Practice of the Presence of God

Martin Laird, O.S.A., is Professor of Early Christian Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University (USA). His publications include Gregory of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith; Into the Silent Land; A Sunlit Absence; and An Ocean of Light: Contemplation and the Ethics of Silence (forthcoming from Oxford University Press).Sheelah Treflé Hidden is a Research Associate with the Heythrop Institute Religion and Society at Heythrop College, University of London. Her main interests are Christian and Islamic Mysticism as well as the Mimetic Theory of René Girard. She is editor of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Mystical Perspectives on the Love of God, and contributing editor to The Handbook of Mimetic Theory.

‘Practice, as Michel de Certeau has reminded us, can become a tactic for reclaiming what has been lost or forgotten or taken from us, can help restore to us a more vital and whole-hearted vision and experience of reality. Such is the gift of this honest, courageous and imaginative collection of essays: it performs or practices what it seeks to illumine. And in so doing, it reopens a conversation that has long haunted the Christian tradition concerning the profoundly immersive, communal and transformative character of theological reflection. A way thinking, a way of being, and yes, a way of life.’Douglas E. Christie, Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA‘George Herbert described prayer as "God’s breath in man returning to his birth". This volume allows us to hear it. It is difficult to imagine a more inspired and inspiring group of contributors. We must all be grateful to the editors for bringing together what must surely become a classic work.’Carol Harrison, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Christ Church, Oxford, UK‘From the reflections of Rowan Williams on "theology as a way of life" to the closing thoughts of Luigi Gioia on death as the test of authenticity, this rich and inviting, prayerful and scholarly collection is proof that contemporary Christian theology is still in touch with the great tradition of practical, penitential, meditative, and mystical attentiveness to the word and presence of the living God.’Carol Zaleski, Professor of World Religions, Smith College, USA

• Introduction: Oracles, Prophets, and Dwellers in Silence James AlisonPart 1. Foundational Soundings1 Theology as a Way of Life Rowan Williams2 Undergoing Something from Nothing Brian D. Robinette3 The Trinity as our Ascetic Programme Nicholaï SakharovPart 2. Personal Accounts of a Theological Life4 Ecumenical Confessions of an Unconventional Protestant Frances Young5 Augustine on Practicing the Presence of God Margaret R. MilesPart 3. Theological and Liturgical Retrievals6 The Liturgy, Icons and the Prayer of the Heart Andrew Louth7 To Feel so as to Understand: Hadewijch of Brabant and the Legacy of St. Anselm Rachel Smith8 Etching the Ineffable in Words: The Return of Contemplation to Theology Martin Laird9 The Guidance of St. Ephrem: a Vision to Live by Sebastian Brock10 The Threat of Death as a Test for Theological Authenticity Luigi Gioia