Review - Christian Spirituality

Christian Spirituality
Karen E Smith
SCM, 2007, £19.99
ISBN 978-0-334-04042-2

Who would have thought in the 1960s that spirituality would become a buzzword of 21st century western culture? From school Ofsteds to dieting regimes, among celebrities, cabinet ministers and terrorists, spirituality is a sine qua non. Of course its context is usually set within another characteristic of our age and culture: individualism. Even in the church, spirituality is often pursued alongside personal fulfilment.

So what is most refreshing about Karen Smith’s treatment of the subject in this SCM Core Text is that the setting is the community. And not just the community as a place to develop my own spirituality, my own ministry; but a renewed community, a new humanity, a kingdom come. Individual spirituality is only truly Christian when it works towards a transformation of society in the light of the Gospel. Her last chapter encourages us to dream of God’s new order and to wait patiently and work fervently towards it.

The Introduction takes the form of a parable that highlights the difficulties confronting the spiritual searcher: there are so many, often competing, approaches to the subject. Smith maintains that these are characterised by the tension between interpreting spirituality through either doctrine or experience. The following six chapters are about the dialogue between these two.

This is not a ‘teach yourself how’ book (such as Willard’s The Spirit of the Disciplines) but rather it tries to follow threads in Christian spirituality: belief systems, searching, relationships, storytelling, pilgrimage, and of course, suffering. It is a deeply reflected and Christocentric study which is likely to be more resonant with those of us who have been around a while rather than teenagers. Some of the particular people Smith uses as examples (Dag Hammarskjöld for instance) raise interesting issues concerning the breadth of ‘Christian’ spirituality, and so-called, anonymous Christians.

It’s a comparatively short and expensive book and although aimed at second and third year undergraduate students of spirituality, it would prove a helpful workbook for leading a course exploring spiritualities in church. Each chapter ends with an invitation to reflect on various questions and a very good selection ‘for further reading’. There is a rather eclectic glossary of Christian writers, and subject and Scriptural indices are welcome. Preachers will be grateful for Smith’s many illustrative vignettes and quotations which can be plundered.

Church Times