A century ago the South African theologian Beyers Naudé (1915–2004) was born into the Afrikaner culture. As an adult he adamantly opposed apartheid and became a renowned public figure of the antiapartheid struggle in his pursuit of social and political justice for all South Africans. He was purposively sampled as subject of this psychobiography, which involves the life span study of a significant individual in a socio-historical-cultural context. The aim was to uncover and illustrate Naudé’s faith development throughout his life span by means of Fowler’s faith development theory (FDT). FDT is regarded as an influential theory, relevant to the broad conceptualization of faith development, and is a popular resource used in pastoral counseling and spiritual direction. Alexander’s psychobiographical indicators of thematic saliency, as well as a conceptual framework or matrix, were utilized to identify, categorize, and analyze significant themes of faith development. The findings indicate that Naudé progressed through all the stages of faith development as proposed by the FDT. He achieved a mature level of faith, namely universalizing faith, which guided his beliefs and the significant decisions he made during the antiapartheid struggle.
This comparative psychobiographical study provides an in-depth exploration of meaning in the lives of two extraordinary individuals, Helen Suzman and Beyers Naudé. A comparison of the construction of meaning, as an important aspect of wellness within the holistic wellness model, is given for these South African anti-apartheid activists. Suzman (1917–2009) dedicated her career to opposing apartheid policy as a parliamentary politician. Naudé (1915–2004) was a renowned public figure dedicated to social justice in his role as a theologian. The holistic wellness model views the Neo-Adlerian life task of spirituality as crucial to ascribing meaning to life events, acknowledging multiple potential sources of meaning. The differences and similarities pertaining to the domains of meaning-making of these two subjects are explored. The subjects, who differed regarding biographical variables, were found to share a common sense of purpose within the same socio-political milieu. The study findings confirm that commitment to diverse sources of meaning and generativity are central to meaningfulness. This comparative psychobiographical study contributes to the eugraphic exploration of the meaning-making processes of these exemplary individuals.
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