Christian Spirituality: The Classics is a unique and comprehensive guide to thirty key Christian spirituality texts. Ranging from Origen and Augustine to Jonathan Edwards, Therese of Lisieux and Thomas Merton, it offers a view of the texts which is founded in scholarship, but which also presents them as living documents that invite- even compel -contemplative reflection and existential response.

Each chapter briefly describes the classic text's author and audience, gives a synopsis of its contents, suggests some of its influence in history, and then explores aspects of the text's meaning for readers today. Key themes include:

• What is the meaning of life?
• How can human beings find truth?
• How can they discover who they really are?
• How can they live together in peace?
• How can they live more fully in God's presence in this world and be united with God in the world to come?

The scholars who have written these chapters are all experts on their respective topics, but they wear their learning lightly. Anyone wishing to discover the riches of Christian spirituality will find this the ideal introduction and should be able to progress to a deeper understanding of the texts themselves.

About the Author
The Reverend Arthur G. Holder is Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs and John Dillenberger Professor of Christian Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California

Reviews

'In this lively and engaging volume Arthur Holder has provided the academic and formative communities that critically study and read classical spiritual texts for transformative purposes a book that is likely to shape the introductory courses on the history of Christian spirituality for the forseeable future ... These essays are so good, so elegant and written in such a scholarly and heartfelf manner, that anyone reading them will want to read the classic texts themselves ... [an] extraordinarily useful volume.' - Janet K. Ruffing, Fordham University, USA, Horizons: Journal of the College Theology Society vol. 36, no. 2 (2009)

'This volume contains thirty essays about major spiritual texts from the second century to the twentieth; it will introduce the reader, in a most lively and accessible manner, to many central aspects of human life lived towards God today; it is both an introduction to these writings and an invitation to explore them deeply and personally.' - Benedicta Ward, Oxford University, UK

'It is rare when one can say that every essay in a collaborative work is worth reading, but that is definitely the case here. ... This volume should be considered for adoption in many courses on spirituality and Christian history.' - Don H. Compier, St. Paul School of Theology, Anglican and Episcopal History

Book Information
ISBN 9780415776028
Author Arthur Holder
Format Paperback
Page Count 376
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 730g