Call for Papers: A Special Issue on Divine Realities

November 22, 2024 | Birmingham, UK

Dr. Carissa Sharp, Dr. Amy Daughton, and Dr. Shoko Watanabe are guest editing a special issue for the Journal of Psychology and Theology. The title of the special issue is “Understanding Human Conceptions of Divine Realities: Exploring the Intersection between Psychology and Theology.” The deadline for submitting the initial Letter of Interest is January 6, 2025, at 5pm (GMT).

Understanding Human Conceptions of Divine Realities: Exploring the Intersection between Psychology and Theology

The purpose of the Journal of Psychology and Theology is to communicate recent scholarship on the interrelationships of psychological and theological topics of study, and to consider the application of these interrelationships in a variety of cultures and contexts, such as mental health counseling, education and training, organizational leadership, and Christian ministry.

This special issue will address the subject of how humans conceive of and think about divine realities. We welcome papers which explore questions about the representation of God, emotional and intellectual understandings of the divine, and the relationship between God representations and outcomes such as coping, health, therapy, faith development, and faith leadership. This theme will be of interest to psychologists and theologians investigating experiences (e.g., of prayer, spirituality, and well-being), as well as those assessing the theological meanings of ritual, liturgy, scripture and other texts, including connections between cognition and representations of God found in traditions of interpretation and practice.  Submissions should include work at the intersection of psychology and theology, incorporating methods and/or insights from both fields.

The Journal of Psychology and Theology invites practitioners, researchers, and scholars to contribute to this special issue of placing psychologies and Christian theologies in dialogue with regards to how humans conceive of and think about divine realities. We welcome original research, theoretical papers, empirical studies, case studies, and interdisciplinary perspectives that illuminate this important subject matter from professionals across the career stages. We also encourage submissions from author teams that represent interdisciplinary collaborations. We welcome letters of interest that cover a wide range of areas within this topic. Examples may include:

  • What can an understanding of religious cognition add to accounts of religious or mystical experience?
  • What difference/s do various God representations make to Church leadership and/or community practices?
  • How does the way that people think about God relate to scriptural representations of God? Alternatively, what scriptural representations seem to have the most impact on people’s God-representations?
  • What might attention to the cognitive, embodied personhood mean for understanding the Incarnation and/or the imago Dei? 
  • What distinguishes the God representations of particular communities or demographics, and what do they have to contribute to doctrine of God?
  • What differences do social identities (e.g., gender, sexuality, ethnicity) make to concepts of God?
  • Have virtual and/or digital worship experiences during the Covid-19 Pandemic made a difference to people’s concepts of God? If so, how?
  • (How) does trauma change one’s understanding of their relationship with God?

Instructions for Manuscript Submission:

1. Email a Letter of Interest (LOI) by 5pm (GMT) January 6, 2025, to Dr. Carissa Sharp (c.sharp@bham.ac.uk). Early submissions are encouraged.

    • In the subject line of the email, write “JPT Special Issue.”
    • Attach the LOI as a Word doc to the email.
    • In the LOI, include a tentative title for the manuscript; the purpose, significance, and the methodology of the manuscript in 250 words or less, APA 7th ed style; and a brief biography of each contributing author(s) (120 words or less per author) and indicate the corresponding author.

    2. Decisions/invitations will be issued by January 31, 2025 to then submit a full-length manuscript through JPT's online submission portal by June 30, 2025.

    • Please indicate in the cover letter that the manuscript is for the "Divine Realities Special Issue."
    • The manuscripts will represent original work. Submitted manuscripts will be approximately 25-30 pages, including title page, abstract, tables, figures, footnotes, and references, double spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman typeface. Include a 150-word abstract. Manuscripts will be prepared according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) and in accordance with the journal's guidelines.

    3. Peer review will take place between July-September, 2025.  Please note, to ensure a quick turn-around on reviews as well as disciplinary expertise, we will ask authors/co-authors to complete at least 2 anonymized peer review for the special edition.

    4. After peer review, there will be a decision on publication suitability or a request for revision.

    5. To facilitate interactions between the articles, you may be additionally invited to submit a shorter (~2000 words), commentary/reflection piece in response to another article within the special issue.

    6. Revisions and final drafts will be submitted by February 2, 2026.

    7. The special issue is expected to be published in September 2026.

      Important Dates:

      • Letters of interest deadline: January 6, 2025
      • Notification of decision: January 31, 2025
      • Full manuscript deadline: June 30, 2025
      • Peer reviews: July 2025 - September 2025
      • Author revision: October 2025 - January 2026
      • Final manuscript deadline: February 2, 2026
      • Expected publication: September 2026

      Please feel free to email Carissa Sharp (c.sharp@bham.ac.uk) with any questions, and we look forward to receiving your letters!

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