Summary: A collection of contributions reflecting the global and catholic conversation around spiritual formation including theological study, elements of worship, and mission in contemporary cultures as formation.

In many areas of faith and practice, we are seeing increased representation of global voices bringing the wealth of their gifts, insights, and unique expressions to the conversation. This volume represents just such a project in an area that has largely been a Western conversation: spiritual formation. This edited collection introduces us to Australian, Asian, African, and Latino perspectives on spiritual formation, and in the process both recovering and revealing spiritually formative thought and practice often neglected in the West.

After an introduction by the editors discussing the awakening movement of spiritual formation as well as the three foci of the volumes, the contributions are presented under three parts.

Part One: Biblical and Theological Study as Spiritual Formation

Michael J. Gorman argues in the opening essay in this part that biblical and theological study in itself can be formative, destroying the lines between “academic” and spiritual. In “Theological Education and Spiritual Formation” by Sammy Alfaro, the author offers an inspiring account of how the Bible Institute approach to theological training of pastors, usually in the church context, weds academic work and spiritual formation. Alfred Olwa. in the African context, discusses how a biblically faithful approach to scripture is spiritually formative. Finally, in “Spiritual Theology and Spiritual Formation: An Integrative Methodology for a Global Approach,” John H. Coe explores how the interdisciplinary work of spiritual theology, drawing upon scripture, the Holy Spirit, and human experience, lends itself to contextualization in various global contexts.

Part Two: Acts and Elements of Worship as Spiritual Formation

“Liturgy and Spiritual Formation: Engaging with Evelyn Underhill’s Prayer Book” by Robyn Wrigley-Carr recounts her use of the prayers collected by Underhill for both retreats and worship. I found this so fascinating that I bought Wrigley-Carr’s book! Markus Nikkanen exegetes the Corinthian texts on the Eucharist, showing that participation is a form of covenantal transformative remembrance that is spiritually formative. “Sacrifice and Surrender as Spiritual Formation,” by John Frederick and Jonathan K. Sharpe, is a study in Ephesians of how works of love in the church context, including confession, constitute surrender to Christ. The section closes out with an essay by Ryan A. Brandt calling for our recovery of an understanding of the beatific vision, drawing upon Augustine.

Part Three: Christ, Contemporary Culture, and Spiritual Formation

In “Old Testament Ethics and Spiritual Formation,” S. Min Chun, a Korean scholar, outlines from Leviticus 19 a holistic vision of holiness in its theological, economic, and social aspects. Le Chih Hsieh, a Taiwanese scholar, diagnoses the Epicurean elements in the “little happiness” focus of postmodern Taiwan culture and contrasts it with 2 Peter’s focus on the grand vision of life in the kingdom. “The Holy Spirit, Supernatural Interventionism, and Spiritual Formation,” by J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, argues for the place of supernatural manifestations, often in the context of spiritual warfare, as a neglected aspect in the West of life in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, a commonplace in the author’s West Africa context.
HaYoung Son closes out this section with a wonderful meditation on two instances of failure in the life of the apostle Peter, on the sea, and in the threefold denial and how these are reframed by the faithfulness of Jesus.

This is not only spiritual formation for the global church but also from the global church that will enrich the spiritually seeking reader of any culture. I particularly welcomed the focus on theological study as spiritually formative. We far too often bifurcate these to the loss of both. I noted how many of these essays begin with a text or texts, carefully handled, culturally appropriated, and then generalized for the wider church. I appreciated the inclusion of practices that were in my spiritual “blind spot,” particularly contemplation of the beatific vision, and communal confession. Le Chih Hsieh’s focus on Epicureanism makes me wonder how widespread this is in the American context. I sense it present in many “prosperity gospels” that lack for a kingdom-sized vision of the work of Christ. Read this to gain an appreciation of the rich work of God beyond North American shores! ( )