The Ecology of Spirituality ─ Meanings, Virtues, and Practices in a Post-religious Age

Skepticism about institutions, even institutional religion, has become a cultural incubator for nontraditional spirituality. Definitions abound. Each touts its own idiosyncratic meaning. In The Ecology of Spirituality,Lucy Bregman surveys the many and varied religious, psychological, and sociological definitions of spirituality on offer. She demonstrates that spirituality has been made and remade many times over in the hope of fitting it to some new cultural need. True spirituality, Bregman argues, is instead rooted in specific professions and practices--e.g., medicine, business, and recreation. The Ecology of Spirituality demonstrates that spirituality is not an irrevocably ambiguous pop cultural phenomenon, but is embodied in historic virtues and practices of a craft.

Lucy Bregman is Professor of Religion at Temple University. She is the author of several books, includingPreaching Death: The Transformation of Christian Funeral Sermons. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.