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 Protestant Spiritual Theology
 
 10/26/2006 6:57:27 PM
User is offlinekcstrobel
50 posts


Protestant Spiritual Theology
 (United Kingdom)
Since Spiritual Theology is generally considered to be a "Catholic" practice, that is now being approached by Protestant thinkers, I was wondering what are the key differences (if any) to the general approaches? I am curious because I wonder if in trying to subsume this kind of theology in the various theological traditions if we could possibly lose the essential elements of what Catholic theologians have deemed "spiritual theology." I guess the follow up question would be, "What are those essential elements?", and possibly "What makes spiritual theology different from, say, a study of sanctification?
 11/4/2006 9:32:37 PM
User is offlineHenri
28 posts


Re: Protestant Spiritual Theology
 (N/A)
Well, I am certainly no expert, but I think I can possibly shed light on some of these. First, it seems that the major point of departure from a Catholic perspective will be one of source. This is not true across the board, but for the most part, Protestants will stay away from the kinds of sources that Catholics would use in developing a spiritual theology (mystical experience, history of the saints, church authority, etc). Not that these elements wouldn't be in a Protestant spiritual theology, just that they might not be sources in the same way that a Catholic theologian would use them.

In a distinctively Protestant spiritual theology, it would seem to have to be first and foremost a theology of the Word. "The Word" used here would refer most readily to Christ, but also to the scriptural witness to Christ which we tend to call the Bible. The starting assumption would be that the Word is the defining factor of all of our experience, that we do not know love until it is described and lived for us in Christ, that we do not understand the Father except through the son, and so on. It is from there that a theology of the Spirit as well as talk of Christian growth should stem if someone wants to do a distinctively Protestant spiritual theology. But I don't know, does anyone else have any input on this?
 11/7/2006 5:55:47 PM
User is offlinethomas
21 posts


Re: Protestant Spiritual Theology
 (United States)
I think your comments regarding the difference in source is an important point, and I would agree. I believe that ulitmately the discussion will be divided semantically as well. Catholics using the term "spriitual theology" and protestants using the term "sanctification." Ultimately, both do seem to be referring to the same topic of interest, which is the "Christian life." Thus, it would seem that the initial question posed as to what the difference between sanctification and spiritual theology is, is in part a distinction brought forth by tradition and semantics. However, there are some interesting differences worth noting in both traditions and terms that may shed light on the value of both. Spiritual Theology does seem to provide a bit more of a practical methodology and perhaps more accecisble methodology for exploring the nature of the Christian life in the present day. Spiritual Theology not only wants to look to Truth (the Word-as you have stated and described well), but also experience of believers in relationship with the Word in the present day. This second part of spiritual theologies methodology of including experience would probably be the place in which many evangelicals get uncomfortable, and perhaps for some good reasons. Sanctification, may be a better term to use when referring to a theology of the Chrisitian life for evangelicals simply because it does not carry the (Catholic baggage). Also, the benefit of sanctification seems to be a focus on the creation of a theological framework from which to ground our experience in the Christian life (an appropriate grounding in Scripture). This seems to also be the place in which "spiritual formation" has suffered. In not taking seriously the value of a robust doctrine of sanctification, the movement seems to be moving forward with practice having missed some of the theological grounding necessary to do so. Does anyone else have thoughts on the need for a "spiritual theology/sanctification" grounding for the spiritual formation movement?
 11/10/2006 8:16:06 PM
User is offlineSpaschall
1 posts


Re: Protestant Spiritual Theology
 (N/A)
I would agree that the spiritual formation movement is in peril of moving forward without much of a theological grounding, but I would also say that it should not be suprising that this is so.  I do not think it is suprising because it seems that spiritual theology as such, is a lived theology and this being true, its primary focus is not on propositional knowledge per se, but is rather focused on the activities and practices that ground us in the gospel (thus the emphasis on community, spiritual disciplines, retreats, etc...).  Because of this it is difficult to formulate a "theology of practice."  This seems to me to be why you won't find a robust articulation of the doctrine of sanctification in most systematic theologies, but you will find a robust (good or bad) articulation of the "Christian life" in any Christian book store.  It seems that the Catholic discipline of spiritual theology is grounded in historical, and descriptive accounts of  a "lived theology," in addition to presecriptive teachings on the "how to's" of the Christian life.  From my limited experience I would say that protestants have, in the past, had a robust theology of the spiritual life (I am thinking of the Puritans, the Methodists, etc...), but a great deal of that was lost and we were left with an overly simplistic view of the spiritual life from an evangelical perspective.  All of this to say that I believe this can be done, I believe that a theology can be articulated about how certain practices and activities actually do ground us in gospel realities.  I believe that our doctrine of sanctification can be informed by the other great doctrines in sytematics, and in doing so can shed light on certain kinds of practices that ground us in these doctrinal realities.
 6/13/2008 11:48:32 PM
User is offlinejkuntz
1 posts


Re: Protestant Spiritual Theology
 (N/A)

I agree that most protestants would start with the Word and Christ and eventually a variety of sources would be drawn into the conversation of the Spirit.  I do, however, think that the semantics are important.  Coming from a background in chemistry and biology, I see spiritual theology as more descriptive, categorical and systematic where sanctification is more of a process and practical—perhaps the practical application of spiritual theology??

I also appreciate the idea of having a theological grounding on/out of which to base spiritual formation.  The church (all Christians) have suffered and struggled greatly (needlessly?) by not addressing the Spirit and spiritual theology more intentionally.  I would venture to say that our emerging culture of individualism, technological distance (vs. face to face communication), over commitment/lack of hours in the day/inability to choose priorities in an attempt to do everything, has encouraged us to shun the disciplines of spiritual care and interaction with the Spirit.  Essentially we are relationally handicapped.  This is a huge issue in the church at large as our God is a relational God—within the Trinity and with all of creation.

So what do we do?  Admit that we aren’t God (we can’t do everything), but are human creatures (we can do some things by the Triune God’s Spirit working in us).  As humans that are limited beings, we need to release our pride and position and accept that we need to practice spiritual disciplines (discerned for each person, maybe prayer, bible study, theological reading, etc.) much like we need to have our car engines tuned up or go to a doctor for a check up.  All these things I’ve mentioned are practical.  Perhaps we humans work backwards by learning and doing practical things that lead us toward deeper spiritual theological comments and frameworks.
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