Customer Reviews

Biblical Foundations of Spirituality; Touching a Finger to the Flame

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Early in her book Bowe writes "I learned that the Bible has extraordinary power to shape people's lives--both for good and for ill. Depending on how we read this text, either the biblical word can liberate and console those straining for human dignity or it can be, as Marx once wrote, the 'opium of the people,' lulling people into complacent disregard for this world and its strivings in favor of an undisclosed future world, unrelated to this world and wholly beyond our control."

The the pages that follow, Bowe discusses biblical Christian spirituality and leads us on a journey from Genesis through Revelation, tracing God's covenant relationship with humanity. The relationship is dynamic, mysterious, intimate and revelatory. The words on the page are the reference point for our unique saving and blessing journey with God. We discover how the whole of Scriptures reveal Jesus, the Christ.

Chapter Two: God beyond All Names - encourages us to multiply our metaphors as we describe and understand who God is and Chapter Seven: Prophetic Spirituality creates a helpful context in which to read the prophetic books of the Bible. Chapter Nine: That Man Jesus encourages us to look at Jesus as the face of God for us and to live a life marked by forgiveness, healing, compassion, service, justice and agape love, knowing that Jesus is always present with us.

This book offers helpful insights into meaningful Christian living in this world with an eye toward eternity. Traces of Catholic theology may stretch the traditional Protestant reformed mindset, but perhaps that brings us to a more critical understanding our own traditions. It is a clear, helpful and worthwhile read.

The book is spiritually satisfying. The author is thorough without being tedious. The level of detail facilitates in-depth understanding of the spirituality found in scripture and is invaluable for anyone who needs to articulate the substance of the material in a teaching situation.

This is a very delightful book, easy to read and understand and down to earth. Barbara Bowe makes the words of the Bible come alive. Her reflection questions at the end of the chapters gives one plenty of food for thought. This book was purchased as a textbook for a course in adult spirituality, but I would recommend it to anyone who desires a deeper understanding of the Bible, of one's own spirituality and one's relationship with one's God.

Dear Reader
We had the privildge recently of an hour and a half of Barbara on St Paul, and then I read her book. It might be that her lecture gave me a voice, and that in her teaching the profound and deep scholarship was clear and obvious; but I could see and hear her in this book, and the profundity and distillation of her teaching was here and amplified. I am a teacher of adults and work in RCIA; this book is a great insight in teaching the essence, and yet linking and leading to profound spiritual insight. I think it would make a great foundation for an adult education course, especially if the questions for reflection and insight, were included between sessions. A Winter lecture series, based on the chapters of Barbara's book, I can feel the warmth and profound insight coming toward me. A vote of thanks therefore to a professor at the height of her subject and distilling insights to be accessible for the fruitful insight of a general audience.