Explorations in Spirituality: History, Theology, and Social Practice

Explorations in Spirituality offers a broad yet consistent exploration of the author’s thinking about spirituality over the last decade. Its distinctive quality is its emphasis that Christian spirituality is always more than the cultivation of interiority or spiritual experience but necessarily embraces everyday life and social rather than purely personal transformation. The book is aimed at an educated but not narrowly scholarly audience. It will be particularly helpful to students and teachers of college, seminary, and university courses in Christian spirituality. The book begins with an introductory essay, What Is Spirituality? and is then divided into three parts. Part 1, History, Theology and Interpretation, consists of four chapters on history, interpretation theory, theology, and understandings of the self and spiritual transformation that examine the main theoretical aspects of the study of Christian spirituality. Part 2, Spirituality and Social Transformation, explores prayer and social engagement, mysticism as social practice, the impact of Thomas Merton on 20th-century spirituality, and a groundbreaking essay on spirituality and reconciliation. Part 3, Space and the Sacred, underlines the importance of a spirituality of place with essays on spirituality and cities and religious buildings as classic spiritual texts.