ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the praxis of authenticity in consciousness as the methodological foundation of spiritual capital, but does so in the context of a Christian perspective. It also discusses the evolution of the application of the concept of spiritual capital in predominantly socio-economic literature. The book focuses on how the turn to spirituality, and in particular the academic study of spirituality, may be conceived as contributing to the dynamic evolution of spiritual capital as a resource for personal, social and ecclesial transformation. It reflects on issues where the application of the concept of spiritual capital enriches the existential framework of analysis of the ecological crisis, the practice of leadership, the science of international development, the experience of homelessness, the challenge of integrity in a competitive workplace and the negotiation of loss by suicide respectively.
