This module seeks to provide a general introduction to Christian spirituality including an examination of some important themes and an opportunity to explore the way personality, tradition and views of Scripture shape one's approach to spirituality. . Throughout the module, students will be introduced to appropriate study skills. This will equip them with the academic tools required for research, essay writing, seminar presentation and exam performance.

·          recognise a variety of different approaches to spirituality within the Christian tradition.

·         appreciate that there are a variety of  ways of 'knowing' and approaching God within the context of Christian    thought.

·         identify and critically reflect on  types of Christian spirituality. 

·         examine how spirituality  may be shaped by such variables as  personality, tradition and context. 

·         engage with some  texts from the Christian tradition.

This class will be taught using class lectures and discussion. During the semester there will be an opportunity for students to discuss ideas which are pertinent to the module.

Intellectual Skills:

1. Describe at least one approach to spirituality which is different to their own

2. Outline some ways in which personality, tradition and context affect spirituality

3. Explain salient ideas from relevant classic Christian texts on spirituality

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

1. Represent their own views on Christian spirituality and those of others sensitively and intelligently with fairness and integrity

2. Expound some understanding of the need to examine the development and expression of religious belief within its particular historical context

3. Give a lucid account of variations within the broad tradition of Christian spirituality.

Transferable Skills:

1. Communicate information, ideas, perceptions, arguments, principles and theories by a variety of means written and oral

2. Successfully reproduce, reflect upon and interact with the experiences, ideas and arguments of others

3. Engage with empathy, integrity and reflection with the convictions and behaviours of others

4. Use IT skills to enhance learning and understanding

5. Give some account of their own beliefs, commitments and prejudices

Students submit three pieces of written work (2,000 words each) in a portfolio or a dissertation (6,000 words) at the end of the module. The portfolio may include:

(1) An evaluation (2,000 words equivalent) of an approach to Christian Spirituality which is different from the student's own experience .

Or

(2) an essay of no more than 2,000 words that will critically examine the approach to spirituality as reflected in the life and writings of one of significant Christian figure.

Or

3) a 2,000 word critical reflection paper on their experience of an approach to Christian spirituality which is new to the student’s experience. (For example, this might include participation in a day or weekend retreat or a visit to a Quaker Meeting or some other type of Christian worship.)

Christian Spirituality or Spiritualities?

Spirituality and Story

Spirituality and Desire

Exploring Spiritual texts

Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out

Dorothy Day, Loaves and Fishes or The Long Loneliness

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together and Letters and Papers from Prison

Martin Luther King Jr, Complete Writings

Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings

Jean Vanier, Community and Growth

Teilhard de Chardin. Le Milieu Divin and Hymn Of the Universe

Thomas Kelly, A Testament of Devotion

John Woolman, Journal

Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism

St Augustine, Confessions

The Desert Fathers and Mothers

Marks of Christian Spirituality

The set text for this course is: Karen E. Smith, SCM Core Text: Christian Spirituality, London, SCM, 2007.

*The following list offers a starting point for reading in the area of Christian spirituality.

Barton, Stephen. The Spirituality of the Gospels, 1992.

Bouyer, Louis. A History of Christian Spirituality. 3 Vols. 1960.

Bryant, Christopher. The River Within. 1978.

___________________. Jung and the Christian Way. 1983.

Cunningham, Lawrence S. and Keith J. Egan, Christian Spirituality, Themes from the Tradition, 1996.

Downey, Michael, Understanding Christian Spirituality,1997.

Foster, Richard. Freedom of Simplicity. 1981.

_______________. Celebration of Discipline.1980.

Fowler. James, Stages of Faith. 1976.

Francis, Leslie J. Personality Type and Scripture, 1997.

Holmes. Urban T, History of Christian Spirituality. 1981.

______________. Spirituality for Ministry. 1982.

Holt, Bradley. A Brief History of Christian Spirituality, 1993.

Jones, Cheslyn and Geoffrey Wainwright and Edward Yarnold, The Study of Spirituality. 1986.

Johnston, William. Arise My Love, Mysticism for a New Era, 2000.

McGinn, Bernard and John Meyendorff and Jean Leclercq, Christian Spirituality, Vol. XVI, XVII, and XVIII, in World Spirituality, An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest, 1988.

McGrath, Alister E. Christian Spirituality, An Introduction, 1999

Mursell, Gordon. English Spirituality, 2 Vols SPCK, 2001.

Pattison, Stephen and James Woodward, eds. The Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology Oxford, Blackwell, 2000.

Sheldrake, Philip, Images of Holiness: Explorations in Contemporary Spirituality, 1988

______________. Spirituality and History, 1995

______________. Befriending Our Desires,1994

Waller, Ralph and Benedicta Ward, eds. An Introduction to Christian Spirituality, 1997.

Wakefield, Gordon S. A Dictionary of Christian Spirituality. 1983. Gordon S. Wakefield, Groundwork of Christian Spirituality,2001.