Spiritual Theology (Chapter 1)

Preface

Three perspectives:

East/West - Asian and Western

Evangelical - “By evangelical is meant a life created by the Christian story and distinguished by a conscious, personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 9.

Charismatic - i.e “open to surprises from God”

Spiritual progress - “...is viewed primarily from the perspective of restoring the image of God rather than from the perspective of developing innate human potential.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 9.

On the interplay of divine grace and the “asceticism of small steps” - “The Christian life is from beginning to end a work of divine grace. Actual progress in that life, however, comes through diligent exercise of the means of grace. Acts are utterly basic, small acts, which over time form the Christian character. Without this ascetical base the practical implications noted in part one remain theoretical at best.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 11.

>> Prayer as the first ascetical principle - all spiritual progress grows from prayer.

*Other foci will include the need to incorporate all into a ‘rule of life’ which, itself, will require ‘discernment’ and ‘direction’.

Part One - Theological Principles of Spiritual Theology

Chapter 1. Christian Spiritual Theology (It’s Nature & Criteria)

Christian Spirituality - is concerned with "the Christian story revolving around the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. It is this story that gives shape to our lives and defines the nature of our existence as a Christian community.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 15–16.

NOTE: The shape of our story determines the shape of our spirituality.

Spirituality - a term for the kind of life formed by a specific spiritual theology.

Spiritual theology - (broadly) the entire corpus of theological reflection; or (narrowly) the branch of theology concerned with principles and practices of the Christian life.

>> although, the division of theology into ‘spiritual’ or ‘non-spiritual’ is a modern phenomenon

Jordan Aumann definition of “Spiritual Theology” - Spiritual theology is that part of theology that, proceeding from the truths of divine revelation and the religious experience of individual persons, defines the nature of the supernatural life, formulates directives for its growth and development, and explains the process by which souls advance from the beginning of the spiritual life to its full perfection. Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 18.

Concerned with the supernatural life renewed in Jesus Christ

Formulates directives and growth leading towards “union with God” (Catholic), “deification” (Orthodox), “glorification” (Protestant).

Cf. the stages of the Christian journey - i.e. “justification, sanctification, glorification” in Protestant circles

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Spiritual Theology and Other Theological Disciplines

Spiritual Theology and Other Theological Disciplines

Note: the “ascetical” nature of Spiritual Theology - it deals with the “askesis” (“training”) that constitutes spiritual development

“Systematic theology” deals with a wide range of topics (God, creation, salvation, sin etc) while spiritual theology is concerned with the development (training) of the spiritual life.

Spiritual theology draws out the practical implications of Systematic theology

It is experiential as opposed to merely theoretical

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Spiritual Theology and Other Theological Disciplines

The spiritual theologian reverses this scenario by focusing on the mystery of the faith or of Christian life and leaving the theological formulations to provide the backdrop.

“Practical theology” deals with action in the world - the outflow of the spiritual life. While spiritual theology focuses on the life in relation to God.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Spiritual Theology and Other Theological Disciplines

In the broad sense, spiritual theology seeks to discover the transcendent within every sphere of life and every area of experience, whereas practical theology concerns the practical application of theology.

Note: spiritual theology occupies the space between systematic theology and practical theology. “Without the mediation of spiritual theology, Christian praxis is reduced to mere activism. The result is what Richard Lovelace calls “the sanctification gap,” which he identifies as a major failure in Protestantism.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 20.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Types of Spirituality

Types of Spirituality

Note: the interplay of “spirit” and “word” - that is, the immanent representation of the transcendent into a coherent body of theological formulas or dogmas. These “words” are reflections on spiritual experiences.

In Christian spirituality, there are different types - Jesuit, Carmelite, Protestant, Catholic etc.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Types of Spirituality

The schools of spirituality are thus an indication of the diversity of the ways of the Spirit, a proof of the Church’s respect for personal freedom in following the impulses of the Spirit, and a corporate witness to the variety of ways in which the mystery of Christ is imaged in the Mystical Body of the Church.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Types of Spirituality

Another value of emphasizing different spiritualities is that each spirituality helps to highlight and preserve aspects of the totality of Christian life and belief that would be lost to a single superimposing spirituality

Notice the fact that differing spiritual temperaments are inevitable in a truly ‘conversational’ relationship with God (cf. Willard, Hearing God)

Therein lies a difference in ‘Christlikeness’ and ‘Spirituality’ - the former concerning characteristics which can take root in all temperaments with the latter concerning the living out of one’s spiritual life in specific ways according to their make-up, gifts, etc.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Formal Criteria for an Adequate Spiritual Theology

Formal Criteria for an Adequate Spiritual Theology

Comprehensiveness - must be able to include experiences of different polarities of the faith (i.e. immanent/transcendent, personal/corporate, natural/supernatural)

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Formal Criteria for an Adequate Spiritual Theology

To be comprehensive, any spirituality must draw on all of the spiritual resources that are available to the church. These resources include Scripture and the Christian tradition, which is nothing but the church’s humble reception and faithful embodiment of the primary revelation of God in Jesus Christ.

Note - the importance of balancing Tradition with tradition.

Coherence - must be able to address all necessary doctrines (even without offering a conclusive explanation to each - i.e the Trinity)

Evocability - must be able to direct our attention beyond rationalistic formulas to the spiritual realities they express.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Formal Criteria for an Adequate Spiritual Theology

In a normative spirituality the line between dogma and devotion is no longer clearly drawn, and there is freedom of movement between the two. Theological reflection and prayer are no longer discrete activities but exist in a dynamic, ongoing relationship in which one activity enriches the other, stimulating the Christian to new insights and greater fervor.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Material Criteria for a Christian Spiritual Theology

Material Criteria for a Christian Spiritual Theology

Specifically, a Christian spiritual theology must include:

Global scope - paying attention to the various cultural differences into which the Christian story is told.

— A modern tendency is to assume the predominate voice is universally representative (i.e. the loudest must be right for all)

— **A major point: beware the ‘universalization’ of doctrines which are contextually birthed and relative

— There is a need to expand the synchronistic scale of spirituality in order to include a multitude of voices and experiences.

>> the value of diachronic conversation with tradition — As Stanley Hauerwas reminds us, the traditions of the church that encapsulate the Christian story “are the bearers of rationality and innovation.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 29.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Material Criteria for a Christian Spiritual Theology

In acknowledging the role of tradition, we are simply extending into our theological endeavor what we have generally taken for granted in our worship and liturgy: the doctrine of the communion of saints in and through time (“with angels and archangels and all the heavenly hosts”). An openness to the Christian past is one important sign of a genuine Christian spirituality

>> Prayer as the link of past and present: “This is because at the heart of spiritual theology is prayer, and it is in prayer that past and present are linked.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 30.

NOTE: a fascinating look at “visible Church” vs a fully “incarnational church” on pages 33-34. (“The question is, Could the church function effectively as that “occasion” if it is not in some essential way distinguished from the world that it serves—distinguished, in fact, by what Pieris disparagingly calls “a gnostic Christ”? Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 34.)

Evangelical substance - concerning the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This story is tempered over time (and corrected over centuries of self-reflection).

NOTE: “The essence of an evangelical spirituality is to be found in the particular way it understands the coming of God in Jesus Christ to the believer.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 34.

There is a danger in the trend towards ‘cosmic spirituality’ which passes by the immanent frame of Jesus of Nazareth. Surely it is the immanence of Christ that makes the transcendence all the more meaningful (and vise versa)

Cf. Evangelicalism as a way out from mere ‘eschatological salvation’. The personality of Christ here and now offers us a salvation which visits the human sphere - a spirituality for now.

Cf. “...an alternative model for Christian engagement based on the Anabaptist concept of the church as an alternative polis, the church as a colony of “resident aliens” on earth whose real citizenship is in heaven. Hauerwas believes that such a church, far from being irrelevant to the world, can actually challenge the world by offering a “real option” to the world through its own disciplined life (a “community of character”). The church is called back to pursue its biblical mandate of being salt and light of the world. Its smallness in relation to the world is not a liability; rather, it gives sharper focus to its distinctive way of life.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 36.

Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the Evangelical posture within the Christian story:

Weakness - historical pride; overconfidence in the achievement of our own time and place

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Material Criteria for a Christian Spiritual Theology

If there is one error to which modernity predisposes us, it is historical pride, an overconfidence in the achievement of our own century. But if the true church exists in and through time, an openness to the diachronic scale of our existence may well be one way of rectifying the error of an overreliance on the synchronic scale.

Strength - the ability to integrate a comprehensive spirituality; say, flexibility to the story versus rigidity of institution

3. Charismatic - “Sometimes God works in surprising and unpredictable ways. This is the freedom of God. Our doctrine of grace, so essential to spiritual theology, remains impoverished if it does not include this aspect of divine operation.” Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 1998), 25.

Cf. the nuances of ‘thematic grace’ (that is, a grace that is enacted within the will/power of the participant) in contrast with “transmuting grace” (that is, a grace given to - infused into the recipient). Whereas in the latter, a ‘radically new’ Christian life occurs.

The Pentecostal component is essential to the Christian life.

Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life Material Criteria for a Christian Spiritual Theology

Pentecostal-charismatic spirituality, if it is to have long-term viability, must be incorporated into the larger Christian tradition. An enthusiastic spirituality that is developed in isolation from an ascetical spirituality cannot be sustainable for long, nor can it have universal applicability.