Description
Book SynopsisSince the early 1990s there have been various movements designed to encourage 'masculine spirituality'. All these movements share a concern that spirituality has become too feminine and that men's experiences of the spiritual are being marginalized. The task of masculine spirituality is to promote 'authentic' masculine characteristics within a spiritual context. Numen, Old Men examines these characteristics to argue that masculine spirituality is thinly veiled patriarchy. The mythopoetic, evangelical, and Catholic men's movements are shown to promote a hetero-patriarchal spirituality by appealing to either combative and oppressive neo-Jungian archetypes or biblical models of man as the leader of the family. Numen, Old Men examines spiritualities that aim to honour and transcend both the masculine and feminine, and offers gay spirituality as an example of masculine spirituality that resists patriarchy.
Trade Review‘Will be useful to students and researchers interested in the relation between masculinity and Christianity in the US. Recommended.’ – Choice
‘Should appeal to a wide ranging number of disciplines and practitioners … a stimulating text.’ – Reviews in Religion and Theology
‘This book is an insightful and useful work particularly suited to our emerging post-dualist times. [It] is eminently readable, well-structured and will provide food for thought to theologians, social scientists, therapists and counselors alike.’ – BASR Bulletin
‘A very readable book which presents a lot of sharp insights, creative thinking, different perspectives and deserves a RECOMMENDED!’ – Religion and Gender
Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. The Mythopoetic Movement: Getting it Wrong from the Start 3. The Evangelical Men’s Movement: Networking, Violence and Sport 4. The Catholic Men’s Movement: Sacraments and Adoration 5. Integral or Muscular Spirituality? 6. Gay Spirituality: A Way Out for Men 7. Sexual Difference, Spirituality and Space 8. Conclusion
