Biblical Spirituality

The church is called to grow in Christ. Yet too often, it ignores the practical dimensions of the faith.

The church is one in Christ. Yet too often, it is divided by national, denominational, theological, and racial or ethnic boundaries.

The church is a global body of believers. Yet too often, it privileges a few voices and fails to recognize its own diversity.

In response, this volume offers a multi-denominational, multi-ethnic vision in which biblical scholars, theologians, and practitioners from around the world join together to pursue a cohesive yet diverse theology and praxis of spiritual formation for the global church.

Be fed in your faith by brothers and sisters from around the world.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Ryan A. Brandt and John Frederick

Part One: Biblical and Theological Study as Spiritual Formation
1. New Testament Theology and Spiritual Formation: Michael J. Gorman
2. Theological Education and Spiritual Formation: Sammy Alfaro
3. Biblical Faithfulness and Spiritual Formation: Alfred Olwa
4. Spiritual Theology and Spiritual Formation: An Integrative Methodology for a Global Approach: John H. Coe

Part Two: Acts and Elements of Worship as Spiritual Formation
5. Liturgy and Spiritual Formation: Engaging with Evelyn Underhill's Prayer Book: Robyn Wrigley-Carr
6. The Eucharist as Spiritual Formation: Markus Nikkanen
7. Sacrifice and Surrender as Spiritual Formation: John Frederick and Jonathan K. Sharpe
8. The Beatific Vision as Spiritual Formation: An Augustinian Ressourcement: Ryan A. Brandt

Part Three: Christ, Contemporary Culture, and Spiritual Formation
9. Old Testament Ethics and Spiritual Formation: S. Min Chun
10. Second Peter, Postmodernity, and Spiritual Formation: Le Chih Hsieh
11. The Holy Spirit, Supernatural Interventionism, and Spiritual Formation: J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu
12. Spiritual Formation through Failure and Faithful Perseverance: HaYoung Son

Epilogue: Spiritual Formation, Catholicity, and the Multicultural Communion of the Saints: John Frederick and Ryan A. Brandt

Contributors
General Index
Scripture Index

Today more than ever, the Church speaks about an inculturation theology or contextual theology by which she means among others: the presenting or expressing the message of Christ through the vehicle of culture. Inculturation theology has biblical background. Johannine use of logos to communicate to his audience the reality of Christ is an example of inculturation. This work attempts an interpretation of Logos among the Igbos.

In this paper I will attempt to demonstrate, through an interpretation of the Call of Nathanael in John, how the reader of the fourth gospel may undergo a transformative encounter with the Johannine Jesus, who can potentially convert human prejudice and rivalry into humility and life-giving vulnerability. The interpretation will utilize the anthropological and theological insights of mimetic theory as articulated by René Girard in order to show how the Johannine Jesus responds to the human compulsion to scapegoat and blame. The first chapter of John, which begins with a retelling of the story of creation, concludes with a retelling of Genesis 3 in which the Johannine Jesus invites Nathanael and the reader out of the wilderness of rivalry and into the garden of vulnerability.  The aim of this paper is to “invite the transformative participation of the reader”  in order to engage and perhaps begin to dismantle some of the roots and human sources of violence.

In this paper, I engage Jesus's enigmatic response to the question of suffering by first exploring the possibility that Jesus is transforming the proverb of Rabbi Tarfon into a riddle. Secondly, I will show how Jesus’s saying could be understood as a riddle for insiders, in light of the Second Temple Jewish celebration of Sukkot. Finally, I will interpret Jesus’s response to the disciples’ question as a subversion of the dichotomy of day and night through light, inviting the reader into what I call a “dialectic of light” in order to transcend binary ways of thinking and blaming, especially when it comes to the mystery of human suffering. The insights of mimetic theory (as articulated by René Girard) will help inform my discussion of this “dialectic of light” as a response to the human question of suffering and compulsion to blame.

This course will introduce students to the spirituality and theology of the Fourth Gospel as well as current Johannine scholarship, with a particular focus on reading the gospel in light of mimetic theory. Students will gain a thorough methodological understanding of mimetic theory and learn to apply the theory to specific passages in John in order to illuminate questions of suffering and theories of atonement. By paying special attention to four Johannine pericopes (the Call of Nathanael, the Healing of the Man Born Blind, the Raising of Lazarus and the Passion Narrative), students will analyze how the Johannine Jesus responds to the human propensity to blame by inviting readers into the abundant life as the divine forgiving victim. Students will be required to write a paper on mimetic theory and two exegetical papers applying mimetic theory. The class format will involve lecture and discussion.

This article investigates the motif of fear of God in biblical texts and contexts by discussing its use to indicate dread and by analysing the implications and consequences of such a reading of this key motif. After a brief overview of research on and contextual information about fear of God, it investigates fear as an intense and extreme human emotion and considers the reason why the motif is used by biblical authors in their discussions of the divine-human relationship, especially in the light of the fact that dread of God implies that God is a threatening force and dangerous power. It then evaluates how biblical authors embed fear within a configuration of thought that contains crucial themes of justice and holiness, without moving beyond this dimension of dread. Finally it investigates some hermeneutical considerations to cope with the challenges that an understanding of fear of God as dread brings with it.

Daniel DeForest London argues that the Fourth Gospel offers a potentially transformative response to the question of suffering and the human compulsion to blame. Based on his reading of John 9 and 10, London argues that the Gospel does not offer a theodicy, but rather a theodical spirituality, an experience of praying the question of suffering and remaining open to a divine response. London shows how the Johannine Jesus’s response poses three sets of symbols in dichotomy (day/night, vision/blindness, sheep/wolf), each subverted by another, core symbol (light, judge, shepherd). By interpreting these symbols in light of mimetic theory, he argues that Jesus’s response reveals the scapegoat mechanism in which an innocent victim is blamed by violent victimizers. However, rather than blaming the victimizers, Jesus continues to engage with the characters who appear to be villains: the light of the world transforms night and day into one continuous day; the Good Shepherd welcomes sheep and wolf into his beloved flock. In this way, readers are invited to bring to the Johannine Jesus their own violence, resentment, and wolfish rage regarding the question of suffering and to experience the theodical spirituality of the Fourth Gospel.

In this readable and pioneering book, Daniel DeForest London offers a transformative reading of John 9 and 10. Employing the "Anthropological tale" of René Girard as an interpretive key to this section of John (i.e. the human propensity toward blaming and scapegoating) London shows how the Johannine Jesus transforms both victim and victimizer. The theodical spirituality emerging from his exegesis offers the promise of liberation and new life to the reader, the church and the world. This is the most important theological book I have read in the last twenty years!
— Peter Rodgers, Center for Bible Study


The problem of suffering is one of the most pastorally important issues in the Christian life, but a preacher hoping to offer a comforting word is faced with a tangled web of competing philosophical and theological explanations that finally fail to satisfy the quest for good news. In response to this challenge, London takes a deep dive into John’s story of “The Man Born Blind” (9:6-10:21). Respectful of the human urge to assign blame for misfortune, London’s approach instead emphasizes the evocative language of this Gospel, offering a perspective that suggests a path to spiritual transformation and an invitation to intimacy with God.
— Linda L. Clader, emerita, Church Divinity School of the Pacific


London offers a compelling reading of John 9–10 that challenges anti-Semitic interpretations of the gospel. Through mimetic theory, readers encounter a Johannine discourse aimed at breaking down the divide between victims and victimizer, and a Good Shepherd who invites them to deflect their need for finding blame onto the cross. Thoroughly informed by contemporary scholarship, this is a timely and significant contribution to the recovery of lament and protest prayer in the Church.
— William Morrow, Queen's University


London’s premise is that we’re addicted to blame—somebody must be at fault for the pain we’re experiencing or the fix we’re in!—which sets in motion the tragic human cycle of scapegoating and persecuting, of violence and counterviolence. London’s Jesus won’t play that game. Instead, he invites us to blame him, even kill him, as a way to open our eyes and heal our souls. This is a most beautiful and creative retelling of the Jesus story, written from the heart.



A beautiful blend of careful scholarship, biblical insight, spiritual depth and genuine humanity.
— Douglas Frank, author of A Gentler God

This article investigates the motif of fear of God in biblical texts and contexts by discussing its use to indicate dread and by analysing the implications and consequences of such a reading of this key motif. After a brief overview of research on and contextual information about fear of God, it investigates fear as an intense and extreme human emotion and considers the reason why the motif is used by biblical authors in their discussions of the divine-human relationship, especially in the light of the fact that dread of God implies that God is a threatening force and dangerous power. It then evaluates how biblical authors embed fear within a configuration of thought that contains crucial themes of justice and holiness, without moving beyond this dimension of dread. Finally it investigates some hermeneutical considerations to cope with the challenges that an understanding of fear of God as dread brings with it.

This article makes a case for the use of music in biblical interpretation and theological method. It places the hermeneutical approach to Scripture developed by Sandra Schneiders from the work of Gadamer and Ricoeur into dialogue with theopoetical approaches to theological thought. Musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez’s method for analyzing musical meaning frames the analysis of an original piece of music, offered as a second naiveté, transformative interpretation of the Johannine narrative of the Samaritan woman in John 4:1–42.

The paper links concepts of "Spirituality" with aspects of Old Testament texts as proven sources of genuine and authentic spirituality.
The following aspects are addressed: 1. The biblical world view, which reckons with an openness of reality on the spheres of the divine. 2. The metaphor of the Spirit of God shows the dynamic aspect of a creative-minded world. 3. The talk of the covenant is associated with the concept of relationship and (4) unfolds as a relationship of God, man (s) and the world. 5. Special Psalms show a condensed form of these relationships. 6. Draws attention to the comprehensive meaning of the heart in biblical anthropology with the semantic component of "meaning".
In the face of a direct encounter with God on Sinai (Ex 20:19), the community decides for a mediator, for Moses, representative of the Torah and thus the Bible.
The Bible becomes the mediator of the experience of God and makes it possible to connect to the invigorating spirit-making experiences of Israel. The Bible is a kind of space for discourses that one can enter and move to, creating salvation and leading to a successful life in abundance. In the texts, God's spirit creatively but also stormily enlivens the people and the world and creates unimaginable relations and connections between them. The resulting variants and facets of relationships and relationships are grounded, see the world with open eyes and with a special eye for the disadvantaged. The hearts are receptive to the greater reality of God. Reading can be an act of relationship: between the reader and the text, between the readers among themselves, simultaneously and across generations, and finally between God and man.

Every student of Chinese Christianity would know the name Liang Fa (1789–1855). Besides being the first Chinese evangelist (or pastor), Liang is also remembered as the inspiration of Hong Xiuquan’s (1814–1864) “Taiping Heavenly Kingdom” (1850–1864). Nevertheless, not many scholars have studied and analysed Liang’s theology. In other words, scholars do not seriously consider Liang theologically. Though most of Liang’s writings were not “authentic,” being the first fruit of the Protestant mission––according to William Milne (1785–1822)––Liang’s works provide a glimpse of the life and spirituality of early Chinese evangelicalism.
With a careful theological analysis of Liang’s diary (from March 28 to November 6, 1830), this paper reconstructs the life of early Chinese Protestant church––public worship, personal devotion and evangelism. Particular emphasis is given to Liang’s understanding of the Scripture, worship and prayer. In comparison with the larger evangelical spiritualities of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this paper seeks to summarise and argue that Liang’s spirituality was both Chinese and evangelical.

The thesis of the paper is that no meaningful worship can be offered to God in the absence of reverence in the place of worship. Thus, the paper highlights some irreverent attitudes at worship and recommends that appropriate theological education focusing on the worthiness of God, an awareness of his presence at worship and the wholeness of worship can enhance reverence at worship

How to prepare for the meeting with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?
This is a difficult question that is not easy to answer. It attracts all those who truly believe and feel in their faith that the Holy Trinity invites them to the adventure of searching for themselves and calls them to a relationship with themselves. So how to prepare for this relationship? The basic intuition around which the conferences gathered in this album revolve suggests that the answer to our question must be sought in the Old Testament.
Is it not, in fact, a preparation for this fascinating encounter with divine persons? God revealed His inner life to us in its fullness only in the Lord Jesus. The First Covenant (which we usually call the Old Testament) was nothing more than a long wait to prepare for this encounter with God, who is given to us through Jesus. All the stories of the First Covenant were written "to our guidance" so that we can open up to the approaching God in our daily lives. In this preparation every detail of our lives becomes significant.

Conference 1: Creation, Existence, Life - First Meeting Place 40'11
Conference 2: Abraham: expectation and hospitality 44'11
Conference 3: Moses: Law and Desire 43'27
Conference 4: David: Friendship and psalms 45'05"
Conference 5: Job and Jonah: suffering and compassion 53'42"