Material spirituality Understanding our relationship with the Divine through objects and forms

Abstract

Trying to understand the role and place Christian spirituality hold in today’s world is both a pressing and highly complex objective. While some forms of spirituality are well-established and easy to analyse, others are difficult to identify and define, particularly those that emerged more recently or have undergone significant transformations.

One way to identify actors, spaces, objects and forms is to focus on material and public dimensions of spirituality. This article sets out to achieve this through an innovative method: It investigates two concrete examples (sacred music and religious pilgrimages) by applying the three instruments developed by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu – habitus, field, capital. This approach reveals the performative and relational potential of objects, people and acts, through which forms of spirituality can emerge. Thus, spirituality can be understood as a continuously changing practice that can be described trough a theory of action rooted in recognition and open towards the narrative we call salvation history.