This book makes a case for recognizing that Christian spirituality and identity today are informed by multiple sources of wisdom, with Christian doctrinal principles not necessarily holding more sway than other, nontraditional influences. The author calls for a new approach to the study of spirituality that probes the sources and influences of Christian spirituality in the twenty-first-century, global, postmodern context. With a focus on Christianity, the author asserts that spirituality is an essential aspect of religion and, as such, should be examined from a theological perspective so that the content and character of spiritual paths can inform a religion's self-understanding. She defines spirituality as “ha[ving] to do with purposeful approaches to the living of life intended to integrate ideals and/or values, to seek greater wholeness, and/or to address questions of meaning” (xiv).
Chapter 1 draws on the work of sociologists of religion to present research on the state of religious identity and spirituality in contemporary North America. Chapter 2 offers a review of the understanding and methodology of spirituality as a discipline. It explores the works of Walter Principe, Michael Downey, and Sandra Schneiders and highlights the interdisciplinary character of the field. The third chapter addresses historical understandings of the task and goals of theology and relates those back to evolving notions of spiritual theology, mystical theology, and finally, spirituality as the term is used today. Chapter 4 marks the shift into more constructive work as the author begins in earnest her argument for the theological study of contemporary Christian spiritualities. She suggests that theology could benefit from facing head-on the hybrid sources underpinning Christian spiritualities today (she notes, for example, a study from the Pew Forum that says 28 percent of American Catholics believe in reincarnation), and she stresses the importance of understanding those beliefs in relation to how a spiritual path is lived out as part of Christian practice. The fifth chapter is a demonstration of the new approach that the author advocates in a series of short case studies.
At times, the author's shifting use of the term spirituality leads to some confusion as to when she is referring to personal spiritual experiences and when to the academic study of those experiences. Additionally, one could take issue with her close adherence to a Hickian definition of religion and could question whether her general definition of spirituality is as truly universal and independent of Christian overtones as she suggests.
As the author notes, the text is more suitable for graduate students than for undergraduates. Master's and divinity students in particular may benefit from the brief overview of cultural and philosophical postmodernism that she provides, which boils down dense theory into a few easily understandable pages. The author also makes good use of the works of Wade Clark Roof and Robert Wuthnow in order to present research from the sociology of religion on “seekers” and hybrid spiritualities. This may be particularly useful for students of theology who are less familiar with this body of literature.
