The SCM Core Text on Christian Spirituality brings together biblical, historical and pastoral reflections on the nature of Christian spirituality within community. It is written for second and third year university students who are studying Christian spirituality as an academic discipline, and would be useful for practical theologians who are reflecting on theology and practice within the Christian church, as well as for pastors and persons in a local church who want to explore the contours of Christian spirituality within their community of faith. Rather than list a series of specific activities such as praying, fasting, meditating etc, this book seeks to examine spirituality within the context of relationship and community. It also seeks to avoid separating spirituality from doctrine, and works towards presenting Christian spirituality as an ongoing dialogue between doctrine and experience. The book also asserts that Christian spirituality must reflect the idea of search and throughout the textbook we are introduced to a variety of Christian writers in order to examine the multifarious nature of search within the Christian tradition.
These three themes, belief, search and relationship are woven together and addressed throughout.
Dr Karen Smith teaches at the South Wales Baptist College and at the University of Wales, Cardiff. She is also pastor of Orchard Place Baptist Church in Neath. She was brought up in Georgia, USA and graduated from Mercer University in Macon and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. She then went to Oxford University where she researched eighteenth century Baptist life. She has written a number of articles and contributed to scholarly works in the areas of history and spirituality. She is a retreat leader and a regular contributor to BBC radio.