacy and sexuality, morality, church involvement, spiritual formation, vocation, and mentoring. The book bridges the gap between academic and popular literature on emerging adulthood and offers concrete ways to facilitate spiritual formation among emerging adults.

Adventures of the Soul

by James Van Praagh

Author	: James Van Praagh
Publisher	: Hay House, Inc
Total Pages	: 169
Release	: 2014-09-08
Genre	: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN	: 1401947050

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Adventures of the Soul is a manual for anyone who has ever questioned where they come from, why they are here, and where they go after they die. Sharing his intuitive experiences of communicating with the Spirit World for the past 30 years, internationally renowned medium James Van Praagh takes you on a spiritual sojourn to discover the unique design of your very own soul and explore its various adventures as it travels between worlds. You’ll learn to open up your mind to your soul’s unbounded wisdom and gain a bigger perspective on life and a better grasp of your significant part in it. This book will further assist you in understanding and recognizing the soul lessons you came back to Earth to learn, such as sorrow, forgiveness, grief, compassion, and joy. By utilizing this knowledge, you will come to identify your soul’s intricacies and start to live a life that truly fulfills your soul’s destiny: following the path of love. This is one journey that will force you to look at life and death in a completely different light!

Heaven and Beyond

by Barbara Mark

Author	: Barbara Mark
Publisher	:
Total Pages	: 0
Release	: 2001
Genre	: Death
ISBN	: 9781580624787

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The authors of the bestselling "Angelspeake" describe the nature of life and death as it has been revealed to them by angelic communicators. This guide offers lessons in caregiving, transition, and how to recognize and communicate with loved ones who have made the transition to a new form of life.

Soul Searching

by Christian Smith

Author	: Christian Smith
Publisher	: Oxford University Press
Total Pages	: 357
Release	: 2009-04-13
Genre	: Social Science
ISBN	: 019972508X

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In innumerable discussions and activities dedicated to better understanding and helping teenagers, one aspect of teenage life is curiously overlooked. Very few such efforts pay serious attention to the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of American adolescents. But many teenagers are very involved in religion. Surveys reveal that 35% attend religious services weekly and another 15% attend at least monthly. 60% say that religious faith is important in their lives. 40% report that they pray daily. 25% say that they have been "born again." Teenagers feel good about the congregations they belong to. Some say that faith provides them with guidance and resources for knowing how to live well. What is going on in the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers? What do they actually believe? What religious practices do they engage in? Do they expect to remain loyal to the faith of their parents? Or are they abandoning traditional religious institutions in search of a new, more authentic "spirituality"? This book attempts to answer these and related questions as definitively as possible. It reports the findings of The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most detailed such study ever undertaken. The NYSR conducted a nationwide telephone survey of teens and significant caregivers, as well as nearly 300 in-depth face-to-face interviews with a sample of the population that was surveyed. The results show that religion and spirituality are indeed very significant in the lives of many American teenagers. Among many other discoveries, they find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and caregivers than commonly thought. They refute the conventional wisdom that teens are "spiritual but not religious." And they confirm that greater religiosity is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes. This eagerly-awaited volume not only provides an unprecedented understanding of adolescent religion and spirituality but, because teenagers serve as bellwethers for possible future trends, it affords an important and distinctive window through which to observe and assess the current state and future direction of American religion as a whole.