A Survey of Christian Spirituality

Judaism Prior to Christ

PHILO (info)

• c. 20 B.C.E. - c. A.D. 50
  Jewish Hellenistic philosopher
  

Quadrant: Theology

Paths to God

• poverty
• interpreting Scripture allegorically

Spiritual Goals

• mysticism
• wisdom

Other Observations

• grounded in synagogal worship

JOHN THE BAPTIST (info)

JESUS (info)

THE APOSTLE PAUL (info)

Quadrant: Balance (all four)

Paths to God

• repentance
• constant training like an athlete
• accepting the cost of discipleship
• purity of heart

Spiritual Goals

• the mind of Christ
• light in the midst of darkness
• love (agapé)
• logos (reason)

Other Observations

• the spirituality of the New Testament people is not that of the Jewish intelligentsia; hence more emphasis on the heart than on the mind.

BARNABAS (info)

• martyred c. 61
• trad. founder of the church in Cyprus

Quadrant: Theology

Paths to God

• simplicity of heart and single-minded service
• temperance, even of religious zeal
• martyrdom

Spiritual Goals

• knowledge of God (or Light)
• assimilation into Christ (recapitulation)

Other Observations

• the writings of the post-New Testament authors tend to be naïve until the sophisticated discourse of Irenaeus of Lyon.

ANTHONY the GREAT  (info)

• c. 251 - 356
• known as 'The Father of Monasticism"

Quadrant: Purification

Paths to God

• living an ascetic life
• absolute solitude

Spiritual Goals

• overcoming inner affliction by prayer
• refrain from esteeming this world and remember the next

Other Observations

• In a vision where the whole world seemed covered with snares and traps. Anthony heard an inner voice declaring that humility was all that was needed for escape.

ATHANASIUS of ALEXANDRIA  (info)

• c. 296/8 - 373
• Theologian and Patriarch
• Chief proponent of Trinitarianism

Quadrant: Theology

Paths to God

• accepting Jesus as the Divine Son of God
• holding to "the tradition, teaching, and faith proclaimed by the apostles and guarded by the fathers."

Spiritual Goals

• holding to the concept of the Trinity in the sense that both the Son of God and the Holy Spirit are consubstantial with the Father.

Other Observations

• Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human
• against Arianism, he insists the Son is of the same essence (homoousios) as the Father
• His famous line (paraphrased):
  “God became human so that humans might become divine.”

MACARIUS the ELDER  (info)

• c. 300 - 390
• Egyptian monk in the desert of Skete

Quadrant: Purification

Paths to God

• withdrawal to the deert to face the severe life there as an alternative to martyrdom (anchoritism)
• struggle against boredom and loss of purpose (against acedia)
• the steady ascent up the ladder of perfection

Spiritual Goals

• awakening to the Word of God

Other Observations

• monastics were not "trying to pull themselves up by their  selves in order to hear the Word of God
• two forms of ife existed:
  eremetial - life in solitude
  cenobitical - life in community from time to timer

BASIL of CAESAREA  (info)

• c. 330 - 379
• (hermit, 358 - 370)
  (bishop, 370 - 379

GREGORY of NAZIANZUS (info)

c. 329 - 389

(instrumental in establishing the Nicene faith in the First Council of Constantinople 381)

GREGORY of NYSSA (info)

c. 330 - 395

younger brother of Basil of Caesarea. A thinker and theologian of great originality and knowledge. Sometimes called "the Father of Christian Mysticism"

Quadrant: Purification

HERMAS  (info)

• 2nd century
• writer of The Shepherd of Hermas

Quadrant: Purification

TATIAN  (info)

• 2nd century
• founded the Gnostic sect of Encratites

Quadrant: Purification

IGNATIUS of ANTIOCH  (info)

• c. 35 - 107
• 2nd or 3rd bishop of Antioch

Quadrant: Purification

IRENAEUS of LYON  (info)

• c. 130 - 200
• the first great Catholic theologian

Quadrant: Purification

Paths to God

• the practice of goodness
• erotic passion for union with God
• sober excitement beyond self-control
• working together with God (synergy)
• engendering an inner quiet (hesychasm)

Spiritual Goals

• growth in goodness
• becoming like God

Other Observations

• described as typifying "erudite monasticism"
• Basil was the legislator. His friend Gregory was the port, and his brother Gregory as the spiritual master

PHILO (info)

• c. 20 B.C.E. - c. A.D. 50
  Jewish Hellenistic philosopher
  

Quadrant: Theology

Paths to God

• poverty
• interpreting Scripture allegorically

Spiritual Goals

• mysticism
• wisdom

Other Observations

• grounded in synagogal worship

XXX

PHILO (info)

• c. 20 B.C.E. - c. A.D. 50
  Jewish Hellenistic philosopher
  

Quadrant: Theology

Paths to God

• poverty
• interpreting Scripture allegorically

Spiritual Goals

• mysticism
• wisdom

Other Observations

• grounded in synagogal worship

XXX

PHILO (info)

• c. 20 B.C.E. - c. A.D. 50
  Jewish Hellenistic philosopher
  

Quadrant: Theology

Paths to God

• poverty
• interpreting Scripture allegorically

Spiritual Goals

• mysticism
• wisdom

Other Observations

• grounded in synagogal worship

XXX

PHILO (info)

• c. 20 B.C.E. - c. A.D. 50
  Jewish Hellenistic philosopher
  

Quadrant: Theology

Paths to God

• poverty
• interpreting Scripture allegorically

Spiritual Goals

• mysticism
• wisdom

Other Observations

• grounded in synagogal worship

XXX

PHILO (info)

• c. 20 B.C.E. - c. A.D. 50
  Jewish Hellenistic philosopher
  

Quadrant: Theology

Paths to God

• poverty
• interpreting Scripture allegorically

Spiritual Goals

• mysticism
• wisdom

Other Observations

• grounded in synagogal worship