Spirituality

Philip Sheldrake is Senior Research Fellow at the Cambridge Theological Federation, UK, regularly a visiting professor in the United States of America, and a former president of the international Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality. He is the author of numerous books including Explorations in Spirituality: History, Theology & Social Practice (2010), Spaces for the Sacred: Place, Memory & Identity (2001), and Living between Worlds: Place and Journey in Celtic Christianity (1997).

“This volume would be an excellent text for the upper-level or seminary student. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners.”  (Choice, 1 October 2013)"[Sheldrake's] grasp of the key figures and movements within the western Christian tradition is consistently sure-footed, and the book will be very useful for those seeking an accessible one-volume introduction to the subject by an acknowledged authority ... This is an excellent book and can be safely recommended to students and others alike." Theology (of the previous edition)“Wonderfully encapsulates the complex manner in which the term spirituality has taken on various meanings within the Christian tradition … Those who are interested in learning more about the major movements in the Christian tradition are sure to find this book a wonderful introduction into learning more about thinkers who have ardently longed to attain wisdom.”  The Heythrop Journal (of the previous edition)“One gets the sense that Sheldrake knows and loves his subject, and more importantly, wants to share his knowledge with others. I strongly recommend this book.” Anglican Theological Review (of the previous edition)

• Preface xi1 What is Spirituality? 1Origins of the Word “Spirituality” 2Contemporary Meaning 3What is Christian Spirituality? 6Spirituality and Mysticism 7The Study of Spirituality 9Spirituality and History 11Interpretation 12Types of Spirituality 15Periods and Traditions 17Conclusion: Criteria of Judgment 182 Foundations: Scriptures and Early Church 23Christian Spirituality and the Scriptures 24Scriptural Markers 25Spirituality in the New Testament 27Spirituality and the Early Church 30Liturgy 31Spirituality and Martyrdom 32Shrines, Devotion, and Pilgrimage 33Spirituality and Doctrine 34Origen 35Evagrius 36The Cappadocians 36Augustine 37Pseudo-Dionysius 38Christian Spirituality as Transformation and Mission 39Theories of Spiritual Transformation 41Conclusion 433 Monastic Spiritualities: 300–1150 47The Emergence of Monasticism 50Widows and Virgins 50Syrian Ascetics 51Egyptian Monasticism 52Wisdom of the Desert 53Monastic Rules 56Benedictine Expansion 59The New Hermits 61The Cistercians 63The Spiritual Values of Monasticism 65Spirituality and the Conversion of Europe 67Local Spiritualities: Ireland 68Spirituality in the East 70Syriac Spirituality 73Conclusion 744 Spirituality in the City: 1150–1450 79The Gregorian Reform 80Apocalyptic Movements 81The Vita Evangelica 82Twelfth-Century Renaissance 83The Rebirth of Cities 84Cathedrals and Urban Vision 85The City as Sacred 86Universities as Sacred Space 87Vita Evangelica and Urban Sensibilities 88The Mendicant Movement 89Dominic, Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure 90The Beguines 94Fourteenth-Century Mysticism 96Julian of Norwich 98Crossing Spiritual Boundaries: The Influence of Islam 100Devotional Spirituality 101Spirituality and Eastern Christianity 102The Renaissance 104Conclusion 1065 Spiritualities in the Age of Reformations: 1450–1700 110Seeds of Reform: The Devotio Moderna and Christian Humanism 113The Crisis of Medieval Spirituality 114Spirituality and the Lutheran Reformation 115John Calvin and Reformed Spirituality 117The Radical Reformation: Anabaptist Spirituality 118Anglican Spirituality 120George Herbert 121Puritan Spirituality 124Early Quakers 125The Catholic Reformation 126The New Orders 126Ignatius Loyola and Early Ignatian Spirituality 126Spirituality Beyond Europe 131Carmelite Mysticism 133Lay Devotion 135Seventeenth-Century French Spirituality 137Russian Spirituality 140Conclusion 1416 Spirituality in an Age of Reason: 1700–1900 145Spirituality in the Roman Catholic Tradition 148Pietism 150Wesleyan Spirituality 151American Puritanism and the Great Awakening 153Shaker Spirituality 154Orthodox Spirituality 156Post-Revolutionary Catholicism 159The English Evangelicals 161The Oxford Movement 164John Henry Newman 166A Distinctive “American Spirituality” 167Conclusion 1707 Modernity to Postmodernity: 1900–2000 173The Impact on Spirituality 175The Prophetic-Critical Type 175Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916) 176Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941) 177Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) 179Simone Weil (1909–1943) 181Dorothy Day (1897–1980) 183Thomas Merton (1915–1968) 184Spiritualities of Liberation 186Gustavo Gutiérrez (1928–) 186Feminist Spirituality 188Spiritualities of Reconciliation 190Ecumenical Spirituality: The Example of Taizé 192Spirituality and Inter-Religious Dialogue: Bede Griffiths 193Eastern Orthodox Spirituality 195Making Spirituality Democratic: The Retreat Movement 197Making Spirituality Democratic: Pentecostal and Charismatic Spirituality 199Conclusion 2008 Twenty-First Century Trajectories 203Will Christian Spiritualities Survive? 203A Globalized World 205Cyberspace 206Inter-Religious Encounter 208Christian Spirituality and Secular Spirituality 210Spirituality, Business, and Economics 210Spirituality and Healthcare 213Spirituality and the Meaning of Cities 216The Spiritual and the Spatial 217The Spiritual and Urban Virtues 218Other Factors? 219The Contemporary Turn to Practice 220Conclusion 222Select Bibliography 223Select Glossary 232Index 240