Crisis of Faith,
Crisis of Love
by Thomas Keating
Working from the experiences of the later
mystics Keating offers the spiritual sense of scripture elaborated by the
Fathers and Mothers of the Church, which has been used repeatedly to
illustrate insights useful to the various stages of spiritual development.
This rich storytelling tradition traces a spiritual journey, outlining a
way of listening to God by sharpening the habit of contemporary prayer.
From Booklist.
This expanded version of a book first published in 1979 is a devotional,
not a critical study, more concerned with moving its readers than sifting
mythic and legendary material from historically reliable accounts. Under
the influence of Christian mystics such as St. John of the Cross, Keating
weaves a narrative account of spiritual development that will be of more
interest to spiritual directors and seekers than scholars. The influence
of St. John of the Cross means that much significance is attached to
silence and crisis, the dark night of the soul that drives the beloved
relentlessly toward union with God. For Keating as for St. John of the
Cross, spiritual development is a passion. Keating describes this
deepening in terms of stages, from childhood to adolescence to adulthood,
separated on either side of adolescence by the two crises of the title.
Keating's closing portrait of Peter is the most extreme example of his
devotional approach; the portrait will appeal to the disciple and may well
be an aid to discipline, but it is not a contribution to biblical
scholarship. This is not a problem from Keating's perspective, nor is it
likely to be a problem for his intended audience. --Steve Schroeder.
Ingram.
Working from the experiences of the later mystics Keating offers the
spiritual sense of scripture elaborated by the Fathers and Mothers of the
Church, which has been used repeatedly to illustrate insights useful to
the various stages of spiritual development. This rich storytelling
tradition traces a spiritual journey, outlining a way of listening to God
by sharpening the habit of contemporary prayer.
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