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Synopsis
"Here is a rich quilt work of biblical, theological, and philosophical reflection on the rich dynamics of the with-God life. Howard's book arguably is the most comprehensive treatment of spirituality from an evangelical perspective in the English language."--Bruce Demarest, Denver Seminary
From the Introduction
I tend to be a "big picture" kind of guy. My students tell me that they get the most out of my teaching when I show how a number of different things fit together. And while I constantly face the dangers of a distorting totalization, I find that my preoccupation with big pictures often helps students see things in a new light. I hope to accomplish something of the same in this text. So, in order to make this book illuminating, I have incorporated a couple of elements characteristic of my own study and teaching of Christian spirituality.
First, this text draws from a variety of different resources. . . . The study of Christian spirituality--as an exploration of the relationship between God and human persons--necessarily involves both theological categories (requiring biblical, dogmatic, and historical study) and categories from the human sciences (requiring psychological and sociological study). Furthermore, the exploration of Christian spirituality involves both formal academic research and informal personal experience. Prayer, for example, has been explored not only by the saints and mystics of history, but also by medical researchers, cognitive psychologists, anthropologists, and philosophers of religion, as well as by people like you and me. What insights might these diverse resources bring to our understanding of Christian prayer? My aim is not to provide a comprehensive coverage of any single discipline . . . but rather to point to the key questions, figures, and ideas that shed light on the general survey of Christian spirituality and to illustrate how an interdisciplinary approach to Christian spirituality might look.
Second, this text provides a survey of Christian spirituality within a single coherent framework (the "big picture"). My goal is to give some insight concerning how various traditions, practices, and perspectives can be comprehended as a whole. To this end the text will develop, though not defend, a way of looking at the God-human relationship that helps make sense of a number of details regarding the spiritual life. The chapters are designed to present this framework piece by piece and then to apply this framework to the practical dimensions of Christian spirituality as the book progresses. For this reason the book moves from the more difficult material to the easier, progressing from method to theology to dynamics to practice.