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| Vol 46 no 2 |
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Contents
Andrew Ryder
The German-born spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle has become something of a vogue figure. Andrew Ryder explores the convergences between Tolle’s teaching and the tradition of self-abandonment to divine providence associated with de Caussade.
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Dominique Salin
Abandonment to Divine Providence has been a much-loved spiritual text ever since its publication in 1861. A noted French scholar sets the treatise in its cultural and theological context, and reports on recent studies discrediting the claim of Jean-Pierre de Caussade SJ to be its author.
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Dennis H. van Lier
Many people find that they began praying to a God whom they imagined as ‘out there’, only to discover later a God who is working more powerfully and mysteriously within themselves. Dennis van Lier tells us about how this kind of change has happened for him.
Gerald O'Collins
The wisdom that enables us to see the present moment as a sacrament of God is often hard won. For many, it comes only through the ‘second journey’, or mid-life crisis. Gerald O’Collins explores this maturing process in John Henry Newman.
Monika Renz
How do people cope spiritually with the onset of death? An experienced and sensitive music therapist reports on what she has learnt from her work with cancer patients.
Gavin D'Costa
People often think of theology as a detached, cerebral activity. Here a practising theologian argues for a different vision: theology needs to be schooled by prayer, perhaps especially by the prayer of The Divine Office.
Ama Samy
Zen attracts some Christians because it seems to offer a religion of pure immanence, free of doctrines, and not subject to ecclesiastical constraints. A Jesuit who is also a Zen master suggests a rather different account of how Zen Buddhism and Christianity might enrich each other.
Book Reviews
on why Mary Ward's institute encounted problems
on three new books about Ignatius and discernment
on a study of the theology and spirituality promoted in Mary Tudor's reign
on a new volume introducing contemporary Catholicism
on the autobiography of Charles Curran
on women, power and theology
on Donald Cozzens and celibacy
on a biological reading of spirituality
on Kenneth Leech and ministry in London's East End
on martyrdom, Christianity and Islam
on a rich literary anthology of Christian texts
on a study of theology and the family
From the Foreword
For unavoidable reasons this issue of The Way has been delayed; nevertheless, ironically, it explores the spirituality of the present moment, whether in its classical expression in the treatise attributed to Jean-Pierre de Caussade, or in more modern forms reflecting Christianity’s encounter with other great religious traditions. We look at particular moments when sensitivity to the God who speaks through events can deepen, decisively: the transition of mid-life, and the ultimate crisis that comes when one is facing the onset of death. We also explore how The Divine Office, the prayer of the Church, can sustain us spiritually from day to day, and remind us that our obedience to God is always drawing us into a communion spread across time and space. Christianity slips easily into a sweeping rhetoric of the universal. ‘All things have been created through him and for him’ (Colossians 1:16); ‘all things work together for good for those who love God’ (Romans 8:28). But these grand teachings come to life only when we let them draw us down to tiny particulars. Such insight as we have into Christianity’s universal truths depends on our acknowledging that the full view will never be ours. We receive only glimpses, in a succession of present moments. That it all somehow fits together is, in the end, a matter of pure, naked faith.
Philip Endean SJ
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