Spiritual formation

Christian spiritual formation is distinct from other religious perspectives due to the centrality of Jesus as the model of the process and ultimate goal of formation as well as the activity of the Holy Spirit in the believer to develop them toward maturity.Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ. (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2002) p. 22. Additionally, in the contemporary Christian tradition, many have emphasized the growth of multiple aspects of the human person, distinguishing between faculties such as the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual, all of which must be developed in tandem for the maturity of the whole person.{{Cite book|title=Renovation of the heart : putting on the character of christ|last=Willard, Dallas.|date=2014|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers, Inc|isbn=9781615214556|pages=30–31|oclc=883258788}}

Because the popular understanding of Protestant spiritual formation in the current era arose around a discussion of spiritual disciplines, as noted below, those disciplines have played a significant role in its conceptualization and practice. Such disciplines may be understood as means of exercising and strengthening one's religious and spiritual capacities,{{Cite book|title= The Spirit of the Disciplines|last= Willard|first= Dallas|publisher= HarperOne|year= 1999|isbn= 0060694424|pages= [https://archive.org/details/spiritofdiscipli00will/page/4 4]|url= https://archive.org/details/spiritofdiscipli00will/page/4}} a means of accessing a spiritual reality directly,{{Cite book|title= Open Mind, Open Heart|last= Keating|first= Thomas|publisher= Bloomsbury Academic|year= 2006|isbn= 0826418899|pages= 11}} or a manner of making oneself available to the activity of God.{{Cite book|title= Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us|last= Calhoun|first= Adele Ahlberg|publisher= IVP Books|year= 2015|isbn= 978-0830846054|pages= 17–20}}

Spiritual disciplines, as a strategy towards spiritual formation, have risen and fallen in popularity over the centuries.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Christianity asserts two things: first, transformation of the heart is a work only God can accomplish, and second, we are saved not by our works or efforts, but by God's grace, that is, His unmerited favor;{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} the church has often been tempted to marginalize the usefulness of these disciplines so as not be confused with preaching "justification by works".

However other scholars{{which|date=April 2020}} respond by saying that it is not salvation that is at stake, but rather the need to develop people of genuine Christ-like character to live in the world and confront its values.

Quaker theologian Richard Foster in his book, Celebration of Discipline,Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline: A Path to Spiritual Growth. (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998). pg v includes several internal, external, and corporate disciplines one should engage in through his or her Christian life. These include the following:

• internal disciplines:
• meditation
• prayer
• fasting
• study
• external disciplines:
• simplicity
• solitude
• submission
• service
• corporate disciplines, completed within the body of the church:
• confession
• worship
• guidance
• celebration

Related specifically to the practices of solitude, stillness and silence, Dallas Willard stated that practices 'that look more "Catholic," like solitude, silence, and so on, we're not so good with those. And usually I find they deal with the areas where our deepest problem lies.

So we have to find the ways of taking our body into solitude and silence, into service, as well as into worship, into prayer, as well as into study' Willard, Dallas. https://dwillard.org/resources/articles/spiritual-formation-what-it-is-and-how-it-is-done, retrieved 26 June 2025

Spiritual formation in general has been integral to most religions, including Christianity. The religious ideal typically presupposes that one be changed in some manner through interaction with spiritual realities. Therefore, to trace a historical origin of spiritual formation is to examine the history of religion in general.

However, the history of spiritual formation as a specific movement within 20th century Protestantism is possible. James Houston traces the history of the movement to post-Vatican II reformers within the Roman Catholic church, who sought to find ways to educate and train new priests in a manner that was appropriate to Vatican II ideals. This formative perspective began to spread into and was adopted by the Association of Theological Schools, and as an increasing number of evangelical schools began joining them in the 1970s and 1980s, the ideals spread throughout the academic and theological strata of Christianity, particularly in the United States. While initially aimed at academic and pastoral leadership, Houston notes that the Protestant ideal of the priesthood of all believers pushed churches to expand this formative ideal to all individuals.{{Cite web|url=http://open.biola.edu/resources/the-history-of-spiritual-formation-james-houston-and-bruce-hindmarsh|title=The History of Spiritual Formation - James Houston and Bruce Hindmarsh {{!}} Open Biola|last=Houston|first=James|website=Open Biola|access-date=2017-04-25}}

On a popular level, the formation movement emerged, in part, with the publication of Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline in 1978, which introduced and popularized a set of spiritual disciplines as historical practices beyond Bible study, prayer, and church attendance that may lead to religious maturity and spiritual growth.

While some Christians understand spiritual formation to be an integral part of their religion, others perceive it as a diluting of the faith or an attempt by competing religious ideals to infiltrate Christian doctrine and lead adherents astray. Some individuals and organizations, such as [http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/spiritualformation.htm Lighthouse Trails Research], interpret spiritual formation as a front for non-Christian mysticism or Roman Catholic influence to enter the Protestant church, which they see as damaging religious doctrine and leading Christians to engage in dangerous practices or leave the faith entirely.

Because spiritual formation has been used, in recent decades, to describe a loose but semi-coherent set of practices and ideals within American Protestantism, many have accused it of merely being a "fad". Such persons dismiss it because of this trendiness, but others have argued that to relegate it only to a small sub-group within the church is to neglect its necessity to Christian practice.{{Cite news|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2013/april-online-only/seven-things-i-hate-about-spiritual-formation.html|title=Seven Things I Hate About Spiritual Formation|work=CT Pastors|access-date=2017-04-24|language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

Category:Christian personal development

Category:Practical theology