LUCY BREGMAN
Temple University, Religion, Emeritus
- Now retired, I am a Religion scholar whose area is death studies and contemporary Christianity. I taught at Temple Un... moreNow retired, I am a Religion scholar whose area is death studies and contemporary Christianity. I taught at Temple University in Philadelphia, and have published and edited books, including Beyond Silence and Denial: Death and Dying Reconsidered (Westminster John Knox,1999), Preaching Death (Baylor University Press,2011)and Religion, Death and Dying (editor, Praeger, 2010).edit
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Abstract:This essay focuses on the famous “five stages of dying”, an emotion-based psychological understanding of dying presented by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her book On Death and Dying (1968). Beginning with previously held views on... more
Abstract:This essay focuses on the famous “five stages of dying”, an emotion-based psychological understanding of dying presented by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her book On Death and Dying (1968). Beginning with previously held views on dying in North America that were shaped by religion, and the increased impact of medicalised death in hospitals as a primary environment for dying, Kübler-Ross offered a framework for understanding the rich emotional experiences of the dying, guiding readers to frame dying as emotional coping with impending loss. The essay then discusses in detail the emotional content of each of the stages, especially anger, depression and acceptance. The influence of this model is documented in the appropriations of it by authors of many post-Kübler-Ross autobiographies where personal experiences of terminal illness, for the most part, support Kübler-Ross' ideas, but also expose its limits. While the role of religion was minimal in the book, this emotion-based model for dying has impacted North American religious ideas as well. Whatever the empirical weaknesses of the five-stages model, it continues to be familiar and popular within society's language about death and dying.
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Research Interests: Spirituality and Brill
... ''Three times I appealed the Lord about this, that it would leave me; but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in ... Suggested Reading BOOKS ON PAUL: J. Christiaan Beker, Paul the... more
... ''Three times I appealed the Lord about this, that it would leave me; but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in ... Suggested Reading BOOKS ON PAUL: J. Christiaan Beker, Paul the Apostle: The Triumph of God in Life and Thought (Philadel-...
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... task that should underpin Christian practices of end-of-life care might therefore be summed up in the words of Matthew 22:37 ... Christian practices are particular forms of Christian action designed to meet hu-man needs, but in a way... more
... task that should underpin Christian practices of end-of-life care might therefore be summed up in the words of Matthew 22:37 ... Christian practices are particular forms of Christian action designed to meet hu-man needs, but in a way that requires and enhances faithful participa ...
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Anton Boisen was both a psychologist of religion and a schizophrenic. His autobiography presents his "case history" but leaves many of his psychotic communications and experiences uninterpreted. This essay attempts to... more
Anton Boisen was both a psychologist of religion and a schizophrenic. His autobiography presents his "case history" but leaves many of his psychotic communications and experiences uninterpreted. This essay attempts to account for Boisen's most idiosyncratic psychotic products, drawing on theories of Jung and Bateson. Boisen and Jung both used experiences deriving from psychotic episodes to shape their subsequent life work. Boisen remained within liberal Protestantism, relinquishing his own "crazy" critique of Christianity developed during his mental illness. This critique is expressed through Boisen's notion of the "Family of Four", a plan for world renewal that he himself never adequately interpreted.
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The death awareness movement provides a new language for speaking about death and dying by stressing death, dying and bereavement as meaningful human experiences beyond their medical context. This movement appears secular and detached... more
The death awareness movement provides a new language for speaking about death and dying by stressing death, dying and bereavement as meaningful human experiences beyond their medical context. This movement appears secular and detached from religion, although its advocates embrace spirituality. However, is this separation from religion realistic? Death and Dying Spirituality and Religions refutes that view and undermines the popular opposition between spirituality and religion. The death awareness movement is deeply indebted to popular Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism, as well as tribal religions for their ideas and images. Urging a thoughtful theological response, this book illustrates how such diverse religious legacies contribute to contemporary views of death and dying.
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This essay attempts to look at the birth of the Death Awareness Movement in North America late in the 1960s, with a focus on its classic text, On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and its treatment of emotions. Rather, the... more
This essay attempts to look at the birth of the Death Awareness Movement in North America late in the 1960s, with a focus on its classic text, On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and its treatment of emotions. Rather, the influential labelling of "stages of dying" by emotions has impacted the ways its readers and advocates of the movement it started identified, ordered and communicated their own experiences. This is not an essay on the institutional-organizational development of the Death Awareness Movement, in professional organizations such as Association for Death Education and Counseling. Its
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This paper explores an issue raised by psychologist Robert Lifton in The Broken Connection. Lifton believes the present threat of total extinction through nuclear war has drastically affected humanity's ability to reconnect life and... more
This paper explores an issue raised by psychologist Robert Lifton in The Broken Connection. Lifton believes the present threat of total extinction through nuclear war has drastically affected humanity's ability to reconnect life and death, and to make individual death meaningful. The death of everyone—as an imaginable possibility—defeats all expressions of “symbolic immortality,” affirmations of continuity and hope.How has Christian theology met this predicament? Twentieth-century history has been so menacing and overwhelming that some theologians have found in apocalyptic-eschatological imagery the most appropriate framework to encounter that history and discern its spiritual meaning. Yet this imagery, even when de-literalized, provides at best ambiguous answers. Early twentieth-century theology—Schweitzer, Case—recognized the importance of apocalyptic thought for the New Testament, but easily repudiated this for contemporary life. In contrast, later thinkers such as Cullman, B...
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This paper explores an issue raised by psychologist Robert Lifton in The Broken Connection. Lifton believes the present threat of total extinction through nuclear war has drastically affected humanity's ability to reconnect life and... more
This paper explores an issue raised by psychologist Robert Lifton in The Broken Connection. Lifton believes the present threat of total extinction through nuclear war has drastically affected humanity's ability to reconnect life and death, and to make individual death meaningful. The death of everyone-as an imaginable possibilitydefeats all expressions of "symbolic immortality," affirmations of continuity and hope. How has Christian theology met this predicament? Twentiethcentury history has been so menacing and overwhelming that some theologians have found in apocalyptic-eschatological imagery the most appropriate framework to encounter that history and discern its spiritual meaning. Yet this imagery, even when de-lit e rali zed, pro vides at best ambiguous answers. Early twentieth-century theology-Schweitzer, Case-recognized the importance of apocalyptic thought for the New Testament, but easily repudiated this for contemporary life. In contrast, later thinkers such as Cullman, Brunner, and Moltmann make extensive use of eschatological imag ery. However, they face the problem raised by Lifton: how to make "hope" vivid to readers already gripped by a future of possible uni versal catastrophe.
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This essay attempts to look at the birth of the Death Awareness Movement in North America late in the 1960s, with a focus on its classic text, On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and its treatment of emotions. Rather, the... more
This essay attempts to look at the birth of the Death Awareness Movement in North America late in the 1960s, with a focus on its classic text, On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and its treatment of emotions. Rather, the influential labelling of "stages of dying" by emotions has impacted the ways its readers and advocates of the movement it started identified, ordered and communicated their own experiences. This is not an essay on the institutional-organizational development of the Death Awareness Movement, in professional organizations such as Association for Death Education and Counseling. Its
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SYCHOLOGY of religion still has an "alien" status for many within the disciplines loosely organized as "Religious Studies." The associations which accompany the very phrase "psychology of religion" probably include "reductionism," the... more
SYCHOLOGY of religion still has an "alien" status for many within the disciplines loosely organized as "Religious Studies." The associations which accompany the very phrase "psychology of religion" probably include "reductionism," the whole question of "scientific" vs. "humanistic" approaches to the study of man, and a genuine suspicion of the role psychologists have played in "adapting" man to technological society. Obviously, there are psychological thinkers who have themselves raised these same criticisms, or attempted to overcome what they believed to be limitations and biases in current psychological theory. There have also been students of religion who have been open to psychological approaches and theoretical categories, incorporating these into their understanding of religiousness. In this essay, we choose one such psychological category, the notion of fantasy, in order to highlight a key problem in the psychology of religion, and explore possible solutions. Why fantasy? And what is fantasy? As psychologists understand this concept, fantasy is a type of mental activity, a thought-process which is defined over against "goal-directed" practical thinking. The usual qualities assigned to fantastical thinking are: fanciful, dramatic, fulfilling, pictorial, effortless, and egocentric.' In some psychological writings these characteristics are disputed, but on the whole psychologists agree in describing fantasy as a special type of thinking, dominant in such activities as dreams, daydreams , and some forms of play. Fantasy-processes also appear in Thematic Apperception Test stories and Rorshach responses, two sources of data much used by clinicians and researchers. Both Freud and Jung depended on fantasy to provide the "royal road" to the Unconscious, and to an understanding of the true nature and meaning of religion and mythology. The origins of these as products of human culture and human creative imagination lie in fantastical thought. Myths and religious beliefs' are, from the psychological viewpoint, fantasies writ large. However, fantasy is exactly the sort of category which made a generation of religionists squeamish about the psychological approach to religion. Even when writers on religion do wish to employ "fantasy" as a category themselves, they are likely to redefine it away from psychological usage, as we shall see. On the surface, 'Henry A Murray, Techniques for a Systematic Investigation of Fantasy," Journal of Psychology 3 (1937), pp. 115-43 LUCY BREGMAN (Ph D , University of Chicago) is Assistant Professor of Religion at Temple University in Philadelphia. She has published other articles on religion and imaginative processes in Journal of Religion and Review of Religious Research.
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The central focus for Christians has been on the death of Jesus Christ; it is his dying, death, and resurrection that has shaped what Christians have believed, taught, and hoped. Some implications and limits of this model for death... more
The central focus for Christians has been on the death of Jesus Christ; it is his dying, death, and resurrection that has shaped what Christians have believed, taught, and hoped. Some implications and limits of this model for death include that it is difficult to consider death a neutral, “natural” event, given that the Christian focus has been on the violence, destruction, and link to sin involved in Jesus’ death. Although diversity in the practice and experience of Christians is recognized, the central issues regarding Jesus’ death persist within the Christian tradition’s understanding of how death fits within the totality of human existence.
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The Introduction to the Episcopal Church’s new burial liturgy, Enriching Our Worship 3: Burial Rites for Adults, Together with a Rite for the Burial of a Child, insists that the body or the ashes of the dead ought to be present at the... more
The Introduction to the Episcopal Church’s new burial liturgy, Enriching Our Worship 3: Burial Rites for Adults, Together with a Rite for the Burial of a Child, insists that the body or the ashes of the dead ought to be present at the funeral based on Christian belief in the incarnation and the bodily resurrection of the dead. Above all, “the Christian liturgy for the dead is an Easter liturgy,” patterned directly on Jesus’ death and resurrection. These ideas are commonplace today. Christians’ objections to other patterns, particularly bodiless memorial services, are based on these norms. Indeed, the editors of Enriching Our Worship 3 desire to banish memorials and personal “celebrations of life” to non-Christian, secular spaces and times. For the past decades, undergirding these norms, discussions of Christian understandings of the person have emphasized that Christians are holists, not dualists, when it comes to incarnation and embodiment. That is the primary reason for the prefer...
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... of the themes of this literature2 but what really became the center of attention were dying and mourn ... TV specials that did the same, and on open-to-the-public conferences on death and loss ... It felt new, and it was presented as... more
... of the themes of this literature2 but what really became the center of attention were dying and mourn ... TV specials that did the same, and on open-to-the-public conferences on death and loss ... It felt new, and it was presented as new, especially in contrast to the silence and denial ...
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Horizons
Fifty years ago, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' On Death and Dying provided a model of dying as stages of coping with impending loss of one’s life. She sought to give dying hospital patients a voice; the result gave a new model for speaking... more
Fifty years ago, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' On Death and Dying provided a model of dying as stages of coping with impending loss of one’s life. She sought to give dying hospital patients a voice; the result gave a new model for speaking about dying and grieving. This paper examines the model and religious appropriations and crticism of her theme of death as loss.
This paper describes and compares two imageries for “peace” found in contemporary North America. Both arise within a context of “expressive individualism” as depicted by Bellah et al. and both attempt to ground values beyond subjective... more
This paper describes and compares two imageries for “peace” found in contemporary North America. Both arise within a context of “expressive individualism” as depicted by Bellah et al. and both attempt to ground values beyond subjective preferences. Popular psychology, especially represented by Maslow and self-help writings, relies primarily on the image of organic growth for a vision of peace and fulfillment. Language of unresolvable conflict and warfare is entirely avoided. In contrast, Charismatic Christianity, although it too employs the language of “health” and “growth” also advocates an imagery of peace focused on the triumphant Christ enthroned in heaven, after his defeat of spiritual enemies. The author suggests that the vigorous use of this language is best understood as a corrective and supplement to the “growth” themes more fully congruent with expressive individualism.
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In the early 1970s, the death awareness movement publicized dying as a human experience, spearheaded by Kubler-Ross’s On Death and Dying and other public education efforts on behalf of the dying and their families. One result was a sudden... more
In the early 1970s, the death awareness movement publicized dying as a human experience, spearheaded by Kubler-Ross’s On Death and Dying and other public education efforts on behalf of the dying and their families. One result was a sudden proliferation of personal narratives by the terminally ill and their caretakers, a literature whose intent was both to tell an individual’s own story, and to warn the rest of us mortals what it would be like to be a prisoner of modern medicalized dying. Although most of the protagonists admired and trusted their doctors and nurses, the alien and depersonalized environment of hightech hospitals was, as in Kubler-Ross, a target of bitter reproaches. Dying was both sad and frightening anyway; how could we have made it so much more, by our futile efforts to defeat death at all costs?
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structed questions for reflection and activities for group interaction found in the last section of the book. This is an important addition to the growing literature that utilizes a practical feminist theological method. It aptly... more
structed questions for reflection and activities for group interaction found in the last section of the book. This is an important addition to the growing literature that utilizes a practical feminist theological method. It aptly illustrates how contemporary experiences of parenting have the potential to shape faith understanding. It introduces new ways to think about parenting as a spiritual practice. For example, Miller-McLemore reframes traditional practices of silence, solitude, and pilgrimage, to include companion practices of conversation, connection, and homemaking. This is not to suggest, however, that this book is only for those who are parents. The text will be a welcome addition to the college library given its relevance for lay readers and academic theologians who seek to learn more about the responsibility all share for the common good of children.
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... Hi:haps8eli6 cBmrnuniSa-tio'n" between interpreter and experiencer. ... Such crass forms of reductionism as "medical materialism" may still be with us in disguised form (right ... scholar, Gershom Scholem, is one... more
... Hi:haps8eli6 cBmrnuniSa-tio'n" between interpreter and experiencer. ... Such crass forms of reductionism as "medical materialism" may still be with us in disguised form (right ... scholar, Gershom Scholem, is one of the world's greatest authorities on Jewish mysticism without (appar ...
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Facing the Problem Who has not heard the term "spirituality" used recently, in contexts where its exact meaning is left deliberately open-ended, hard-to-pin-down, and obscure? Yet, whenever it is used, eyes light up, people respond with... more
Facing the Problem Who has not heard the term "spirituality" used recently, in contexts where its exact meaning is left deliberately open-ended, hard-to-pin-down, and obscure? Yet, whenever it is used, eyes light up, people respond with positive remarks about its importance, and we all feel better.
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... LUCY BREGMAN restating the nature of religious activity and truth. Harvey Cox's Feast of Fools concerns itself with "fantasy" for a reason echoing Jung's: to give a slap in the face to a strictly... more
... LUCY BREGMAN restating the nature of religious activity and truth. Harvey Cox's Feast of Fools concerns itself with "fantasy" for a reason echoing Jung's: to give a slap in the face to a strictly rational, historical interpretation of religion (in this case, as a corrective to Cox's earlier ...
The article examines the remarkable popularity of the term “spirituality” and its proliferating definitions. Multiple uses for term keep its exact meaning fuzzy. This term is the latest within long quest for personal and positive... more
The article examines the remarkable popularity of the term “spirituality” and its proliferating definitions. Multiple uses for term keep its exact meaning fuzzy. This term is the latest within long quest for personal and positive dimension of religion, within perceived secularization of society. The quest continues Schleiermacher's and Tillich's theological attempts to define and isolate such a de-institutionalized religion. Sociologists of religion noted the new models of “quilted together” identities that support such private-sphere invisible religion. “Spirituality” also does duty to preserve the contributions of humanistic psychology and existentialism within the death awareness movement's basic language and vision. It is a non-contentious term somewhere in between religion and scientific psychology.
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A “homeless vagrant” was the term used by Protestant clergy of the first half of the twentieth century for a man without name, family or history who died on the street. Clergy were asked to perform a funeral for him, but as his religious... more
A “homeless vagrant” was the term used by Protestant clergy of the first half of the twentieth century for a man without name, family or history who died on the street. Clergy were asked to perform a funeral for him, but as his religious status was unknown, his funeral posed a problem for them. How could one preach a hopeful Christian message, for one who may not have had faith in Christ? This paper uses pastors’ manuals and sermon collections to understand how this kind of “problem funeral” was interpreted as an example of a marginal death both religiously and socially. Although there were no mourners, the purpose of the funeral was worship of God, who was always ready to receive us. The homeless vagrant’s funeral was also an occasion for reproach, against the anonymity, impersonality and moral danger of urban life. The homeless vagrant’s extreme isolation and abandonment made him a warning to all. The paper closes with the contrast between this view of death on the street, and tha...
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4 famous cases in the U.S.A. of persons "kept alive by machines" are interpreted for their symbolic power, and their unsettling debate over how "life" and "death" are defined as opposites, with no middle term. Karen Ann Quinlan, Nancy... more
4 famous cases in the U.S.A. of persons "kept alive by machines" are interpreted for their symbolic power, and their unsettling debate over how "life" and "death" are defined as opposites, with no middle term. Karen Ann Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan, Terri Schiavo and Jahi McMath were never active protagonists in the public debates, for they remained unconscious. This paper does not focus on the legal battles or political issues but instead on the question of how "alive" or "dead" they were.