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Lutherans in Need of Self‐Discipline: Japanese Shugyō and the Art of Sanctification
Author(s) -
Mann Jeffrey K.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
dialog
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.114
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1540-6385
pISSN - 0012-2033
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6385.2011.00620.x
Subject(s) - sanctification , conformity , buddhism , methodism , stewardship (theology) , mediocrity principle , reputation , sociology , environmental ethics , aesthetics , psychology , social psychology , religious studies , theology , philosophy , law , social science , political science , politics , physics , astrobiology
: Lutherans have a reputation for not attending well to the life of sanctification. Whether or not this is deserved, it is clear that all believers should make greater efforts to live in conformity with the will of God. Distinctly lacking in the Lutheran heritage, however, are disciplines of self‐cultivation. Such methods could play a larger role in the spiritual lives of believers, not for the sake of one's own salvation, but for the benefit of others. With that in mind, this article considers the practice of s hugyō in Japanese Buddhism. This concept of self‐cultivation can form a model for how we in the West might seek to attend to our own maturing in the Christian life, attending to a greater stewardship of our bodies and minds.