Reading the Christian spiritual classics
Subtitle: a guide for evangelicals
By: edited by Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel
Publisher: IVP Academic
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Downers Grove, IL
Language: eng
Number of pages: 332
ISBN-13: 9780830839971
Subjects: Christian literature; History and criticism
Description: Ever since Richard Foster wrote Celebration of Discipline in 1978, evangelicals have hungered for a deeper and more historic spirituality. Many have come to discover the wealth of spiritual insight available in the Desert Fathers, the medieval mystics, German Pietism and other traditions. While these classics have been a source of life-changing renewal for many, still others are wary of these texts and the foreign theological traditions from which they come. The essays in this volume provide a guide for evangelicals to read the Christian spiritual classics. The contributions fall into four sections. The first three answer the big questions: why should we read the spiritual classics, what are these classics and how should we read them? The last section brings these questions together into a brief reading guide for each of the major traditions. Each essay not only explores the historical and theological context, but also expounds the appropriate hermeneutical framework and the significance for the church today.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Why should we read spiritual classics? / Steve L. Porter; title: Temptations in reading spiritual classics / John H. Coe; title: The value of spiritual classics in soul care / Betsy Barber; title: The schools of Christian spirituality / Evan B. Howard; title: Spiritual theology: a historical overview / Greg Peters; title: Engaging classic literature : genre, use, value / James M. Houston; title: Reading Catholic spirituality / Bruce Demarest; title: Reading Orthodox spirituality / James R. Payton Jr.; title: Reading spiritual classics as evangelical Protestants / Fred Sanders; title: The Church Fathers and Mothers / Michael Glerup; title: The Desert Fathers / Gerald L. Sittser; title: The medieval traditions / Greg Peters; title: The Reformation traditions / Timothy George; title: The Puritan and Pietistic traditions / Tom Schwanda.