This book brings together key scholars and practitioners from a range of fields in order to advance epidemiological and gerontological research into the role of religion in physical, psychosocial and mental health. Part One addresses such issues as hope, forgiveness, the psychodynamics of faith and belief, and coping in a theoretical context. Part Two seeks to advance the methodological sophistication of research in this area, with an emphasis on measurement and design issues.

The contributors to Divine Love cover a broad spectrum of world religions, comparing and contrasting approaches to the topic among Christians of several denominations, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and adherents of traditional African religion. Each chapter focuses on the definition and conceptual boundaries of divine love; on its expression and experience; on its instrumentality and salience; and both on how it can become distorted and on how it has been made manifest or restored by great historic exemplars of altruism, compassion, and unlimited love.

The ultimate aim for...