Sacred Systems: Exploring Personal Transformation in the Western Christian Tradition

by Eric J. Kyle

Overview

From early Jewish-Christian texts such as the Didache, which present well-defined catechetical programs, to contemporary authors such as Dallas Willard, who offer in-depth insights into the transformations of one's heart and soul, systematic texts on spiritual formation in the Western Christian tradition abound. These texts can offer ministers, researchers, and laypersons much clarity and guidance for their craft. However, the spiritual formation systems that we use are also always contextually influenced; such contextual factors may make them difficult to adapt to one's local work. Rather than turning to only a single text or community, then, it can be helpful for practitioners and theorists to look to a broader set of systematic presentations of spiritual formation. By turning to a group of specific individuals and communities in each era of Western Christian history, this book will help those working in this field to better understand how personal spiritual formation has been conceptualized and embodied. Such an exploration will help us not only to compile a more complete history of spiritual formation at the level of the individual but also to glean a better understanding of personal transformation so that we might engage this craft in more informed and systematic ways.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630870928
Publisher:	Pickwick Publications
Publication date:	12/06/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	330
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Eric Kyle is Assistant Professor of Theology and Director of the Service-Learning Program at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska. His research focuses on the systematic study and practice of spiritual formation.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Part 1 Early Non-Christian Influences

1 Philo of Alexandria's Contemplative Life 19

2 Iamblichus and the Mysteries 31

Part 2 Early Christian Diversity

3 Gnostic Christian Formation 47

4 Didache Communities 57

Part 3 Early Monastic Formation

5 Cassian's Conferences 74

6 Philokalia Formation 88

Part 4 Medieval & Renaissance

7 Franciscan Formation 110

8 Erasmus & Militant Christians 127

Part 5 Protestant Reformation

9 Francis de Sales' Introduction 144

10 Quaker Formation 160

11 William Law's Serious Call 176

Part 6 Contemporary Movements

12 Dallas Willard's Renovating Heart 199

13 Personal Transformation at a Liberal Christian Seminary 217

14 Gerald Mays Willing Spirit 240

15 Yale's Spiritual Self Schema (3-S) Program 248

Part 7 Synthesizing & Summarizing

16 Synthesizing-The Sacred Systems through Three Lenses 267

17 Insights, Critiques, and Callings 298

Bibliography 307

Index 313

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Eric Kyle has the mind of an engineer, the heart of a pastor, and the spiritual stamina of an underground cartographer charting the precise coordinates that pave the path to light. The field of spiritual formation has never seen such systematic attention to the methods by which programs are discerned, crafted, and assessed. . . . This book will serve both the practitioner who yearns for a flow chart to guide the way through the caverns of spiritual program development and the scholar who longs for the map that outlines what's hidden in the dark."
—Frank Rogers, Claremont School of Theology

"Eric Kyle's exploration gives us lenses to understand precisely how Christian spiritual traditions transform lives—even our own lives. In fact, he is establishing a fresh and much-needed systematic approach within the new field of spiritual formation studies—one that points toward possibilities for understanding the structure and flow of transformation in any wisdom tradition."
—Andrew Dreitcer, Claremont School of Theology

Editorial Reviews

"Eric Kyle has the mind of an engineer, the heart of a pastor, and the spiritual stamina of an underground cartographer charting the precise coordinates that pave the path to light. The field of spiritual formation has never seen such systematic attention to the methods by which programs are discerned, crafted, and assessed. . . . This book will serve both the practitioner who yearns for a flow chart to guide the way through the caverns of spiritual program development and the scholar who longs for the map that outlines what's hidden in the dark."
—Frank Rogers, Claremont School of Theology

"Eric Kyle's exploration gives us lenses to understand precisely how Christian spiritual traditions transform lives—even our own lives. In fact, he is establishing a fresh and much-needed systematic approach within the new field of spiritual formation studies—one that points toward possibilities for understanding the structure and flow of transformation in any wisdom tradition."
—Andrew Dreitcer, Claremont School of Theology

From the Publisher