SYLVANUS
GATORWU
SEPTEMBER
29, 2019
THEO5223.01
SPIRITUAL FORMATION
DR.
SANEJO LEONARD
Description:
Written by Richard J. Foster, the
book – “Celebration of Discipline; The
Path to Spiritual Growth” was published by “Perfectbound” in September 1997.
This particular edition, the 20th Anniversary Edition has 335 pages.
Thesis: The book seeks to outline
the various ways to attaining the proper spiritual formation process through
various spiritual disciplines. It, therefore, contains various tools to employ
in spiritual formation. It also aims at explaining what spiritual formation is
and what it is not.
Summary: The book contains three
main parts. After an introduction containing how Foster learned the hard way
following a misconception of a successful ministry right after seminary, he
makes a strong case why each believer needs to go through the various
disciplines outline in the book as a means of spiritual development.
The rest of the book is divided
into three parts containing three classes of spiritual disciplines namely;
Inward Disciplines, Outward Disciplines, and Corporate Disciplines.
Approximately 75 percent of the book has been read.
Interactive
Analysis: Being an entirely new subject, every page of the book was seriously an
eye-opener. In the introduction, Foster shared timeless revelations and lessons
that are most impacting and worth emulating.
The most touching however was the
case that Foster makes in support of the fact that, there is indeed a realm
beyond the physical world which the believer must seek to connect with and
develop his ability to connect to this world. He then gives a very good reason
why many aren’t able to develop themselves as such, i.e. philosophic and
practical.[1][1]
The disciplines are well
explained, and Foster doesn’t hesitate to make a very strong defense to the
fact that, these disciplines should not be thought of as behavioral routines,
otherwise we fail, he quotes Heini Arnold and explains how we cannot achieve
much by our own will, he calls such an act will worship.[2][2]
Going
through the book, one begins to wonder if these practices are not just what
Eastern Religions call meditation. As the book unfolds into the middle, Foster
begins to give the difference in what is practiced in Christianity and what the
other religions do. A perfect example is what he says about meditation. Whereas
in the Eastern religions, meditation takes one out of this world, Foster
explains that in Christianity medication “sends us into our ordinary world with
greater perspective and balance” making us more relevant to actually aid in
providing solutions to the very world in which we live.
My challenge with Foster is his
sources. On one hand, I admire his broad-based approached to explaining issues,
on the other hand, perhaps my prejudice, I wish he had avoided characters whose
orthodoxy have been questioned by several Christian authorities in the space of
Christian apologetics like Ignatius Loyola. These for me, turn to give the book
a wider spectrum of acceptance within religions space (which is not a bad
thing) but also questions its sole acceptance as a perfect Christian manual.
Application: Considering the
pressures of the age, these disciplines are much more needed and welcomed than
any time in history (In my opinion) especially that of meditation, and fasting.
Organizations, nations, families, and churches will flourish and be more united
if the corporate disciplines herein stated can be adhered to as the example of
fasting to avert a seeming imminent invasion of France against England.[3][3]
Obviously, as Acting Head of the Prayer Department and Head of the Christian
Education Department of my church, these will be employed severely to ensure
that a united front is built to unleash the power of God into our lives,
radiating positively into the church as against being busy with the devil in
warfare all time. In conclusion, I also ask just like Foster, “Why has the
giving of money, for example, been unquestionably recognized as an element in
Christian devotion and fasting so disputed? Certainly, we have as much, if not
more, evidence from the Bible for fasting as we have for giving.”[4][4]
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