Christian SpiritualityThe SCM Core Text on Christian Spirituality brings together biblical, historical and pastoral reflections on the nature of Christian spirituality within community. It is written for second and third year university students who are studying Christian spirituality as an academic discipline, and would be useful for practical theologians who are reflecting on theology and practice within the Christian church, as well as for pastors and persons in a local church who want to explore the contours of Christian spirituality within their community of faith. Rather than list a series of specific activities such as praying, fasting, meditating etc, this book seeks to examine spirituality within the context of relationship and community. It also seeks to avoid separating spirituality from doctrine, and works towards presenting Christian spirituality as an ongoing dialogue between doctrine and experience. The book also asserts that Christian spirituality must reflect the idea of search and throughout the textbook we are introduced to a variety of Christian writers in order to examine the multifarious nature of search within the Christian tradition. These three themes, belief, search and relationship are woven together and addressed throughout. |
Contents
Belief Search and Relationship | 21 |
A Storyformed Faith | 40 |
Patterns of Christian Community | 56 |
Searching for the Way of Christ | 82 |
The Suffering of Christ and Our Suffering | 106 |
Dreaming of a New Community | 126 |
Glossary of Christian Writers and Devotional Texts | 146 |
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Common terms and phrases
approach belief and experience Bible body of Christ Bonhoeffer called century Christian community Christian faith Christian spirituality Christians believe claimed communion community of faith conversation culture Darton described Desert Fathers desire Dietrich Bonhoeffer discovered Dorothy Day emphasis ence explore expression fact Friedrich von Hügel God's love Holy human idea individual Jean Vanier Jesus Christ John journey Julian of Norwich Jürgen Moltmann Kelly L'Arche listen live London Long Loneliness Longman & Todd Lord means Miroslav Volf narrative Nouwen Oxford pain participation particular perhaps person prayer reflect relationship religious Roman Catholic Rowan Williams SCM Press Scripture sense shaped shared simply sometimes SPCK speak Stanley Hauerwas story Storytelling suffering of Christ Taizé community Terezín Testament Theology things Thomas Merton told tradition traveller Trinity understand unity University Press Vanier vision waiting Wendell Berry words worship writings wrote York