Theology and Practices of Humility among Religious Leaders

Another of our studies from the Humility and Religious Leaders grant funded by the John Templeton Foundation was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Spirituality and Mental Health.

Citation:

Wolfteich, C.E., Ruffing, E.G., Crabtree, S.A., Devor, N.G., & Sandage, S.J. (in press). Humility and religious leadership: A qualitative study of theology and practice. Journal of Spirituality and Mental Health.

Abstract

Recent research suggests that religious leaders’ humility is crucial to their own psychological wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of the communities they lead, yet little is known about how humility is understood and cultivated by the leaders themselves. This qualitative study of 273 religious leaders from the Abrahamic faiths examines the diversity in their theological understandings of humility and describes the practices that they report are most helpful to their own cultivation of the virtue. The authors integrate practical theological and psychological perspectives as they discuss the types of humility and practices and explore their implications.