Healing Words: A Sampler of Wholeness Theology

About the Book

This is a “must read” if you have an interest in wholeness, and the transformational power of healing for the spirit. 10 articulate authors, many leaders in their fields, have contributed their thought-provoking perspectives to a book that will give you insights into how Swedenborgian Christianity contributes to the developing field of wholeness theology. You will read about living wholeness in three dimensions, spiritual practice, the paradoxical nature of being human, a revolutionary way for husbands and wives to relate, myth as a way to understand spiritual life, and much more.

Healing Words: A Sampler of Wholeness Theology is both an overarching philosophy of and a practical manual for living a life in God. Roslyn Taylor as editor and contributor constructs a philosophical paradigm she wisely calls “wholeness theology,” which she builds from the materials of Swedenborgian theology, psychology, and spirituality. The book’s numerous contributing “architects,” drawn largely from Swedenborgian ranks, provide sketches for several rooms that belong to such a proposed house for the living out of a Swedenborgian spirituality of wholeness.

Though consciously incorporating the male perspective and significantly including male voices, Healing Words is nevertheless a consciously feminist enterprise, seeking to re-frame Swedenborgian spirituality in holistic ways that speak to women’s experiences. The various authors richly inscribe their perspective with non-Swedenborgian voices, including Paul Tillich, Mary Pipher, Margaret Kornfeld, Bruno Bettelheim, and Dorothy Canfield, among many others, yet draw primarily on the theological and psychological principles in Swedenborg’s works. Themes of empowerment, relationality, and wellness infuse a perspective that seeks to overcome the separations that imperil life: from God, from oneself, from a partner, from the community. Above all, Healing Words constructs a Swedenborgian way of spiritual formation that is grounded explicitly and with sophistication in practice. It is, in short, a book of wholesome, healing words.

James Lawrence, Dean
Swedenborgian House of Studies at Pacific School of Religion
Berkeley, California

Healing Words is a fascinating collection of essays, all calling for more balance in daily living to reflect the balance in God. Topics include marriage, creativity, religious interpretations and practices, spiritual and bodily health, and much more. I am grateful for the many personal points of view, all wanting a healing that brings more wholeness and holiness to life.

Karin A. Childs
Author and publisher
Fountain Publishing
Rochester, Michigan

Joanna Hill is Director of the Templeton Foundation Press, a small, non-profit publishing house. She is the co-author of two books, The Power of Prayer around the World, and Words of Gratitude for Mind, Body and Soul. She received her bachelor’s degree in French from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her master’s degree in Religious Studies from the Academy of the New Church Theological School. She lives in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

Wendy Hoo is an artist and art teacher. She has been teaching for 30 years in the Boston area, and most recently is helping to create a new Charter School for low income students. She also teaches watercolor classes to adults, and works mainly in that medium in her own paintings. She received her M.Ed. from Lesley University in the Arts in Human Development. She writes and gives workshops on the subject of creativity of the spirit.

Leon James has been a professor of psychology since 1962 and is now teaching at the University of Hawaii, along with his wife of 23 year

About the Author

Roslyn Taylor has a longstanding interest in wholeness and holistic pursuits, initially from her work in healthcare as a nurse and chaplain, and now in developing wholeness perspectives in theology. She is married with four teenage and young adult children, and is the daughter and granddaughter of Australian New Church (Swedenborgian) ministers. Ms. Taylor earned her BSN from Thomas Jefferson University, and her MA in Religious Studies from the Academy of the New Church Theological School. She completed her Clinical Pastoral Education at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. She is an adjunct staff chaplain in the Pastoral Care Department at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, and a registered nurse at Temple University Children’s Medical Center. She has written and spoken in the fields of pediatric nursing, spiritual development, Swedenborgian feminist and wholeness theology, and the integration of spirituality and health. She can be reached at hrtaylor@temple.edu.