Thomas Merton's understanding of the cross and its positive impact upon the spiritual well-being of adult lay people

John H Staggs

Etd

Thomas Merton's understanding of the cross and its positive impact upon the spiritual well-being of adult lay people

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

John H Staggs. Thomas Merton's Understanding of the Cross and Its Positive Impact Upon the Spiritual Well-being of Adult Lay People. Asbury Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/fc70bf42-e3e6-417f-976a-c02285724f45.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

J. H. Staggs. Thomas Merton's understanding of the cross and its positive impact upon the spiritual well-being of adult lay people. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/fc70bf42-e3e6-417f-976a-c02285724f45

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

John H Staggs. Thomas Merton's Understanding of the Cross and Its Positive Impact Upon the Spiritual Well-Being of Adult Lay People. Asbury Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/fc70bf42-e3e6-417f-976a-c02285724f45.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

John H Staggs

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In Copyright

Abstract

Thomas Merton is the most important and influential writer on the life of the Spirit in the 20th century. This study describes how the researcher presented Merton's understanding about the Cross to a group of adults who were struggling with issues related to their journey through mid-life. Two procedures were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention: a qualitative approach involved the use of free-story interviews, anecdotes, and comments by the participants; and, a quantitative approach was utilized which involved the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. The spiritual well-being inventory did not indicate any statistically significant changes for the group in any of its measures of religion, existential or spiritual well-being. However, the data gathered by more qualitative approaches indicated that this intervention can have an impact upon the lives of adult lay people. Personal conversations with the participants provided evidence that because of the curriculum intervention and the prayer retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani, Merton's understanding of the Cross impacted their lives.

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