Spiritual Theology Introduction

Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care Copyright 2011 by Institute of Spiritual Formation2011, Vol. 4, No. 1, 5-26 Biola University, 1939-7909

ON SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY: A PRIMER

GREG PETERSBiola University (La Mirada, CA)

Abstract: The intent of this article is to introduce an evangelical reading audience tothe historical discipline of "spiritual theology. " After offering a history of the devel-opment of "spiritual theology" the article concerns itself with the proper nature ofspiritual theology by way of its three sources: Scripture, systematic theology, andchurch history. Greater attention is given to church history since it is here that evan-gelicals have proven historically to be least proficient. The article concludes by stat-ing that evangelical scholars need to develop an appropriate "hermeneutic of spiri-tual theology. "

L HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY

The term "spiritual theology" has been used for over two centuries byRoman Catholic theologians and is gaining more widespread usage today inevangelical educational institutions and publications. Due to this upsurgein use and popularity, this article seeks to introduce readers to the mainthemes of the historical discipline of spiritual theology while also offeringdirection forward towards a uniquely evangelical spiritual theology thatmakes use of the church's rich history.

A. Early Christian Essays

Treatises that we would today consider texts on spirituality date to atleast the third century and were intended to assist the believer in the promo-tion of their personal Christian life.' According to Kees Waaijman, some-time around the year 1200 "the practice of theology emancipated itselffrom a system of Scripture readings and opted for a conceptual frameworkderived from philosophy. Parallel to these processes, spirituality too began

' Aim Solignac, "Spiritualit. I. Le mot et l'histoire," in Dictionnaire de Spiri-tualit: Asctique et Mystique, Doctrine et Histoire, Tome 14, eds. Marcel Viller etal., (Paris: G. Beauchesne et ses fils, 1990), 1156-1160.

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to systematize itself and to develop its own conceptual patterns aroundsuch basic modern categories as affectivity and experience." These treatiseswere often published under various names but all had a common end: tosystematically present "the phenomenon of spirituality."^ Though not ex-clusively, this was often accomplished via a tripartite division of the spiri-tual life into beginner, advanced and perfected.^ The earliest proponents ofsuch a tripartite scheme were Clement of Alexandria (d. 214) and Origen(d. 254). For Clement, the goal of the spiritual life is the vision of God(theoria) and this is obtained by attaining knowledge (gnosis) and practic-ing love [agape] by way of ethical activity (ethike). Origen, in his Commen-tary on the Song of Songs, states that the biblical books of Proverbs, Eccle-siastes and the Song of Songs correspond to the three stages of the spirituallife: Proverbs to the ethike, Ecclesiastes to the physike (i.e., the contempla-tion of God's creation) and the Song of Songs to enoptike (i.e., the contem-plation of the divine).** Origen's disciple and popularizer of the tripartite di-vision was Evagrius of Pontus (d. 399). The threefold division issummarized most clearly in his three works: Praktikos, Gnostikos andKephalaia Gnostica. In the first stage one eradicates evil through the acqui-sition of virtues by way of grace and discipline. In the second stage of hisschema, the contemplation of the physical world, one begins by contem-plating the "earthly" creation and then moves up to a contemplation of the"heavenly" creation. From here one may finally transition to the thirdstage, which is contemplation of the Holy Trinity.' This tripartite divisionfound its way to the Western church. For example, Gregory the Great (d.604), in his Moralia in lob, says that there are various "steps of merit" toascend before one is perfected: "For every elect person sets out from thetenderness of his embryo in the first instance, and afterwards comes to

^ Kees Waaijman, Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods (Leuven: Peeters,2002), 369. Throughout this article I will make frequent use of Roman Catholicsources though I will do so judiciously. Given that evangelicals are relatively new tothe academic study of spiritual theology, the most abundant secondary sources origi-nate from the pens of Roman Catholic authors; therefore, a perceived over-relianceon Roman Catholic theologians in this article is something that can only be remediedby the very publication of articles such as this.

' Exceptions to this tripartite scheme are often found in western monastic au-thors, such as John Cassian (d. 435) and particularly Augustine of Hippo (d. 430),who have their own developed schmas. On Cassian see Columba Stewart, Cassianthe Monk (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), and for Augustine see John PeterKenney, The Mysticism of Saint Augustine: Rereading the Confessions (NewYork/London: Routledge, 2005).

'' Peter Tyler, "Triple Way," in The New Westminster Dictionary of ChristianSpirituality, ed. Philip Sheldrake (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005),626.

' See Greg Peters, "Evagrius of Pontus (c346-399)," in Dictionary of ChristianSpirituality, ed. Glen G. Scorgie (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, forthcoming).

Peters: On Spiritual Theology: A Primer

firmness for strong and vigorous achievements."* A similar sentiment isfound in William of St. Thierry's (d. 1148) The Golden Epistle: "As onestar differs from another in brightness so cell differs from cell in its way oflife: there are beginners, those who are making progress and the perfect."^William's fellow Cistercian, Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1153), also employedthe threefold schema in his The Steps of Humility and Pride: "Beginners arenot able to enjoy the sweetness of milk until they have been purged by thebitter draught of fear. It must cleanse them of the infection of carnal plea-sures. The perfect now turn from milk since they have had a glorious fore-taste of the feast of glory. Only those in the middle, those who are growing,who are still delicate, are content with the sweet milkfoods of charity."*

B. Mystical Theology

In addition to texts under a variety of names discussing and distillingthe tripartite scheme and/or theologizing about the spiritual life in general,there was also, beginning in earnest in the high Middle Ages, texts dedi-cated to presenting a "mystical theology."' The Christian foundation forthese treatises was the Mystical Theology of Pseudo-Dionysius the Are-opagite, a Syrian Christian of the fifth or sixth century steeped in the Neo-platonic tradition. Pseudo-Dionysius begins the Mystical Theology with asummary of his understanding of the spiritual life, addressed to his "fellow-elder" Timothy:

For this I pray; and, Timothy, my friend, my advice to you as you lookfor a sight of the mysterious things, is to leave behind you everythingperceived and understood, everything perceptible and understandable,all that is not and all that is, and, with your understanding laid aside,to strive upward as much as you can toward union with him who is be-yond all being and knowledge. By an undivided and absolute abandon-ment of yourself and everything, shedding all and freed from all, you

' Gregory the Great, Moralia in lob 22.20. English translation in Morals on theBook of Job, by S. Gregory the Great, Volume II (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1845),586.

' William of St. Thierry, The Golden Epistle: A Letter to the Brethren at MontDieu, trans. Theodore Berkeley (Kalamazoo: Gistercian Publications, 1980), 25.

' Bernard of Glairvaux, The Steps of Humility and Pride 2.4; English translationin Bernard of Glairvaux, Treatises I: The Steps of Humility and Pride and On Lov-ing God (Kalamazoo: Gistercian Publications, 1980), 33.

' It is important to keep in mind that the phrase "mystical theology" does notonly refer to a genre of theology but also to the contemplative task of knowing Godby way of negation. See Pseudo-Dionysius, Mystical Theology 3 for different ways ofknowing God. Thanks are due to an anonymous reader for this insight.

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will be uplifted to the ray of the divine shadow which is above every-thing that is.'"

For Pseudo-Dionysius the spiritual life consists in leaving behind every-thing, both material and immaterial, in order to be united with God.Through abandonment one takes "flight upward" in order to "plunge intothat darkness which is beyond intellect" (i.e., God)." Pseudo-Dionysiusfurther summarizes his understanding of the spiritual life in a prayer thatbegins the Mystical Theology:

Trinity!! Higher than any being,any divinity, any goodness!

Guide of Christiansin the wisdom of heaven!

Lead us up beyond unknowing and light,up to the farthest, highest peak

of mystic scripture,where the mysteries of God's Word

lie simple, absolute and unchangeablein the brilliant darkness of a hidden silence.

Amid the deepest shadowthey pour overwhelming lighton what is most manifest.

Amid the wholly unsensed and unseenthey completely fill our sightless mindswith treasures beyond all beauty.'^

Pseudo-Dionysius prays that God would lead humankind beyond theknowledge of him that comes through the written Scriptures. Instead,Pseudo-Dionysius asks that humankind be led directly to the Word, the Sonof God himself. Thus, for Pseudo-Dionysius, mystical theology is the expli-cation of the means of attaining union with God.

The thought of Pseudo-Dionysius spread rapidly with the assistance ofa ninth-century translation of the Dionysian corpus by John Scotus Eriu-gena and by the popularity of the works in the new universities of thetwelfth century.'^ Several works illustrate the significance of not only

1 Pseudo-Dionysius, "Mystical Theology 1.1," in Pseudo-Dionysius: The Com-plete Works, trans. Colm Luibheid (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1987),135.

" Pseudo-Dionysius, Pseudo-Dionysius, 139.'^ Pseudo-Dionysius, Pseudo-Dionysius, 135.'^ Dale Coulter, "Pseudo-Dionysius in the Twelfth Century Latin West," in The

ORB Online Encyclopedia (September 7, 2010), http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/culture/philos/coulter.html.

Peters: On Spiritual Theology: A Primer

Pseudo-Dionysius' Mystical Theology but the genre of "mystical theology"in general. There is extant a thirteenth-century textbook from the Univer-sity of Paris that reproduces Eriugena's translation of the Mystical Theol-ogy as well as many other "sayings" {scholia) of Pseudo-Dionysius.''' Thistextbook would have been used by the great Dominican theologians Albertthe Great (d. 1280), who wrote a commentary on the Mystical Theology,and Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), who quotes from the anonymous Syrianregularly in his Summa Theologica.^^ Other important commentators onPseudo-Dionysius' Mystical Theology were the Parisian theologian ThomasGallus (d. 1246) and Robert Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln, England (d.1253)." But perhaps the greatest "mystical theologian" of the high MiddleAges was the Franciscan theologian Bonaventure (d. 1274) who wrote awork entitled The Triple Way. This "triple way," wrote Bonaventure, wasthe way laid out by Pseudo-Dionysius to describe the spiritual life's prog-ress, consisting of purgation, illumination, and perfection. Like the Orige-nistic tripartite division discussed above, this tripartite way also became in-fluential and pervasive, proving "to be so powerful that it absorbed theother triad (beginners, advanced, perfect). This produces a remarkable du-plication: the way of purification for beginners, the way of illumination forthe advanced, and the way of union for the perfect."''' In fact, the presenceof the triple way of purgation, illumination, and perfection is a sine quanon of mystical theologies. This schema retained its place in the writings ofthe greatest Catholic Reformation spiritual authors of the sixteenth cen-tury, such as St. John of the Cross (d. 1591) and St. Teresa of Avila (d.1582), and even continued past the era of the Catholic Reformation andinto the twentieth century. For example, the Jesuit Giovanni Scaramelli de-scribed mystical theology, in at least one place, as follows:

For the proper comprehension of Mystical Theology as a whole, it isnecessary to distinguish between that which is experimental and thatwhich is doctrinal. Experimental Mystical Theology is a pure knowl-edge of God which the soul receives in the bright darkness of some highcontemplation, together with so intimate an experience of love that it isutterly lost to itself and united and transformed in God. It thus em-braces the actual experiences of the mystic. Doctrinal Mystical Theol-ogy is, on the other hand, a science, the business of which is to examine

'* L. Michael Harrington, ed. and trans., A Thirteenth-Century Textbook ofMystical Theology at the University of Paris (Paris/Leuven: Peeters, 2004).

'^ David Burrell and Isabelle Moulin, "Albert, Aquinas, and Dionysius," inSarah Coakley and Charles M. Stang, eds., Re-Thinking Dionysius the Areopagite(Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), 103-119.

'^ James McEvoy, ed. and trans.. Mystical Theology: The Glosses by ThomasGallus and the Commentary of Robert Grosseteste on De Mystica Theologia(Paris/Leuven: Peeters, 2003).

"' Waaijman, Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods, 375-376.

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the above experiences, and to draw from them what conclusions it maywith regard to their essential qualities and effects."'*

The triple way only fell out of favor in Roman Catholic circles after beingseriously questioned by the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner (d. 1984)." Yet,as Waaijman warns us, "the name 'mystical theology' . . . must not deceiveus. In these mystical theologies we are dealing not with a certain part ofspirituality (mysticism), but with a complete spiritual program in which theterm 'mystical' is applied to every stage of the spiritual journey."^" A goodmodern example of this is Mark Mclntosh's Mystical Theology.^^

C. Ascetical Theology

The next stage in the development of spirituality was the age of "asceti-cal theology," a term that first appeared in Christoph Schorrer's Theologiaasctica sive doctrina spiritualis, published at Rome in 1658. The premierexample of this genre, however, is by Scaramelli, entitled Direttorio as-ctico and published in Italy in the 1750s. According to Schorrer, "ascetictheology" "is the science which studies action in accordance with its ulti-mate goal."^^ Scaramelli writes that he intends to give spiritual "[djirectorsa true idea of Christian perfection, and, at the same time, to suggest to thempractical methods by which they may instil [sic^ this perfection into thesouls intrusted [sic^ to their keeping."^^ What is common to both of thesestated purposes is that "ascetical theology" is concerned with the means ofattaining Christian perfection. This is echoed elsewhere: "ascetical theologyteaches the means by which sanctity of life may be acquired, increased, andperfected."^'' Thus, these treatises are not simply theological in nature, butpractical and, therefore, give attention to such practices as spiritual direc-tion, the reading of Scripture, meditation, prayer, examination of con-science, the Eucharist, etc. Exalted topics such as "mysticism" were only

" G. B. Scaramelli, A Handbook of Mystical Theology, trans. D. H. S. Nichol-son (1913; rept. Berwick, ME: Ibis Press, 2005), 15-16.

" Karl Rahner, "Reflections on the problem of the gradual ascent to Ghristianperfection," Revue d'Asctique et de Mystique 19 (1944): 65-78. Reprinted in KarlRahner, Theological Investigations, Volume III: The Theology of the Spiritual Life,trans. Karl-H. and Boniface Kruger (Baltimore/London: Helicon Press/Darton, Long-man and Todd, 1967), 3-23.

^^ Waaijman, Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods, 376." Mark A. Mclntosh, Mystical Theology: The Integrity of Spirituality and The-

ology (Maiden, MA/Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1998)." Quoted in Waaijman, Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods, 378." John Baptist Scaramelli, The directorium asceticum; or. Guide to the Spiritual

Life (London: R & T Washbourne, 1902), 1-2." Arthur Devine, A Manual of Ascetical Theology (London: R &c T Wash-

bourne, 1902), V.

Peters: On Spiritual Theology: A Primer 11

discussed occasionally and served to bring more clearly into focus the needfor ascetic practices. Again, as Waaijman writes, the "ascetic perspective isfocused on action which, sustained by a steadfast will and directed towardthe ultimate goal, employs the necessary means."-^^ This genre of spiritualwritings dominated the field of spirituality throughout the eighteenth, nine-teenth, and twentieth centuries. A recent example of the genre is GustaveThils' Christian Holiness: A Precis of Ascetical Theology.''-^

D. Spiritual Theology

"Spiritual theology" as a phrase was given prominence in 1926 by theJesuit theologian Joseph de Guibert.-^ ^ Yet, de Guibert was not the first au-thor to employ "spiritual theology." The first use of the phrase likely comesfrom the seventeenth century work of Felix Simplex entitled Theologia spi-ritualis fundamentalis, published at Oliva, Italy in 1687.^* A "spiritual the-ology" is characterized by a specific attention to the theological principlesof the spiritual life as opposed to an explication of the triple way (as in"mystical theology") or a focus on one's will as it is directed towards anend, aided by certain actions (as in "ascetical theology").^' Waaijman ex-plains the difference well:

Asceticism and mysticism are . . . developed as the flowering of these[spiritual] theological principles which terminate under the influence ofdivine grace. In these treatises [i.e., spiritual theologies] the principlesare designated in various ways: revelation, sanctifying grace, the super-natural life, the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, participation in

" Waaijman, Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods, 380." Gustave Thils, Christian Holiness: A Precis of Ascetical Theology (Tielt, Bel-

gium: Lannoo Publishers, 1961)." Joseph de Guibert, Theologia spiritualis, asctica et mystica: quaestiones se-

lectae in praelectionum usum (Rome, 1926), trans. Paul Barrett as The Theology ofthe Spiritual Life (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1953).

^' See Joseph de Guibert, Leons de thologie spirituelle (Toulouse: ditions dela Revue d'asctique et de mystique et de l'Apostolat de la prire, 1946), 18, n. 31.

" It should be born in mind, however, that there are examples where these cate-gories blend into one another. For example, the aforementioned Giovanni Scaramellidefined mystical theology, in at least one place, in overt doctrinal terms: "For theproper comprehension of Mystical Theology as a whole, it is necessary to distinguishbetween that which is experimental and that which is doctrinal. Experimental Mysti-cal Theology is a pure knowledge of God which the soul receives in the bright dark-ness of some high contemplation, together with so intimate an experience of love thatit is utterly lost to itself and united and transformed in God. It thus embraces the ac-tual experiences of the mystic. Doctrinal Mystical Theology is, on the other hand, ascience, the business of which is to examine the above experiences, and to draw fromthem what conclusions it may with regard to their essential qualities and effects."

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the divine life, the Trinity, the life of grace in Jesus Christ, the spiritualorganism, and so forth. As the antecedent divine givens, these princi-ples permeate all the spiritual themes which follow.^"

Perhaps the best examples of the genre of spiritual theology are de Guibert'sThe Theology of the Spiritual Life, Adolphe Tanquerey's The Spiritual Life,and Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange's The Three Ages of the Interior Life. DeGuibert spends quite a few pages discussing the nature of mystical and as-cetical theology before turning to spiritual theology proper. Noting thatthere is not necessarily much agreement on the exact meanings of mysticaland ascetical theology, de Guibert goes on to offer a definition of spiritualtheology "as the science which deduces from revealed principles what con-stitutes the perfection of the spiritual life and how man can advance to-wards and obtain it."^' Tanquerey's preface demonstrates well the shiftfrom mystical and ascetical theology (though Tanquerey retains thesewords) to spiritual theology:

It is the writer's conviction that Dogma is the foundation of AsceticalTheology and that an exposition of what God has done and still doesfor us is the most efficacious motive of true devotion. Hence, care hasbeen taken to recall briefly the truths of faith on which the spiritual liferests. This treatise then is first of all doctrinal in character and aims atbringing out tbe fact that Christian perfection is the logical outcome ofdogma, especially the central dogma of the Incarnation. The workhowever is also practical, for a vivid realization of the truths of faith isthe strongest incentive to earnest and steady efforts towards the correc-tion of faults and the practice of virtues. Consequently in the first partof this treatise the practical conclusions that naturally flow from re-vealed truths and the general means of perfection are developed. Thesecond part contains a more detailed exposition of the special means ofadvancing along the Three Ways towards the heights of perfection.^^

In short, Tanquerey sees the task of spiritual theology as laying the theolog-ical or dogmatic foundation of the spiritual life and only then to ventureinto the areas of ascetical and mystical theology. The Dominican Garrigou-Lagrange echoes Tanquerey when he writes that

Spiritual theology . . . ought to consider the interior life as such, andnot in a given individual in the midst of rather unfavorable given cir-cumstances . . . Spiritual theology, while noting the exceptions thatmay arise from the absence of a given condition, ought especially to es-

'" Waaijman, Spirituality: Forms, Foundations, Methods, 381.'^ Guibert, The Theology of the Spiritual Life, 11.

^^ Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life: A Treatise on Ascetical and MysticalTheology, trans. Herman Branderis (Tournai, Belgium: Descle, 1930), vii.


tablish the higher laws of the full development of the life of grace assuch, and the proximate disposition to receive the beatific vision imme-diately in a fully purified soul . . . In the following pages we insist farmore on the principles generally accepted in theology, by showing theirvalue and their radiation, than on the variety of opinions on one partic-ular point or another proposed by often quite secondary authors . . .We propose another aim, and that is why we quote mostly from thegreatest masters. Constant recourse to the foundations of their doc-trine seems to us what is most necessary for the formation of the mind,which is more important than erudition.^^

For Garrigou-Lagrange the "greatest masters" are Thomas Aquinas, St.John of the Cross, and Francis de Sales; and it is these authors, he believes,that have established most firmly and most acceptably the necessary doctri-nal foundation upon which spiritual theology can construct its edifice. Thisunderstanding of "spiritual theology" appears consistent throughout thegenre's history and across the vast array of treatises dedicated to the subject.

Before the Second Vatican Council, there were a number of publishedtreatises from Roman Catholic authors on the spiritual life that commentedin some way on the distinctions between mystical, ascetical, and spiritualtheology. For example, Pierre Pourrat says that "[s]pirituality is that part oftheology which deals with Christian perfection and the ways that lead to it.Dogmatic Theology teaches what we should believe. Moral Theology whatwe should do or not do to avoid sin, mortal or venial, and above them both,though based upon them both, comes Spirituality or Spiritual Theology.This, again, is divided into Ascetic Theology and Mystical Theology."^''Gabriele di Santa Maria Maddalena, a Discalced Carmelite, wrote that"[s]piritual theology is the theological study of the evolution of the super-natural life in the human subject that leads to perfection."^^ Likewise theDominican Antonio Royo Marn defined spiritual theology as that "part ofsacred theology that was set up on the principles of divine revelation andthe experience of the saints, it studies the organism of the supernatural life,explains the laws of its progress and its development, and describes the pro-cess that follows the soul since the beginning of the Christian life until theclimax of perfection."^^ Finally, Alexius Benigar, a Franciscan writing soonafter Marn, says that "[s]piritual theology is that part of theology that

" R. Garrigou-Lagrange, The Three Ages of the Interior Life: Prelude of Eter-nal Life, trans. M. Timothea Doyle (St. Louis/London: B. Herder Book Co., 1947),x-xi.

'"' Pierre Pourrat, Christian Spirituality: From the Time of our Lord tili theDawn of the Middle Ages, trans. W. H. Mitchell and S. P. Jacques (London: Burns,Oates and Washbourne, 1922), v.

' ' Gabriele di S. M. Maddalena, "ndole psicolgica dlia teologia spirituale,"Rivista di filosofia neoscolastica 32 (1940): 42.

^' Antonio Royo Marn, Teologa de la perfeccin cristiana, 6th ed. (Madrid:BAC, 1954, 1988), 35.

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deals with the kindness and gentleness of God's perfection with all themembers of the mystic body of Christ until he takes them to the state of theperfect man, to the maturity of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13) itshead;"^^ and Amato Dagnino writes, "Spiritual theology is the term thatlooks to us most appropriate and scientific, in the sense of integrating theascetical-mystical into 'sacred doctrine' as part of everything, suggestingthe idea of the unity of the spiritual life and excluding all separation be-tween ascetical and mystical, but unifying and organizing one with theother only with a unique purpose of one to another: progressive union withGod and the continual growing of mercy (positive aspect) and the progres-sive elimination of the obstacles that block its growth (negative aspect)."^*Notice, in particular, the emphasis on "spiritual theology" as an overt theo-logical category as opposed to a descriptive or prescriptive category.

Following the Second Vatican Council, manuals of spirituality^' wouldchange, with the emphasis being on clarification and a re-centering of thediscipline. As Salvador Ros Garca comments, "These are the years [i.e.,1960-1980] of fervent theological renovation, very sensitive to all councilevents, and in one moment they feel the urgent necessity to clarify the con-cept of spirituality, and to inclusively impugn the multiplication of spiritual-ities and highlight the centrality of the Gospel (Bouyer, Vandenbroucke,Balthasar), to make way for all the manuals that came to represent it as aunitary science (in a formal unity with dogmatic and moral theology) andwith the phenomenon of experience as the key element of its epistemologicalstatus."'"' Representative post-conciliar definitions of spiritual theology of-ten simply refer to the discipline as "spirituality" and often clearly challengethe older, pre-conciliar understandings of spiritual theology/spirituality.'"

^' Alexius Benigar, Compendium theologiae spiritualis (Roma: Secretaria Mis-sionum OFM, 1957), 2.

*^ Amato Dagnino, La vita interiore secondo la Rivelazione, studiata dallaTeologia e insegnata dalla Chiesa (Milan: Ed. Paoline, 1960), 16-17.

^' Scholars are still divided as to the differences between "spiritual theology"and "spirituality." See Philip Sheldrake, A Brief History of Spirituality (Maiden, MA:Blackwell Publishing, 2007), 1-11 and relevant articles in Kenneth Collins, ed. Ex-ploring Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Reader (Grand Rapids: Baker Aca-demic, 2000).

'"' Salvador Ross Garcia, "Definiciones de la teologa espiritual en el siglo XX,"Teresianum 51 (2001): 308.

" Charles Andr Bernard explains the replacement of the phrase "spiritual the-ology" with "spirituality:" "Numerous authors . . . made . . . the distinction betweenordinary ascetical prayer and extraordinary mystical prayer. After lengthy disputes,it was decided to adopt a terminology that did not imply an exclusive opposition be-tween the ascetical and the mystical stages of the spiritual life. Ultimately the Frenchword, spiritualit, was deem the most suitable to designate the spiritual life in all itsphases. Similarly, the term 'spiritual theology,' became the title of the systematicstudy of Christian perfection and the spiritual life." See Charles Andr Bernard, "TheNature of Spiritual Theology," in Exploring Christian Spirituality: An EcumenicalReader, ed. Kenneth Collins (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000), 230.


Representative of many of these authors is Louis Bouyer, an Oratorian priestand past professor of "spiritual theology" at the Institut Catholique in Paris.He begins his multivolume history of Christian spirituality with an attemptto define spirituality, "What is spirituality in general and Christian spiritual-ity in particular?"''^ He continues by challenging Pourrat's understandingas quoted above. After quoting the relevant section from Pourrat he writesthat "[t]hese distinctions, it must be admitted, are not very satisfactory."''^Bouyer then continues by establishing his own description/definition ofspirituality:

Christian spirituality . . . is distinguished from dogma by the fact that,instead of studying or describing the objects of belief as it were in theabstract, it studies the reactions which those objects arouse in the reli-gious consciousness . . . Dogmatic theology, therefore, must always bepresupposed as the basis of spiritual theology, even though the latterconcerns itself with the data of the former only under the relationshipthat they entertain with the religious consciousness . . . Our history ofChristian spirituality, then, cannot be a history of different spirituali-ties, imagined as each self-contained . . . It will be the history of theproblem always newly posed in a dynamic humanity and changing civ-ilizationthe problem of how to apply as integrally as possible to thelife of the soul . . . the Gospel of Jesus Christ.''''

Notice how Bouyer's understanding aligns well with Garcia's description ofpost-Vatican II definitions: 1) Bouyer impugns the multiplication of spiritu-alities; 2) highlights the Gospel; and 3) highlights religious experience as akey element. Extremely similar to Bouyer's understanding is that of the lib-eration theologian Gustavo Gutirrez: "[S]pirituality is a concrete manner,inspired by the Spirit, of living the Gospel . . . It arises from an intense spir-itual experience, which is later explicated and witnessed to . . . A spiritual-ity means a reordering of the great axes of the Christian life in terms of thiscontemporary experience."''^ Again we see the aspects of the Gospel and re-ligious experience emphasized. Another similar understanding was ex-pressed by the Jesuit Charles Andr Bernard who wrote that "[s]piritualtheology is the theological discipline that, established in the beginning ofRevelation, studies the Christian spiritual experience, describing itsprogress and development and lets us know its structure and laws."''* Notonly do Gutierrez and Bernard agree with Bouyer, but perhaps the most

*^ Louis Bouyer, The Spirituality of the New Testament and the Fathers, Historyof Ghristian Spirituality I (New York: Seabury Press, 1963), vii.

"^ Ibid., vii."" Ibid., viii.*^ Gustavo Gutirrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation

(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1988), 117.''^ Gharles A. Bernard, Compendio di Teologia Spirituale (Roma: Universit

Gregoriana Editrice, 1976), 37.

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well-known spiritual theologian of the twentieth century, the DominicanJordan Aumann, also defines spiritual theology in a similar manner:"[Sjpiritual theology is that part of theology that, proceeding from thetruths of divine revelation and the religious experience of individual per-sons, defines the nature of the supernatural life, formulates directives for itsgrowth and development, and explains the process by which souls advancefrom the beginning of the spiritual life to its full perfection. "''^ Again, no-tice the emphasis on spiritual theology's rootedness in the Gospel (encom-passed under Aumann's "divine revelation") and religious experience. Hav-ing overviewed definitions of "spiritual theology" it is necessary to turn tothe proper nature of spiritual theology.

II. THE PROPER NATURE OF SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY: SOURCESOF SPIRITUAL THEOLOGY

In his Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life,evangelical theologian Simon Chan describes the nature of spiritual theol-ogy: "Spirituality is the lived reality, whereas spiritual theology is the sys-tematic reflection and formalization of that reality . . . it refers to a distinctbranch of theological studies concerned with the principles and practices ofthe Christian life."''* According to Chan, the very nature of spiritual theol-ogy is a distinct theological task though as de Guibert writes, "[I]t will haveto be not only strictly theological, positive, and deductive, but also induc-tive, resting upon observation and experience."'" It is because of this veryexperiential aspect that spiritual theology is distinguished from moral anddogmatic theology. Yet, not just any experience is important in spiritualtheology but only those experiences that are the result of God's work in ourlife, that is, only overt theological experiences (i.e., those where one's lifeand God's work intersect): it is "a participation in the mystery of Christthrough the interior life of grace, actuated by faith, charity, and the otherChristian virtues."^" This occurs most surely, though not exclusively,through the church of Jesus Christ, especially by way of the sacraments ofbaptism and Eucharist. Further, there are the principal sacramentis of thepreaching of God's Word as well as corporate and private prayer." Thus, inour personal experiences of receiving God's grace by way of the sacraments

" Jordan Aumann, Spiritual Theology (London: Sheed and Ward, 1980), 22.'"' Simon Chan, Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life

(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 16.'" Guibert, The Theology of the Spiritual Life, 16.'" Aumann, Spiritual Theology, 18." "Sacramentis" are similar to the sacraments in that they dispose people to

the reception of God's grace and make occasions in the Christian life holy occasions.If the sacraments confer the grace of the Holy Spirit, then sacramentis prepare the


and sacramentis, our experience of life with and in God becomes, along-side of discursive theology, the "stuff" of spiritual theology.

Tied up with one's experiences, of course, are the subjective aspects ofone's self, such as gender, education, family, and race. Though these aspectsshould not be overlooked, they need to be utilized in spiritual theologycarefully since one's subjective self must never replace God's revealed truthin the Scriptures or God's theological work in one's life. Human-centered"P'-ism must not hold a higher place than a God-centered "Thou"-ism spir-itual theology.^^ Though they help define who a person is, which then givesshape to one's consciousness, the spiritual theologian must bear in mindthat God does work in the particular lives of individuals and it is this inter-section between the person and God that is of greatest concern to the spiri-tual theologian. As Charles Bernard writes, "The study of personality andsocial structure in relation to spiritual theology is very complex; in fact, itrequires an interdisciplinary study in order to delineate with precision thecomponents of authentic spiritual experience."^^

A. Scripture

Apart from experience, spiritual theology also rests upon a solid theo-logical foundation, "positive, and deductive" according to Guibert. Thesources for such a theology have traditionally been understood to be the Sa-cred Scriptures, systematic theology (encompassing both dogmatic andmoral theology), and church history. It must be taken for granted by allspiritual theologians that the foundational theological text of the Christianfaith is the divinely inspired Scriptures, interpreted throughout history bythe People of God. Though referring perhaps only to Jewish writings, Paulsays to the Romans that "whatever was written in former days was writtenfor our instruction, that through endurance and through the encourage-ment of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4). Tbe same is trueof tbe Bible in totoit gives us hope "that we are very members incorpo-rate in the mystical body of [the] Son, the blessed company of all faithfulpeople; and are also heirs, through hope, of [God's] everlasting kingdom."^''The Scriptures, on the one hand, reveal to believers God's plan of salvation,encompassing persons from all the nations of the world; while on the other

believer to receive grace and to cooperate with it. See Anscar J. Ghupungco, ed..Handbook for Liturgical Studies IV: Sacraments and Sacramentis (Gollegeville:Liturgical Press, 2000), xxiv-xxvii.

" For a historical presentation of this tension, favored heavily by Martin Lutherand other Reformers, see The Theologia Germnica of Martin Luther, trans. BengtHoffman (New York: Paulist Press, 1980).

'^ Gharles Andr Bernard, "The Nature of Spiritual Theology," in ExploringGhristian Spirituality, 231.

" The Book of Gommon Prayer, According to the Use of the Episcopal Ghurch(New York: Seabury Press, 1979), 339.

18 Journal of Spiritual Formation c Soul Care

hand they give the practical prescriptions that regulate the life of God's peo-ple. Thus, the Holy Scriptures are at once both doctrinal and practical. Re-garding God's plan of salvation, the Scriptures tell us that the church isGod's chosen people and that he desires to see her become holy and spotlessand to grow up into complete maturity (Eph. 1:4, Heb. 6:1). The contentand description of this holiness is revealed throughout the New Testamentby way of example and exhortation. However, the spiritual theologian mustbear in mind that Word without Spirit will likely lead to a rationalism ormysticism that kills as opposed to giving life. Evangelical theologian Don-ald Bloesch writes, "Evangelical spirituality upholds the complementarityof Word and Spirit . . . In biblical faith the knowledge of God has its rootsin the paradoxical unity of Word and Spirit. Against rationalism we do notappeal to the Bible in and of itself but to the Bible illumined by the [Holy]Spirit. Against mysticism and spiritualism we insist that the Spirit acts inconjunction with the revealed Word of God."'^ Thus, the Sacred Scripturesare a primary source of spiritual theology, but only as illumined by the HolySpirit.

B. Systematic Theology

The second source of spiritual theology is a systematic theology, for asPhilip Sheldrake writes, "Attempts to speak about our understanding ofGod (theology) and our efforts to live in the light of that understanding(spirituality) cannot be separated."^* If a clear systematic theology does notundergird the spiritual theology project then theology appears to encom-pass only personal opinion with a resulting privatization of spirituality.Such an individualist focus misses the fact that one's personal story, that is,one's personal spiritual journey, is intimately connected to the larger storyof God's salvific work in history and that the believer's story is a continua-tion of and in conversation with the story of Jesus Christ. Moreover, asSheldrake says, "Any version of Christian spirituality that is individualisticin tone fails to reflect the communion of equal relationships that is God-in-Trinity."'^ God is a unity of three persons, therefore there is no room for in-dividualism in God nor should there be in the spiritual life of his followers.As Mark Mclntosh says, "[P]ersonal experience is not in itself the goal ofspirituality. Individuals are not so much seeking to discover their own feel-ings as to live into the knowledge and love of God through the hard work ofbeing members one with another of the Body of Christ."^* Finally, the qual-

" Donald Bloesch, Spirituality Old and New: Recovering Authentic SpiritualLife (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 85

'* Philip Sheldrake, Spirituality and Theology: Christian Living and the Doc-trine of God (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998), 3.

"Ibid., 16.'* Mclntosh, Mystical Theology, 7.


ity of a spiritual theology is only as good as the theology that serves as itsfoundation. For bad theology leads to bad spiritual practices.

C. Church History

The final source for spiritual theology is church history and it is herethat I want to say more than what has been said about the Scriptures andsystematic theology. When one studies church history or theology for thatmatter, it is important to keep in mind that one is studying the movement ofGod the Holy Spirit in history and in the lives of the people of God. BecauseGod is sovereign and providential over all of his creation, there is no area ofhuman or creaturely activity that is beyond his control or oversight.Though creation cries out and awaits its own redemption (Rom. 8:19-23)due to humankind's sin and fallenness, it is still God's good creation and hecontinues to act in it. Thus, God's action is history is a necessary source forspiritual theology. The theologians of the Second Vatican Council summedit up well in Dei Verbum, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation,

the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the in-spired books, was to be preserved by an unending succession of preach-ers until the end of time. Therefore the Apostles, handing on what theythemselves had received, warn the faithful to hold fast to the traditionswhich they have learned either by word of mouth or by letter (see 2Thess. 2:15), and to fight in defense of the faith handed on once andfor all (see Jude 1:3). Now what was handed on by the Apostles in-cludes everything which contributes toward the holiness of life and in-crease in faith of the peoples of God; and so the Church, in her teach-ing, life and worship, perpetuates and hands on to all generations allthat she herself is, all that she believes. This tradition which comesfrom the Apostles develops in the Church with the help of the HolySpirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities andthe words which have been handed down. This happens through thecontemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these thingsin their hearts (see Luke, 2:19, 51) through a penetrating understand-ing of the spiritual realities which they experience, and through thepreaching of those who have received . . . the sure gift of truth. For asthe centuries succeed one another, the Church constantly moves for-ward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reachtheir complete fulfillment in her.^'

^' Dei Verbum, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 8, (accessedSeptember 22, 2010), http://www.Vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html


For evangelical spiritual theologians, however, over against RomanCatholic spiritual theologians, it is important to note that church history, orthe Christian "tradition," is not on par with the Scriptures nor is churchhistory as authoritative as the Scriptures.^" However, it is essential that thehistory of the Christian church be used in the formulation of a spiritual the-ology since it is a record of God's works and actions in the world. This, ofcourse, does not mean that every event in the history of the Christianchurch merits the same weight or accord as others. For example, the neo-Thomistic spiritual theologians (such as Garrigou-Lagrange and Aumann)give pride of place to the theology of Thomas Aquinas and St. John of theCross, among others. Evangelical spiritual theologians would not give suchpride of place to these particular historical persons and theological systems.Until recently, in fact, the evangelical church did not give much attention atall to Christian history. No doubt classes in the church's history were re-quired in seminaries but that did not necessitate that there was more thanone faculty member on staff and more often than not, I would guess, thatfaculty member's specialty was in Reformation, modern European or Amer-ican Christian history. This is now changing with the retrieval of the Chris-tian tradition amongst evangelical scholars and pastors, evidenced in suchpublications as InterVarsity Press' Ancient Christian Commentary on Scrip-ture series and Baker Academic's Evangelical Ressourcement: AncientSources for the Church's Future series. Although more work in other peri-ods and areas of Christian history still awaits attention from evangelicalscholars (for example, the medieval era), there is an increasing sense thatthe history of the Christian church must be taken seriously.

Two arguments put forward by evangelical theologian Stephen Holmesargue for the place of Christian history in theology in general.*' First, weare historically located persons who, like it or not, have received a traditionof theological witness and divine movement. These doctrines and move-ments have been handed down from the apostles and teachers to specifichistorical churches and then handed down from one generation to anotheruntil it reached us. For example, the church received the Apostle's andNicene Creeds in this manner and even the Bible since it came by way ofpersons and is not inspired anew in the heart and mind of each Christian.Second, there are (more or less) two ways to view Christian history, associ-ated with Origen and Irenaeus of Lyons (d. ca. 202). Origen saw history asa part of human fallenness. Though humankind was created perfect, byvirtue of the Fall any movement in time is away from this perfection andtherefore towards destruction. Irenaeus, on the other hand, gave an "ac-count whereby it is a part of God's good ordering of creation for there to be

'" Jordan Aumann's position is representative of Roman Gatholic views of tradi-tion: "Tradition is therefore a source of spiritual theology at the same level as Scrip-ture." See Aumann, Spiritual Theology, 28.

" Stephen R. Holmes, Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology(Garlisle/Grand Rapids: Paternoster Press/Baker Books, 2002).


movement towards perfection, and so history." Irenaeus sees movementand growth in positive terms. Therefore, if Irenaeus is correct "then histor-ical locatedness is clearly good and proper to human life, and so the media-tion of apostolic truth through the tradition is something to he acceptedand celebrated."'"^ If Irenaeus is correct, and Holmes gives good argumentsin his favor, then it would be imperative for theologians to take Christiantradition seriously.

Holmes' second argument involves a theology of the communion ofsaints. Theology (including biblical studies, church history, etc.) is done inservice of the church so much so that "it is not possible to practise theologywithout heing somehow involved in the life of the Church." This in turnmeans that every Christian needs to relate to Christians of previous eras be-cause "it is not just the differing historical locations that are important, butthe shared ecclesial location too. If . . . it is the case . . . [then] there is goodreason to suppose that membership of the Church establishes some form ofconnectedness between people that is not undermined by historical separa-tion."*^ Just as all Christians are "in Christ" and just as living believers are"brothers and sisters in Christ" despite geographical separation, is it possi-ble that chronological separation and distance is not a barrier to commun-ion with other believers? Holmes begins to answer this question hy accept-ing a concept of sainthood, that is, that there are people from the church'shistory who were "exemplary practitioners of the Christian life." There-fore, the saints "are those whom the Church commends to us as people whohave successfully 'imitated' Christ in their particular situations, thus givingus an expanded and enriched view of what it might mean to be Christ-like."*'' Such a concept must not create an environment or attitude that saysthe saints add to the story or work of Christ, hut rather that these individu-als serve as particular examples to the Christian community. Within thiscategory of "saints," then, would be certain theologians or doctors of thechurch who

are recognized as outstanding examples of how to think through theway in which God's all-sufficient gift of his Son is sufficient to meet theneeds of a particular age or circumstance. They thus become examplesto he lived with and studied, whose writings amplify without adding tothe teachings of Scripture in just the same way as the lives of the Saints[sic] amplify without adding to the example of Christ.*^

Added to this is the realization that these individuals, though dead, are"present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8; cf. Rev. 6:9-11). That is, they are fully

Ibid., 9."Ibid., 21." Ibid., 27." Ibid., 28-29.


conscious souls awaiting the resurrection and are therefore in communionwith us, the living. Holmes thus concludes,

we are able, in the communion of saints, to transcend the particulari-ties of our own timesbut this transcendence has a complementary im-manence. We remain the particular, located creatures that God hasbeen pleased to make us, even whilst, in the Spirit, we are able to learnfrom those who have gone before. History is not done away with by theSpirit, but its vicious aspects are transformed so that they are no longerbarriers but gifts, so that the glorious diversity of God's human cre-ation does not separate us from other Christians but rather enrichesour communion.**

From this, therefore, we can conclude that the study of Christian history isproper and necessary to the task of spiritual theology. Of course. Holmes'arguments are not without detractors, but, nevertbeless, they are strong ar-guments for a serious study of Christian history including theologians andtheological formulations from the past two thousand years. How onechooses which "saints" to study is open to debate and is a question ofboundaries.

Across Christian history much time has been spent studying, evaluat-ing, and creating boundaries. For example, the creedal statements of theearly church are often viewed as boundaries for correct faith while heresycould be defined as a belief that lies outside tbe boundary of acceptablethought and confession. The division of Christian history into distinct timeperiods is another form of boundary makingthe "early" church ends inthe sixth or seventh century while the "medieval" church continues into thesecond decade of the sixteenth century (at least in western Europe). Bound-aries have also been established in reference to different manifestations ofthe Christian church throughout history, often corresponding to its liturgi-cal language. Thus, we talk of the Latin-speaking church of western Europeand the Greek-speaking church of Greece and elsewhere. To this could beadded the Coptic-speaking Egyptian church, the Syriac-speaking Nestorianchurch and in a later period the Slavonic-speaking church of medieval Rus-sia. Additional boundaries have been conceived in more modern Cbristianhistory to explain the phenomena of denominationalism and, as understoodby the nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox theologian Aleksei Khomi-akov, geographical churches.*^ Consequently, we speak denominationallyof such "churches" as the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Churchof Christ, and the Assemblies of God; and we speak geographically of theChurch of England, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and the Bulgarian Or-

" Ibid., 31." See Aleksei Khomiakov, "The Ghurch is One," in W. J. Birkbeck, Russia and

the English Ghurch during the Last Fifty Years, vol. 1 (London: Livington, Percival& Co., 1895).


thodox Church, though each of these now exist beyond the confines of theiroriginal geographical location. Lastly, we acknowledge the boundaries es-tablished in the theological disciplines. We live at times with the uneasy di-vision of theological studies into the sub-fields of systematic theology, dog-matic theology, liturgical theology, biblical theology, etc. We also largelyaccept without consideration the division of theological studies into theacademic departments of Biblical Studies, Church History, Christian Edu-cation, Christian Missions, etc. Moreover, as most will acknowledge, theseexamples could be multiplied many times over. In short, boundary-makingis a common business, which is sometimes helpful and other times restric-tive. It seem reasonable, however, to conclude that the totality (all writings,peoples, histories, etc.) of the church's tradition forms the canon, if youwill, of authority for an evangelical spiritual theology; or, to state it anotherway, the primary dialogue partners for evangelical spiritual theology is "un-limited" with regard to the utilization of all aspects (writings, peoples, his-tories, etc.) of the church's tradition. As one example, this present essaydemonstrates that there is much discussion in evangelical circles centeredon spiritual theology.** Yet, many of these works spend little or no time dis-cussing and establishing what aspects of the church's tradition or which in-dividual representatives of this tradition form the canon (i.e., boundary) ofauthority in this area of theological inquiry. It would seem, based in part ona theology of the communion of saints like that articulated by Holmes, thatsuch a boundary is unlimited, that all authors, theologians and saints of theChristian tradition can serve as resources for an evangelical spiritual theol-ogy, including those authors and theologians who are explicitly evangelicalfrom the outset (such as D. L. Moody or Charles Spurgeon).

There appear to be only two ways to go about determining if there areany scriptural limitations to a canon of spiritual texts: first, to look for ex-plicit references in the Scripture that may limit the canon; and second, todetermine how biblical authors utilized non-biblical texts to discernwhether they established a model to emulate. A reading of the New Testa-ment reveals no explicit references limiting a canon of authority for evan-gelical spiritual theology. Those passages that may appear to limit thecanon are found in 1 Timothy 1:3-4 and 4:7, 2 Timothy 2:14, 16 and 23and Titus 1:14 and 3:9. In the first epistle to Timothy he is exhorted to ". . .remain at Ephesus so that [he] may charge certain persons not to teach anydifferent doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealo-gies" (1:3-4) and to "[h]ave nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths"(4:7). In 2 Timothy the young pastor is instructed to "charge them beforeGod not to quarrel about words," to "avoid irreverent babble" (2:14, 16)and to "[hjave nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies" (2:23).Likewise Titus is told to not to devote himself "to Jewish myths and com-mands of people who turn away from the truth" (1:14) and to "avoid fool-ish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law"

Another good example is Chan's Spiritual Theology mentioned above.

24 Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care

(3:9). However, none of these passages say that these different doctrines,myths, endless geneaologies, irreverant babblings, foolish controversies, ordissensions and quarrels are associated with written sources and it is writ-ten sources that serve to form canons of authority in the evangelical church,for example, the canon of sacred Scriptures (literally the "holy writings" ofRom. 1:2). Instead, these exhortations and commandments are most likelyspeaking about oral traditions and beliefs that were circulating among thechurches in Ephesus and Crete. Thus, Scripture itself does not appear tolimit the canon of authority in spiritual theology.

How biblical authors utilized non-biblical texts, particularly classicalGreek works, has been the topic of an excellent article by Robert Rene-han." Renehan begins by differentiating between "general allusions of aproverbial nature and specific quotations."^" Under the category of generalallusions he says that 1 Timothy 6:10a "is in fact a familiar Greek TOJto"and that the "evidence is fairly clear that this kind of statement is a prover-bial commonplace which had long been current in the classical world."^'He shows that in Acts 5:39, 9:5, 19:35, and 26:14 there is "apparent famil-iarity with Euripides."^-^ 1 Corinthians 8:2 and Galatians 6:3 reveal clearechoes of Plato's Apology and "we can safely trace Paul's inspiration here,one way or another, ultimately back to Plato."^' Similarly, Romans 7:15and following seems to have an "intellectual archetype" in several passagesof Euripides as well as Plato, Xenophon, Ovid and Horace.''' Thus, Rene-han concludes that "in this passage of Romans we can still detect, clothedin a new dress, traces of a motif which, so far as is now known, first ap-peared in Athens in the fifth century before Christ."'^ 1 Corinthians 13:1-3has a "structural correspondence" to "the early elegiac poet Tyrtaeus" and1 Corinthians 12:4-11 parallels passages in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

Next Renehan turns his attention to exact quotations and identifies thefollowing direct uses of classical Greek texts. First, 1 Corinthians 15:33 is aquotation from Meander who most likely borrowed it from Euripides. Sec-ond, Clement of Alexandria, in Stromata 1.14.59, says that Titus 1:12 is aquotation from Epimenides the Cretan, described by Renehan as a "shad-

" Robert Renehan, "Classical Greek Quotations in the New Testament," inDavid Neiman and Margaret Schatkin, eds.. The Heritage of the Early Church: Es-says in Honor of the Very Reverend Georges Vasilievich Florovsky (Rome, 1973):17-46. See also Alphons Marth, "Die Zitate des hl. Paulus aus der Profanliteratur,"Zeitschrift fur katholische Theologie 37 (1913): 889-895; and Roman Garrison, TheGraeco-Roman Context of Early Christian Literature (Sheffield: Sheffield AcademicPress, 1997).

Ibid., 18." Ibid." Ibid., 23." Ibid., 24.'* Ibid., 24-25." Ibid., 26.


owy, half-legendary figure" of the seventh to fifth centuries before Christ.'*Clement's attestation has been proven correct by Renehan and others.Third, Acts 17:28b is a quotation from the Cilician poet Aratus' poem Fai-novmena written in the third century before Christ and bears a strong simi-larity to verse four of Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus. From this we see that NewTestament authors, at times, used material from non-biblical sources. It canbe shown therefore that since the New Testament contains general allusionsto and quotes directly from classical Greek literature there was a kind ofopen, or unlimited, canon of authority for the New Testament authors. Thiscanon included material from the Old Testament as well as non-biblicalsources, especially classical Greek literature. One additional observationsupports such a conclusion. In Acts 17:23 Luke records these words ofPaul, "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of yourworship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'To an Unknown God.'What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you." Puttingaside the continuous debates concerning the interpretation of this text, hereagain is another instance of a quotation from the classical Greek world,though this quotation is taken directly from an object of worship. Yet itshould be emphasized that this was a written text and Paul quotes it as ajumping off point for his speech to the Athenians.

In addition to classical Greek allusions and quotations in the New Tes-tament there are also words borrowed from Greek philosophy because oftheir specific meanings. Since this essay is concerned with spiritual theol-ogy, I will use as an example a rich word in the history of Greek Christianspiritual texts: 7ti6\)|ia and its verbal form itt6\)|j.).''' These terms "de-note the direct impulse towards food, sexual satisfaction, etc., and also de-sire in general" and "[f]rom the time of Plato, and [especially] the Stoics,the term acquires a distinctive sense in [Greek] philosophy." As well, "[i]nStoicism . . . 7tt9v)(iia is listed along with f|5ovii (pleasure), (j)ooc (fear) andX\)Kr\ (grief) as one of the four chief passions."'* In short, Biichsel concludesthat "[i]n Greek philosophy 7tt9u|ia is the waywardness of man in conflictwith his rationality."" In the New Testament there are fifty-three occur-rences of the word niGu^ia or one of its derivatives*" and "[m]ostly . . .they indicate evil desire in accordance with the Greek . . . development con-sidered [above]."*' Thus, this brief study of the New Testament usage of the

' ' Ibid., 35." This section relies on Frriedrich Biichsel's discussion oi .KiQ\i\u.a, 7tieu|i) in

Gerhard Kittel, ed.. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 3 (GrandRapids: Wm. B. Eerdman's Publishing Gompany, 1965), pp. 168-171.

'Ibid., 168." Ibid., 169.'" Concordance to the Novum Testamentum Graece, 3rd edition. Ed. by the In-

stitute for New Testament Textual Research and the Gomputer Genter of MnsterUniversity, with the collaboration of H. Bachmann and W.A. Slaby (Berlin/NewYork: Walter de Gruyter, 1987).

" Kittel, ed.. Theological Dictionary ofthe New Testament, vol. 3, 170.

26 Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care

Greek word jtt9\)|xa further reveals that the New Testament authors uti-lized a wide variety of classical Greek materials and further supports theclaim that there was an unlimited canon of authority for the New Testa-ment authors.

It is clear that Paul used classical Greek sources. However, this doesnot have to imply that because New Testament authors used non-scripturalsources that this allows us the same freedom nor does it necessarily validatean unlimited canon of sources in the area of spiritual theology. The purposeof the ahove survey was not to justify the use of all writers when discussingspiritual theology but to suggest that a canon must be open and not limited.Rather, the purpose of the exercise was to remind us that, in fact, non-scrip-tural sources have heen used from the earliest beginnings of the history ofthe church. This allows us, I believe, the freedom to pursue the option of us-ing a plethora of sources of the Christian tradition in the development of aspiritual theology. With this option available to us, we can begin to exam-ine all the non-evangelical sources from history that can contribute posi-tively to an evangelical spiritual theology. This would necessitate the devel-opment of a "hermeneutic of spiritual theology," if you will, that wouldprovide the framework within which each spiritual text is judged for itsusefulness and appropriate utilization hy the evangelical church.*^ A viable"hermeneutic of spiritual theology" will make each author of the Christiantradition a possible resource that can be appropriated hy evangelical spiri-tual theologians. The subjective nature of the current canon of spiritualtexts will give way to a totality (all writings, peoples, histories, etc.) of thechurch's tradition, making evangelical spiritual theology a discipline with-out boundaries, or at least a discipline with appropriate boundaries.

*^ Space limitations make it impossible to develop this hermeneutic here thoughI hope to do so in the near future.

Author: Greg Peters. Title: Assistant Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theol-ogy. Affiliation: Torrey Honors Institute, Biola University (La Mirada, CA). HighestDegree: Ph.D., University of St. Michael's College, Toronto. Areas of interest/spe-cialization: early and medieval Christian history and spirituality, spiritual theology,and monasticism.

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