Conversion to Christianity Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Theology== According to sociologist Ines W. Jindra, there is a “theological dimension” to conversion.{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=148}} Avery Dulles quotes [[Bernard Lonergan]] saying "The subject of theology, then, is the person undergoing conversion to God".{{sfn|Dulles|1981|p=175}} The conversion experience is basic and has the characteristics of being "concrete, dynamic, personal, communal, and historical." Through this focus on the individual, theology of conversion is provided with the same characteristics in its foundation.{{sfn|Dulles|1981|pp=175, 176}} Religious historian David W. Kling's ''History of Christian Conversion'' lists nine broad themes common to conversion narratives.{{sfn|Kling|2020|pp=20-23}} Jindra describes the first theme as “human cognizance of divine presence,” while Kling says, "God becomes real to people" through conversion.{{sfn|Kling|2020|p=21}}{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=147}} Conversion always has "context": humans are "socially constituted" beings and religious conversion always occurs in a social context.{{sfn|Kling|2020|p=21}} Jindra writes that, while all conversion accounts vary, they all show evidence of being based upon personal internal experiences of crisis expressed through the specific historical context in which the converts lived.{{sfn|Jindra|2021|pp=147, 148}} There are aspects of both "movement and resistance" in conversion. Christianity has, from its beginnings, been an evangelical mission oriented religion which has spread through conversion. However, people naturally tend toward inertia, toward the familiar, unless otherwise motivated toward change, making conversion the exception not the rule in history.{{sfn|Kling|2020|p=21}} There is both "continuity and discontinuity" in the conversion process. Conversion can be disruptive and cause a rupture with the past, but rupture is rarely complete. Aspects of the past are frequently kept, resulting in a kind of "hybrid" faith.{{sfn|Kling|2020|pp=21-22}} Gender also plays a direct role in how people do or do not convert.{{sfn|Kling|2020|p=23}} Testimonies and narratives provide the vocabulary of conversion.{{sfn|Kling|2020|p=22}} In the more famous conversion stories, such as Augustine's and Martin Luther's, it is apparent the conversion story was later used, not only for personal insight and transformation, but also for drawing in potential converts.{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=149}} Kling writes that "the influence of [such] personal testimonies on the history of conversion cannot be over-estimated."{{sfn|Kling|2020|p=22}} Indications from Jandra's twenty-first century research indicates this is also true for more ordinary, less famous, conversions.{{sfn|Jindra|2021|pp=149-150}} Conversion produced change in the lives of most converts in important and positive ways: Jindra says "they became more stable, found meaning in life, tackled their former problematic biographical trajectories, and improved their relationships (Jindra, 2014)".{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=149}} Conversion has historically been impacted by how personal "identity" and sense of self is defined. This can determine how much intentional action on the part of the individual convert has directed outcome, and how much outside forces may have impinged upon personal agency instead.{{sfn|Kling|2020|p=23}} In Christian conversion, there is nearly always a network of others who influenced the convert prior to conversion.{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=149}} Jindra writes that the specific context, which includes the ideology of the group being joined, the individual convert's particular crisis, "and the degree of agency vs. the influence of others" are important aspects influencing whether converts change or do not change after a conversion.{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=147}}{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=147}} These factors overlap with research psychologist Lewis Rambo's stages of conversion.{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=148}} Rambo's model of conversion includes context, crisis (involving some form of searching by the prospective convert), encounter, and interaction, (with someone who believes in the new religious belief system). This is followed by commitment and its results.{{sfn|Jindra|2021|p=148}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page