Spiritual City

Philip Sheldrake is Senior Research Fellow at Westcott House in the Cambridge Theological Federation and Director, Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality, Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio Texas. He has taught and written extensively in the field of Christian spirituality, on the nature of space and place in religion, and on spirituality more generally. He is involved internationally in interreligious dialogue. His dozen books include Spirituality: A Brief History, Second Edition (Wiley Blackwell, 2013), Explorations in Spirituality: History, Theology and Social Practice (2010), Spirituality and History, Second Edition (1998) and, as editor, New SCM/Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (2005). He is a Past President of the international Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.

“This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of cities — and that ought to be pretty much everyone, given that well over half the world’s population now lives in cites, up from 29 per cent in 1950. In any event, Revelation makes it clear that if we don’t live in one now, we shall, God willing.”  (Church Times, 27 March 2015)

• Preface ix Introduction 1Part One The City in Christian Thought 231 Augustine’s Two Cities 252 Monasticism and Utopian Visions 433 The City as Sacred 634 The City and the Reformations 815 Michel de Certeau: Everyday Practices and the City 99Part Two Theological Reflection and the City 1156 Place and the Sacred 1177 The Art of Community 1378 Reconciliation and Hospitality 1579 Urban Virtues 179Epilogue: A Spiritual Vision of the Human City 201Select Reading 211Index 221