Cancer and Theology: Personal and Pastoral Perspectives

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 349

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity, Box Hill, VIC, Australia
Interests: theodicy; suffering; cancer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Evangelische Theolgische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium
Interests: postconservative evangelical theology; postmodern theological impulses; deconstruction and Christian theology; postmodern hermeneutics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to participate in a special edition of Religions that will offer pastoral and theological insights on cancer. Approximately 40% of people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life. Virtually everyone will be touched by the experience of knowing someone close to them that has journeyed with cancer. These statistics will continue to rise as many population groups worldwide continue to age. It is, therefore, surprising how little theological reflection on cancer has taken place. This Special Issue seeks to bring together scholars from diverse theological disciplines (biblical scholars, systematic theology, and practical as well as pastoral theology) and perspectives. We are looking for theologically reflective articles that are also deeply pastoral and personal with respect to the challenge of cancer. Hence, we are seeking contributors who have either experienced cancer themselves or have walked alongside those who have. We are asking authors to allow their life stories to speak as an important part of their academic research. We hope that this Special Issue of Religions may serve as a resource for pastors, pastoral and spiritual care practitioners, or others in various helping professions who are theologically and pastorally navigating the concerns of cancer with those whom they engage. We hope that you will consider contributing an article to this important project.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Biblical perspectives on disease or illness and their application to cancer.
  • Theological perspectives on healing and prayer with respect to cancer.
  • Human vulnerability and weakness in the midst of cancer.
  • Cancer and spirituality, discipleship, and lifestyle.
  • Cancer and hope, personal eschatology.
  • Cancer and human suffering.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send these to the Guest Editors, or to the Assistant Editor, Ms. Violet Li ([email protected]), of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring a proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Brian C. Macallan
Prof. Dr. Ronald T. Michener
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cancer and theology
  • suffering
  • disease
  • hope and cancer
  • healing

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Other

6 pages, 146 KiB  
Essay
A Narrowing Place: Responsive Spirituality
by Christopher P. Turner
Religions 2024, 15(8), 1008; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15081008 - 18 Aug 2024
Viewed by 194
Abstract
Among the many distinct experiences of cancer is the experience of the parent who watches their child become pale and drained of energy in the weeks preceding diagnosis. The journey from there to the oncology ward is one that can be adequately described [...] Read more.
Among the many distinct experiences of cancer is the experience of the parent who watches their child become pale and drained of energy in the weeks preceding diagnosis. The journey from there to the oncology ward is one that can be adequately described as increasingly claustrophobic. It is all one-way traffic from flourishing life to the abyss. Perhaps being a parent makes one even more prone to the universal human tendency to find fault with oneself where there is only the blind force of nature at work. Whatever dark alleyway that self-destructive sentiment emerges from to ambush the optimist, it is certainly an effective hiding place from which to cause them to stumble. The child slips inexorably out of the parent’s grasp. The notion of parental protection is no haven. Yet the blindness of nature unwittingly tips the scales. In the narrowest of narrow places, the human organism responds with homeostatic resilience. Whether death is near or far in this place is unknown. In the moment of constriction, however, the child and its parent respond with that most irreducible of passions, the will to live. The human spirit emerges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer and Theology: Personal and Pastoral Perspectives)
Back to TopTop