Table Of ContentWOMEN’S EMBODIED SPIRITUAL GROWTH:
LEARNING THROUGH NARRATIVE RESEARCH,
TEACHING THROUGH NARRATIVE EDUCATION
A Dissertation
presented to
the Faculty of the
Claremont School of Theology
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Eun Mi Paik
May 1999
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© 1999
Eun Mi Paik
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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This dissertation, written by
Eun Ml Paik-----------
under the direction of Faculty Committee, and
approved by its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Faculty of the School of Theology at
Claremont in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Faculty Committee
J J Chairperson
jv)
/ £££..
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Abstract
Women’s Embodied Spiritual Growth: Learning through
Narrative Research, Teaching through Narrative Education
by
Eun Mi Paik
The primary purpose of this dissertation is to explore women’s bodily experiences in
relation to spiritual growth and to develop an educational method to nurture women’s
embodied spirituality. Women’s bodily experiences, such as menstruation, body image,
sexuality, sexual abuse, pregnancy, childbirth, mothering, menopause, and aging, are
critical influences that nurture and challenge the spiritual being of adult women. Despite
the importance, women’s embodied spiritual growth has rarely been acknowledged or
studied in Christian communities and in academic fields focused on human development
and religious education.
This dissertation critically examines the faith and faith development theories of James
Fowler, John Westerhoff III, and Thomas Groome, focusing particularly on the
limitations of their understandings of women’s embodied spiritual growth. To advocate
the importance of women’s embodied experiences in spiritual growth, the dissertation
draws upon feminist understandings of women’s embodied experiences in relation to
theology, epistemology, psychology, education, pastoral care, and spirituality.
The characteristics of women’s spiritual growth can best be understood, respected, and
enhanced when women share stories about their embodied experiences; thus, a narrative
approach is important for research and, also, for education. In the narrative research of
this dissertation, twenty interviewees gave a full extempore narration of events and
experiences from their embodied spiritual lives. These women described their faith
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journeys and the influence of their bodily experiences. The interview results, enhanced
by feminist literature in psychology and theology, provide foundations for a feminist
vision of women’s embodied spiritual growth. In order to move toward this vision, an
embodied-narrative educational method is needed. Such a method can help women break
silence, encourage women to describe their embodied experiences in relation to their
spiritual journeys, and nurture and empower their embodied spiritual growth.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
1. Introduction......................................................................................... 1
2. Critical Analysis of the Faith Development Theories of
James Fowler, John Westerhoff III, and Thomas Groome . . 10
Description and Critique of James Fowler’s Faith and
Faith Development Theory..................................................... 10
Description of Fowler’s T heory.......................................... 10
Critique of Fowler’s Theory................................................ 18
Description and Critique of John H. Westerhoff Ill’s Faith
And Faith Development Theory.......................................... 24
Description of Westerhoff5 s T heory..................................... 24
Critique of Westerhoffs Theory.......................................... 29
Description and Critique of Thomas Groome’s Faith and
Faith Development Theory..................................................... 33
Description of Groome’s Theory.......................................... 33
Critique of Groome’s T heory................................................ 37
Conclusion..........................................................................................39
3. Women’s Bodily Experiences in Feminist Theories................... 41
Women’s Bodily Experiences in Feminist Theology . . . . 41
Women’s Bodily Experiences in Feminist Epistemology . . 50
Women’s Bodily Experiences in Feminist Psychology . . . 57
Conclusion...........................................................................................69
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4. Women’s Bodily Experiences in Spiritual G row th..................... 71
Feminist Religious Education..................................................... 71
Feminist Pastoral Theology and C a re ..................................... 79
Feminist Spirituality.................................................................... 90
Conclusion.................................................................................... 98
5. Women’s Embodied Spiritual Growth: Personal Narratives . . 100
Narrative Theory and Methodological D esign.................................100
The Purpose of Research..................................................... 104
The Story-tellers in Research................................................ 106
The Method in Interview..................................................... 108
The Method of Description and Analysis.......................... Ill
Women’s Bodily Experiences and Spiritual Growth . . . . 114
Menstruation.......................................................................... 116
Body Im ages.......................................................................... 121
Sexuality............................................................................... 124
Sexual A buse.......................................................................... 130
Marriage and D ivorce.......................................................... 133
Pregnancy and Childbirth..................................................... 137
M othering............................................................................... 139
Aging and Menopause.......................................................... 143
iv
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Relationship with Family and O thers..................... 145
Images and Relationships with G o d .......................................... 150
Experience in Church and Christianity..................................... 154
Understandings of Spiritual Journey and G row th..................... 157
Conclusion...........................................................................................163
6. A Feminist Vision of Women’s Embodied Spiritual Growth . . 164
Body-Affirming Spirituality.............................................. 165
Embodied Images of G o d .................................................. 177
Embodied Relationship with Other Human Beings . . . . 185
An Interdependent Relationship with the World
as “God’s Body” ............................................................. 193
Involvement in the Church as the “Body of Christ” . . . . 200
Embodied Participation in Social Transformation . . . . 204
Conclusion...........................................................................................209
7. Embodied-Narrative Method as an Education Method . . . . 210
Narrative Interview’s Effect on Women’s Spiritual Growth. . 211
Embodied -Narrative Method as an Effective
Educational M ethod........................................................ 214
Enhancing Embodied-Narrative M ethod......................... 221
Empowering Women to Remember and Construct
Their Life Stories........................................................ 222
Integrating and Critiquing of Narrative T ruths............. 225
V
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Offering Companionship in Teaching and Learning . . . 231
Building Communities of Mutual Understanding
and Empowerment.......................................................... 234
Conclusion...........................................................................................237
8. Conclusions......................................................................... 238
Bibliography............................................................................................... 240
vi
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CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Women’s bodily experiences are central to women’s emotional, intellectual, social,
and spiritual development. Despite the importance of understanding women’s spirituality
in a full way, religious educators have rarely studied women’s bodily experiences,
especially not in relation to their spiritual growth. In addition, when women are invited
to talk about their embodied experiences, they often have difficulty articulating these
experiences and telling their stories because they have been affected by patriarchal
control of women’s experiences and voices. Three specific problems emerge.
The first problem is the neglect of bodily experiences in faith development theories.
Many religious professionals, including religious educators, worldwide, get important
insights from James Fowler’s, John Westerhoff Ill’s and Thomas Groome’s theories of
faith and faith development.1 All of these theories describe diverse components of human
faith and diverse styles, or stages, of faith. In spite of their great contribution to
understandings of faith development, they take little account of the effect of women’s
bodily experiences on their spiritual growth. This limitation is significant in relation to
understanding women’s faith development in a holistic way because bodily experiences,
such as menstruation, body image, sexuality, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause, are
critical influences that nurture and challenge women’s spiritual growth. Religious
1 See, panicularly: James Fowler, Stages of Faith (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981); Becoming
Adult, Becoming Christian (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984); John Westerhoff III, Will Our Children
Have Faith? (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1976); Generation to Generation (New York: Pilgrim Press,
1979); Thomas Groome, Christian Religious Education (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980); Sharing
Faith (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991).
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