A Spiritual Life

A compelling exploration of the biblical foundations, contemplative practices, and spiritual path of Jesus himself—from the bestselling author of The Case for Jesus “What happens when a biblical theologian explores classic spirituality? This book. Pitre’s students have asked, Why have we never heard this before? The reader wonders the same.”—Dr. David Fagerberg, author of Liturgical Mysticism The path of following Jesus is an ancient and storied spiritual tradition. Yet many believers are not familiar with the three major forms of prayer and the three stages of spiritual growth that exist to bring them closer to God. In his most personal book yet, Brant Pitre, PhD, draws on the riches of the Bible, the words of Jesus, and the writings of mystics across the centuries to shed light on the mystery—and wonder—of the spiritual life. Starting with the age-old belief that the path of prayer is not only informative but transformative, Dr. Pitre explores • the scriptural roots of the major forms of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplation • the purgative, illuminative, and unitive stages of spiritual growth • the spiritual exercises of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving • the Jewish roots of the Lord’s Prayer • Lectio Divina: how to pray with the Bible • seven vices and their seven opposing virtues • the battle of prayer: how to deal with difficulty and distractions • the “dark night of the soul” in the Scriptures Full of sacred truths, contemplative insights, and practical steps, Introduction to the Spiritual Life is a biblical road map of the spiritual landscape that enables us to follow Jesus as our primary guide.

Jesus faced incredible challenges and suffered agonizing trials, but there was simplicity in His relationship with His Father that we can emulate. And in that simplicity, we can realize our greatest fulfillment as believers. If your Bible study seems tedious and your prayer life wearisome, stop and rediscover how rewarding the simple Christian life can be.

The Spiritual Life is undoubtedly the finest, most comprehensive and best respected one volume treatise on the spiritual life ever written. Clear, thorough, easy to read, orthodox, authoritative, beautifully organized, logically developed, lively and practical, the book covers the whole field of spirituality. Based on Sacred Scripture, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as other great Saints and spiritual writers of all ages. Impr.

This revealing collection presents a selection of twenty poets, prophets, and preachers who share their understandings of what makes a "good spiritual life." They draw on their professional experiences and, as important, grace us with their personal thoughts. The result is essentially a textbook for spirituality courses, exposing readers to the spiritual lives of a wonderfully diverse group of people with a wide range of Christian experiences. Every reader is sure to find a perspective with which he or she can identify.

In this classic work of spiritual theology, historian Richard Lovelace presents a history of spiritual renewals in light of biblical models. Drawing from the best of different Protestant traditions, Dynamics of Spiritual Life lays out a comprehensive approach to the renewal of the church. In the first half of the book, Lovelace surveys awakening movements since the Reformation, particularly emphasizing Jonathan Edwards's theology of renewal. He then goes deeper into specific elements of such movements and their significance for both doctrinal reformation and spiritual renewal. Lovelace examines such practical issues as renewal of the local congregation, ways revivals go wrong, prospects for closing the "sanctification gap," the historical role of evangelical movements in promoting both unity and division, and Christian approaches to the arts. With scholarly and pastoral insight, he offers a powerful vision of renewal that can unify various models across traditions, combining individual and corporate spirituality, social activism, and evangelism. For over forty years, this well-loved book has helped Christians understand the spiritual movement they are a part of and guided leaders in planting and pastoring churches. This expanded edition features a new forewordby Timothy Keller.