Christian Spirituality Studies Blog

A potential addition to anyone engaged in spirituality research and study, A Language for the Soul: an Experiential Dictionary of the Christian Spiritual Life by Stuart Devenish is available from the publisher as a review copy. Devenish provides the following summary of the book's contents:

At a time when spirituality is in vogue in Western culture, the onus is on the Christian Church and its teachers and spokespersons to have ready to hand a language for the interior life which conveys the substance of those deeply held and acutely felt structures of belief, confession and consecration...

From Rev. André Brouillette, SJ, PhD/STD, International Relations Committee Chair:

We are happy to share the sixth annual IRC Newsletter. It includes news of international developments, publications and conferences in the study of Christian Spirituality, reported by SSCS international members. The news this year pertains to Canada, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Rome, Texas, Ireland, and Myanmar/Thailand. Enjoy!

The link to the newsletter is on this page. 

Devotion to the Sacred Heart has been a practice within the Catholic tradition for centuries. In The Heart at the Heart of the World, Mary Frohlich shows how this form of spirituality can still be profoundly relevant in this time of ecological crisis. Here is the publisher's introduction:

Traditional forms of devotion to the Sacred Heart, also known as the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have waned among Catholics in recent decades. Here, Mary Frohlich, a sister of the Sacred Heart, seeks to reinterpret this traditional devotion as central to Christian spirituality in the 21st century. Facing...

In this essay, David Perrin shows how a comparison between the writings of twentieth century philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas and sixteenth century mystical theologian John of the Cross on God and life can lead to theological insights about God beyond traditional abstract formulations. Here is the essay's abstract:

John of the Cross (1542-1591), a Christian theologian and Catholic priest born in Spain, lived through the worst of the Spanish Inquisition. Emmanuel Lévinas (1906-1995), a Jewish philosopher and layman born in Lithuania, lived through the 1917 Russian Revolution and the collapse...

In this article, the author Diana L. Villegas shows how Augustine's teaching on person as image of God informed Catherine's own teaching on the spiritual journey, a journey made possible by God's love. Here is the article's abstract:

The belief that persons are images of God offers powerful constructs for imagining and thinking about a spiritual journey. What about; who we are makes a relationship possible with God? What are the goals of a spiritual journey given who we are to God? Catherine of Siena’s wisdom regarding persons as images of God offers answers to these questions. This study...

The second edition of David Perrin's Studying Christian Spirituality has just been published. Here is Perrin's introduction to the book:

David Perrin's Studying Christian Spirituality, 2^nd edition, Routledge (2024) proposes a framework to discover how spirituality can be understood beyond the conventional boundaries that religions have established.

Its nine chapters discuss a wide variety of issues and questions, which include: definitions of spirituality; the impact of models of God; human-spiritual development; the importance of context; historical criticism; anthropology...

Judy Lam's doctoral thesis explores the mystical teachings of James Hudson Taylor, a British Protestant missionary in China. By placing Taylor's spiritual writings within the Christian mystical tradition, Lam shows how his mysticism was essential to understanding his missionary work. Here is Lam's introduction:

James Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission (CIM) in 1865, was one of the most prominent 19th century British Protestant missionaries in China. Despite his profound influence on Chinese Church history, Protestant missions, and the ‘faith missions’ movement, his...

In this open access article, Teresa Messias argues for the close relationship between the ecotheology of Laudato sí and ecospirituality. Furthermore, she sees the possibility of Pope Francis's Ecumenical letter leading to substantive connections with other non-Christian spiritualities. Here is the article's abstract:

This article discusses the notion of ecotheology, its origins and the conceptual framework of meaning, particularly within Christian theology, in order to establish its relation to the notion of ecospirituality. The article researches how ecological theology may ground an...

In this article, David Perrin argues that contemporary emphasis on personal productivity in our society neglects our need to realize a more wholistic sense of self. Here is his open access article's abstract:

In today’s world of mechanization, unbridled intellectualism, and a focus on rational knowing, there is a need to recapture the primordial sense of what it means to be human – that is, the worth of the totality of the individual and not just his or her function or role within some complex structure that does not recognize each person’s uniqueness or individuality. This article...

This newly published article by Diana Villegas offers definitions of mysticism, spirituality, and Christian spirituality which draw on selected texts by early Christian authors. Here is the article's abstract:

Mysticism and spirituality have acquired broad, interdisciplinary meanings. In this essay I return to the early Christian origins of mysticism to understand the meaning of this experience as a dimension of Christian spirituality. After addressing definitions of spirituality in our pluralistic culture, I argue that mysticism should be an essential part of Christian spirituality.