The Transformative Power of Faith

A Narrative Approach to Conversion

Erin Dufault-Hunter

The Transformative Power of Faith examines how and why some people, particularly those coming out of highly self-destructive, violent, and antisocial backgrounds who appear beyond repair, experience profound personal transformation through conversion to strong faith. Illustrated by stories of converts who came out of serious drug addiction, gangs, and poverty through adherence to a demanding faith, Erin Dufault-Hunter argues for a narrative approach to conversion. This holistic theoretical perspective offers an alternative epistemological stance to reductionistic models sometimes perpetuated among social scientists and religious ethicists alike. In this study, the narrative lens gives vision of the religious “Other” a depth and complexity too often lacking. Such an approach allows a deeper understanding of the dynamics of personal transformation in ways that make sense of psychological and social factors without ignoring so-called “spiritual” ones.

Lexington Books

Pages: 228 •

978-0-7391-6783-0 • Hardback • April 2012 • $105.00 • (£70.00)

978-0-7391-7553-8 • eBook • April 2012 • $99.50 • (£65.00)

Subjects: Religion / Ethics

The Transformative Power of Faith

A Narrative Approach to Conversion

Hardback

eBook

Summary

The Transformative Power of Faith examines how and why some people, particularly those coming out of highly self-destructive, violent, and antisocial backgrounds who appear beyond repair, experience profound personal transformation through conversion to strong faith. Illustrated by stories of converts who came out of serious drug addiction, gangs, and poverty through adherence to a demanding faith, Erin Dufault-Hunter argues for a narrative approach to conversion. This holistic theoretical perspective offers an alternative epistemological stance to reductionistic models sometimes perpetuated among social scientists and religious ethicists alike. In this study, the narrative lens gives vision of the religious “Other” a depth and complexity too often lacking. Such an approach allows a deeper understanding of the dynamics of personal transformation in ways that make sense of psychological and social factors without ignoring so-called “spiritual” ones.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 228 •

978-0-7391-6783-0 • Hardback • April 2012 • $105.00 • (£70.00)

978-0-7391-7553-8 • eBook • April 2012 • $99.50 • (£65.00)

Subjects: Religion / Ethics

Author

Erin Dufault-Hunter is assistant professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Need for an Alternative Theory of Conversion
Chapter 2: A Constructive Overview of Theories regarding Religious Conversion
Chapter 3: Story and the Making of the Self
Chapter 4: Reading Conversion through a Narrative Lens
Chapter 5: Hermeneutics and the Ethical Implications of a Narrative Approach to Conversion

Reviews

Drawing on narrative ethics, Dufault-Hunter challenges reductionistic theories of conversion. In this richly illustrated book, the author develops a theoretically sophisticated interpretation of the role that religion potentially plays in transforming people with drug additions and other life challenges.

— Donald E. Miller, University of Southern California

I find this to be an engaging work that offers a compelling argument for thinking about the experience of religious conversions in a way that avoids various forms of naturalistic reductionism promulgated by many in the social sciences.
— Gordon S. Mikoski, Princeton Theological Seminary

The Transformative Power of Faith

A Narrative Approach to Conversion

Erin Dufault-Hunter

The Transformative Power of Faith

A Narrative Approach to Conversion

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