Focusing on the question "what does it mean to be human?", this study attempts to overcome the divide between secular and religious understanding of spirituality.

Spirituality can be understood within both a religious and secular context. Fuelled by the controversy that surrounds different understandings of human identity and notions of progress, knowledge and truth in modernist and postmodernist contexts, the concept of spirituality is a hotly contested topic of debate as to its relevance within contemporary culture and its meaning within religious traditions. This book aims to inform readers on this debate and contextualize it within these different frames of reference. It approaches the topic of spirituality with an identification of the major influences on contemporary thinking and presents a coherent framework of understanding that links divergent thinking into a common goal. Writings range across different thinkers and practitioners within established religious tradition, contemporary movements and those who operate within psychological and 'secular' understandings. Focusing on the question 'what does it mean to be human?' this engaging study attempts to overcome the divide between secular and religious understandings of spirituality.

"Contemporary Spiritualities is a welcome addition to the body of knowledge concerning the diversity of communities that organise both individual and communal life founded around the centrality of the sacred....the volume offers a wide range of religious and spiritual experience encompassing both individuals and communities...There is plenty to ponder in this volume..." -- International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 2002