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Editorial:
Nurturing spirituality From
the[acting] director: New Shoes Wholeness,
Holiness & Wholegrain Spirituality Comment:
Racehorses and Turtles A
Spirituality of Communion: The Benedictine Monks, Rostrevor Interview
with John Dickinson & Paul Symonds: The Shape of Spirituality Prayer
24-7 In
quest of living theology: A conversation piece on theological education
and Christian formation A
Spirituality of Welcome Bible
Study: Christian Spirituality Review:
How (Not) to Speak of God Review:
Spirituality and Transformation Difficult
Conversations |
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DALLAS WILLARD famously wrote that the Gospel is not opposed to effort, only to earning, recalling something of the flavour of John Wesley’s ministry by reintroducing the idea of method into spiritual growth. This recent rediscovery, highlighted in works like Willard’s, has been necessary because of the predilection, particularly among evangelicals, to substitute busyness and activity for the long process of change and the preference for “knowledge about” over “understanding of”. We have no end of writers and preachers who can offer us a variety of explanations for the biblical concept of joy, but precious few who can help us feel it. To that end, it has been refreshing to see the growth in publications on the issue of spiritual formation or transformation, addressing the question of how all of our theology actually makes a difference in the context of daily life. That said, I am constantly amazed at the creativity of those who can translate a lifetime’s endeavour into a neat package to be consumed between Christmas and Easter (witness the “40 Days of…” series). But, passing by rapidly on the other side, I would turn your attention to some of the more wise and substantial contributions to distilling the wisdom of the ages for the formation of people of faith. First of all though, at the lighter and more popular end of the spectrum, is John Ortberg’s The Life You Always Wanted – spiritual disciplines for ordinary people. Despite being betrayed by a therapeutic title and displaying all the characteristics of a barely edited sermon series, this is a very helpful introduction to the subject of the spiritual disciplines. Ortberg offers a well-illustrated and practical guide to the disciplines (or practices) that succeed in establishing their value for present-day Christians. Be warned however, much of the material is derivative, and the writer acknowledges his debt to other masters, including three others I want to mention. Eugene Peterson and Dallas Willard are contemporary giants of spiritual theology. These two, along with Richard Foster and his Renovare movement, have been responsible for a renaissance of interest among evangelicals in the area of formation. Together, they have given permission for many to explore the works of writers like Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton, which were previously closed books to evangelicals. Eugene Peterson is in the middle of a five volume series on spiritual theology, two of which have been published and are already essential reading. The first volume is Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places which provides an outstanding grounding in a theology for Christian spirituality. Volume two, a much smaller contribution, is Eat this Book – a conversation in the art of spiritual reading, worth the price if only for the discussion of the importance of “metabolising” the Scriptures. Dallas Willard is a Professor in the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, but don’t let that put you off his books. OK, so they are not throw-away reads, but he writes in a winsome and engaging way which draws you in. Many people first encountered him through The Spirit of the Disciplines – understanding how God changes lives, which was published in 1988 and remains a seminal work. More recently, he has tackled questions like, how do we acquire the character of Christ (Renovation of the Heart) and discipleship, (The Divine Conspiracy). Significantly, both of these men are in their 70s now and write with the benefit of a whole lifetime which has seen a plethora of movements and trends and schemes which have promised a quick fix to the successful life. They write with the knowledge and experience that the challenge of living well is nothing less than a whole-life endeavour not the application of tricks or techniques. The third member of this trinity is the Quaker Richard Foster, whose 1978 book Celebration of Discipline is still selling and was named by Christianity Today as one of the top ten religious books of the 20th century. The book provides a careful examination of the inward and outward disciplines of the Christian life, and 21st century readers will still find much to commend it. The final shout out goes to the work of the Valparaiso Project, under the guidance of Dorothy C Bass. The full title is the “Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith”, and its purpose is to develop resources to help contemporary people live the Christian faith with vitality and integrity in changing times. Their website is accessed on www.practicingourfaith.org and features a range of resources for download, including sermon material, liturgies and study guides. The project’s foundational book appeared in 1998 and is called Practicing Our Faith – a way of life for a searching people. Since then, the themes outlined in the book have been progressively explored in a series of publications all of which are detailed on the website and are recommended reading. |
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