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Minding the Spirit: The Study of Christian Spirituality

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While the previous reviewer makes many good points, I feel he would have saved himself a lot of frustration if he had first read the initial paragraph on the back cover of the book.
"The birth of an academic discipline is a rare event. Even more extraordinary is academia's acknowledgment that spirituality has scholarly as well as personal dimensions. Inquiry and dialogue are the essence of this new discipline . . . "
This text is geared to readers interested in the academic study of Christian Spirituality. As such I found it well constructed, moving from foundations and methods, to the self implicating nature of the study of spirituality, tradition, healing and aesthetics. Although the text was not in print when I pursued an STM in Christian Spirituality, it is my hope it will be used in such programs today

INTRODUCTION
As the development of the study of Christian Spirituality continues to advance, Elizabeth Dreyer and Mark Burrows have compiled a generous collection of essays addressing five major aspects of this occurrence. Of these topics I will opine on two: the notion of spirituality as an academic discipline and spirituality's relationship with history and theology.

"SPIRITUALITY AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE: FOUNDATIONS AND METHODS"
Just as theologians, historians and other traditional academicians are skeptical of spirituality's development as an academic discipline, I am equally dubious of this occurrence as a spiritual scholar. They are concerned with a lack of academic depth and I am concerned with "too mindful" of an approach to a subject that requires the mind to ride "shotgun" along the journey. In fact I find it a bit humorous to read of the direction the field is going given my perspective to date on the possibilities of interdisciplinary relationships. To date I have not believed a meaningful interdisciplinary relationship could exist between the study of spirituality and that of other traditionally more respected fields. The chasm of reciprocal respectability has seemed too wide to bridge. Yet these essays seem to indicate a promise of such conjoining that is both significant and necessary.

The will of the people seems to be the spark that ignites the direction taken by academicians. Spirituality and theology were divorced as united disciplines when the people decided that the power of the human mind superseded its spirit (as in the Enlightenment period). Now the fields are reconciling as the people realize there is more to life than material acquisitions, including that of knowledge.

As we define the study of Christian spirituality, I wonder about the three categories delineated by Sandra Schneiders in her essay, "The Study of Christian Spirituality: Contours and Dynamics of a Discipline." I agree that it is a discourse, a field and a discipline. Her explanations of each aspect seem to exclude the lay Christian. Where does s/he fit in these definitions? However in her essay, "A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality," Schneiders answers this concern for me. Here she differentiates the role of praxis both at the level of implementation and the level of academic study. Offering these distinctions is important.

Schneiders includes in the latter essay an observation that the academicians studying Christian spirituality come from other traditional fields. Hence I am not surprised by her deep distress expressed in the final paragraph. ". . ., I have very serious concerns about the appropriateness of including any kind of personal practice aimed directly at the spiritual formation of the students in the academic field of spirituality at the research level." Her anxiety, probably experienced by her peers, bids me to desire an entry into this field by academicians who are not scholars of traditional fields so that we can benefit from a less fearful guidance into the future of this foundational Christian discipline.

"INTERPRETING THE TRADITION: HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES"
Again I understand the scholarly need to ensure a secure grounding exists for the birth of spirituality as an independent discipline, especially given the skeptical (and condescending) views of its practice over the last several hundred years. Yet I continue to contend that traditional scholars have to be cautious of not stripping the discipline of its unique characteristics by attaching unnecessary academic requirements to it that exist for other disciplines for the sake of their comfort levels.

Modeling this progression after that of science as the fields of psychology and sociology emerged seems to be a wise decision. These fields have become known as highly respected contributors to the understanding and healing of ourselves. Certainly very vocal critics exist, but critics exist for all fields of study.

Including the essay, "Spirituality as a Resource for Theology: The Holy Spirit in Augustine" by Elizabeth Dreyer is disadvantageous. This essay raises more questions regarding these disciplines' reconciliation than it answers. As conflicted a Christian (and hence theologian) as Augustine was, we cannot hope to obtain resolutions to our queries by studying his work. He contributes to Christians continued grappling with the purity (acceptable to God) of flesh and spirit along with how to integrate these aspects of a person's being.

For all of the empowerment that Augustine's perspective provides a Christian from his understanding of the Holy Spirit's role in her/his life, he continued to keep separate "his exegetical and pastoral works." If he had found the courage to walk in the belief of the power of the Holy Spirit which he espoused, we would have a tremendously powerful paradigm to follow as we pursue a contemporary development of Christian spirituality as an academic discipline responsibly rooted in history and theology.

CONCLUSION
Dreyer and Burrows have compiled an essential volume on the study of Christian spirituality. Some of the essays are repetitive and overlap; however, that is reasonable given the evasive nature of defining this discipline and given its recent resurgence onto the academic "scene." I am quite energized from what I have read and heard to date. I look forward to contributing to the movement, including grappling with definitions and boundaries as we "institutionalize" an obviously foundational element to the existence and experience of Christianity.

Reviewer: Candi Dugas, M.Div., is a D.Min. student at Columbia Theological Seminary (Decatur, GA) and the author of Bootlicked to Balanced: Healing the Mind, Freeing the Spirit.

Minding the Spirit is a collection of previously published articles that have been grouped by topic for the study of spirituality in the Christian tradition. This book is a bit of a disappointment. In general, the book is a polemic for the field of spirituality as an academic discipline especially at the graduate level. Key concerns are the definition of spirituality and the object and method of study. A few authors note Paul's use of spirit (pneuma) or spiritualities (pneumatikos) but most authors identify Christian spirituality with Christian experience.

The reader will quickly notice how little Scripture is used in this book. The few biblical passages cited are mostly illustrations from previous theologians (e.g. Origen, Augustine). The Scriptures are seen as the basis of Christian spirituality but most authors in this collection are quite vague about connecting spirituality and the Scriptures and some struggle with the role of the Scriptures. For example, Liebert views the psalms as a special case in the canon but the canon is a special case in Christian literature so any encountered text can become a living text, 94.

The struggle to merge historical concepts (traditions) and post-modern thinking is evident throughout the book. One example would be J. Matthew Ashley's statement challenging theologians to, "develop the conceptual tools to manifest the truth - or perhaps better to make the truth," 160.

This book will be of interest to those who are seeking to grasp the agenda of the post-modern university for spirituality as a discipline. It will not be of much help for any interested in a biblical or personal understanding of Christian spirituality or even those seeking a history of the topic. Yet, students of a theological mind would all profit from the chapter (article) by Elizabeth A. Dreyer on the Holy Spirit in Augustine. Though presented as being to a wide audience the book is decidedly Catholic in perspective with Karl Rahner being the modern theologian referenced by most authors. All in all it is a disappointing work on such a great topic!