Free Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings On The Twelve Spiritual Disciplines Ebooks Online
The Brightest Lights of the Christian TraditionSt. Augustine, Thomas Merton, Fredrick Buechner, Evelyn Underhill, A.W. Tozer, G.K. Chesterton, Thomas More, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amy Carmichael, Simone Weil, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Hildegard of Bingen, John Milton, Dorothy Day, Leo Tolstoy, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and more. . . From nearly two thousand years of Christian writing comes Spiritual Classcs,fifty–two selections complete with a profile of each author, guided meditations for group and individual use, and reflections containing questions and exercises. Editors Richard Foster and Emilie Griffith offer their expertise by selecting inspirational writings and including their own commentary and recommendations for further guided reading and exploration.
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: HarperOne; 1st edition (November 13, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060628723
ISBN-13: 978-0060628727
Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #85,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #40 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Catholicism > Roman Catholicism #253 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Evangelism > Discipleship #1324 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Christian Denominations & Sects
I have recently started rereading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster with my wife. We are seeking to live out the Spiritual Disciplines in our lives. I have found "Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines" by Richard J. Foster and Emilie Griffin to be an invaluable resource in doing so.The book is divided into fifty-two chapters which are excerpts from works by famous devotional writers of the past. Each chapter focuses on one of the spiritual disciplines from "Celebration of Discipline." Each chapter contains an introduction to the author, the excerpt itself, a Biblical selection that complements the text, suggested spiritual exercises, recommendations for further reading, and a reflection by Richard Foster.I found the chapters of "Spiritual Classics" not only useful...but thought provoking. Each chapter examines a different facet of the spiritual disciplines. The chapter on fasting by Catherine Marshall was particularly thought provoking for me."Spiritual Classics" is a great resource for those trying to live out the spiritual disciplines. I readily recommend it to anyone seeking to follow the narrow path of Jesus Christ. Get a copy today...and read it.
There are five learning outcomes you will gain after reading this book:1. Introduction and exposure to some of the major Christian thinkers thoughout time and history.2. Begin to explore your personal relationship with God in a systematic and formalized mannor.3. Gain basic religous literacy.4. Experence some methodogies in theological reflection.5. Begin to understand the princaples and processes of spiritual systems, and how they impact God, humanity and the natural environment.Strongly recommended to all who are interested in learning how to put theory into practice in ones personal spiritual life and ones public vocational life. For, this book will help you put theory into practice by exposing you to good role-models, provide you with excerpts of the writings from these good role-models on important spiritual and theological matters, and gives you reflective questions and activities to complete, with additional comentary and a biblograpgy to go deeper on a person and/or topic.
In the case of Richard Foster, more is a very good thing. Once again Foster gives us a glimpse of spiritual disciplines through the lenses of the greatest Christian authors of history. This time he tackles the following subjects:. INWARD DISCIPLINES. meditation, prayer, fasting, study. OUTWARD DISCIPLINES. simplicity, solitude, submission, service. CORPORATE DISCIPLINES. confession, worship, guidance, celebrationIf you liked any of Foster's other books, you will like this one.
I found the essays by different authors enlightening. The style of some of the authors was a bit strange at first, but it is helpful reading how great Christian thinkers of different ages approached the Christian faith.
Foster and Griffin have put together an excellent book for group or personal use. Readings are arranged according to spiritual disciplines, such as meditations, prayer or fasting. A brief selection of text from famous writers is followed by a Bible reading, questions to be used to understand the readings, exercises, reflections and a bibliography for those who want to delve deeper the topic. It took me a year to get through Foster's first book, Devotional Classics, doing a reading a week. In other words, it's a long term resource to enhance your spiritual life. I really loved this book.
I am part of an informal Bible study group that has been together for several years.These are mostly retirement age folks who have been in church their whole lives. Finding material that leads to new growth in faith is so difficult. When we started this material it was so difficult both intellectually and spiritually that we would have given it up if there had been other suitable material accessible to us. Somehow, as we searched for an alternative, we hit our stride. Each section has been challenging but also strengthening.Spiritual Classics is not for the faint of heart, but it is totally wonderful. Expect every reading to set the bar higher than most of us regularly go in our faith. Don't expect to skim the lesson and be ready to discuss it. These are some of the most respected writers of the Christian faith whether from the mid 1900's or the late 300's. They think deeply and require that you do likewise. You will not come away unchanged.
Great sampler of classic work. It will lead to further exploration of the writers who move you. Love it.
great collection of readings and the reflection at the end of each by Foster is enlightening and eye opening. The mini-biographies given in the beginning of each reading is also encouraging because it removes any pretense of superiority of the author that we might unwittingly bestow him/her and brings the image of the author back down to someone we can relate to and thereby making the reading even more pertinent to our lives, struggles, doubts, fears, and confusions. It's a great book for group discussions, too, because each reading speaks and relates to everyone differently and one can hear many different perspectives on the same topic.
Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines Devotional Classics: Revised Edition: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups The Making of an Ordinary Saint: My Journey from Frustration to Joy with the Spiritual Disciplines Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us Readings of the Lotus Sutra (Columbia Readings of Buddhist Literature) Metaphysics: Contemporary Readings: 2nd Edition (Routledge Contemporary Readings in Philosophy) Strunk's Source Readings in Music History: The Nineteenth Century (Revised Edition) (Vol. 6) (Source Readings Vol. 6) Twelve Hours' Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old: A Step-by-Step Plan for Baby Sleep Success Agatha Christie: Twelve Radio Mysteries: Twelve BBC Radio 4 Dramatisations Twelve Quakers and Jesus (Twelve Quakers... Book 2) Twelve Quakers and God (Twelve Quakers... Book 1) Roman Civilization: Selected Readings, Vol. 1: The Republic and the Augustan Age (Volume 1) Exploring Apologetics: Selected Readings Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters, 1839-1865 (Library of America) Selected Shorts: Food Fictions (Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story) Selected Shorts: New American Stories (Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story) Selected Shorts: Baseball (Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story) Selected Shorts: Lots of Laughs! (Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story) (v. XVIII) The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals
