Paths to wholeness: an investigation in terms of discourse analysis of 'divine healing' in the Iona community and associated activities on Iona

Abstract

Wholeness and healing tend to be found at the margin of theological and Christian debate which means that the discourse surrounding the topics may be fragmented and various in different groups. The Iona Community has been involved in Divine Healing since 1938 and has developed an ethos of openness which has absorbed other forms of discourse. These have included what are generally thought of as 'New Age' ideas, medical practice and those associated with Rudolf Steiner.t of as 'New Age' ideas, medical practice and those associated with Rudolf Steiner. The Iona Community was founded by the Very Rev'd Lord MacLeod of Fuinary in 1938 to rebuild "'the ancient monastic buildings of Iona Abbey, the Community has sought ever since the 'rebuilding of common life', bringing together work and worship, prayers and politics, the sacred and the secular." MacLeod based all his activities on the implications of incarnational theology which asserted the sovereignty of God over all of life. Its interest in wholeness and healing is examined in a case study which occupies five chapters. It is then submitted to various forms of discourse and narrative analysis which are outlined in a separate chapter on methodology. The case study of the Iona Community depends upon a review of all the printed material which members have produced on 'Healing and Wholeness'. Much of the material is archival and is unpublished or come from member's responses to an open-ended questionnaire.from member's responses to an open-ended questionnaire. The components of the case study comprise 1) a review of the work of George MacLeod in this field; 2) the contribution which the Iona Community has made to the liturgy of healing; 3) the wider scene on the island as others became in alternative forms of healing; 4) an examination of three members work and the way in which their discourse has intermingled with that represented in 3 and in the illustrative schema which is developed to the chapter on methodology; 5) a discourse and narrative analysis of nine members' stories which were responses to an open-ended letter/questionnaire. In the Introduction, it is argued that Incarnational Theology is the inspiration of all the work of the Community, and that the Community's approach to healing is characterised by openness.The methods of analysis have four components. First, six genres of writing in theology and medicine to illustrate how writers may traverse discourses in an eclectic and open way. The six modes are prepositional theology, faith and theology in the community; humanistic practice, traditional (folk) medicine and complementary therapies. Second, the concepts of cohesion and coherence are introduced, with a view to suggesting that it is the inability of different groups to acknowledge each others coherence which leads to major polemical differences which are not always justified. Coherence theory depends upon the early work of Bradley, Joachim and Quine who developed a philosophical approach to the subject. Third, Burke illustrates how different emphases may alter our understanding of the motives behind the rhetoric of healing. Dependence is placed upon A Grammar of Motives which asserts that motives can be illustrated by a method of dramatism. Foucault is used to argue that his method of archaeology may be a useful tool in the analysis of the life-work of Churchpeople.s of the life-work of Churchpeople. Fourth, Chapter VII examines in close detail the stones and discourse of nine respondents from the Community. The narrative analysis depends upon Labov and Waletzky and the discourse analysis on Parker and others. The chapter concludes by using a Belgian technique developed by Dasetto. which uses the concept of transformational grammar to show how small units of discourse may be transformed by the way people choose to define their concepts, in this case that of wholeness.transformed by the way people choose to define their concepts, in this case that of wholeness. The thesis has a theological conclusion which examines the connection between the narrative theology of Hauerwas and the qualitative analysis of stories which are designed to illustrate the meaning of wholeness. It is concluded that the only way in which wholeness, and to a lesser extent healing, can be defined is through experience and praxis. In an atmosphere of openness and a lack of demand for the miraculous, a cogent body of material has been developed by the Iona Community and sustained for fifty years whereas other healing movements have failed because of their single element component. The Church may learn from the openness of the Iona Community and begin to seek to avoid condemnations based on too narrow a discourse.