Bubba,

With all due respect, your response to Ruth’s article misses the mark in a multitude of ways.

Nowhere does Ruth employ the phrase “contemplative spirituality”, yet that is the broad brush term you use to describe her nuanced yet Christocentric position set forth in this blog entry. I have been engaged with Ruth’s teachings and writings for many years, and can’t recall ever hearing her use this phrase. Her preference is to use the words like “meditation” (more on that below).

Meanwhile, you describe scripture as the “full embodiment of maximal reason and perfect logic.” These are words more likely to be used to describe the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and/or Enlightenment philosophers like Descartes and Voltaire. In fact, in scripture God often seems to act in ways that defy or transcend human reason and logic!  

One of our teachers in the Transforming Center is the now deceased Robert (Bob) Mulholland, a former professor of New Testament at Asbury Seminary (viewed in the world of the academy as quite orthodox). Bob describes scripture as the “optimum record of the intrusion of the Word of God into human history….As such, scripture provides insight into the way in which the Word penetrates human lives and situations, discerns/reveals the truth of the human condition, and transforms (flawed human beings into their truest, God-given selves).”

In his book, Shaped by the Word, Bob counsels us not to read the Bible simply for information, rationally absorbing and analyzing the “facts of the matter.” Rather, a formational reading of scripture utilizes what he calls a “meditative technique” that involves slowly reading through the text several times, becoming still and listening for God to speak. “You might pray, ‘God, what are you saying to me here?’ Then seek to be still and listen.”

This is not “Christianized Panentheism” or “Neo Platonism” or “mindless breath prayers,” nor is it “allegorizing scripture.” This is sitting quietly, in a spirit of surrender, listening to what the Living Word is inviting me to feel and do through the Written Word as I continue the journey of being transformed into the image of Christ. 

Neither Ruth Barton nor the Transforming Center claims to have the final word on theology. But this we know: meditating on scripture has been part of the Christian tradition from its inception, and continues to transform lives to this day!

David Hughes, Transforming Center Ambassador/Resident Theologian

So well said! Plumbing the depths of the Colossians 1 passage is particularly challenging, I think, because the minute one goes too far into what it might really be saying, people think you’re a universalist! So thank you for such a beautiful description of sitting with God desiring to see more of what God has to show you. I just love that!

I LOVE this! The passage in Colossians you cited just prior has been tossed at me a few times of late, so I’m looking forward to spending time sitting there with the Lord.

But in the meanwhile, this line of yours seems universally true of every Truth. We know many things, but know not their depths. Lately I’ve been hoping that this is much of what Forever will be for me–plumbing the depths, Knowing Him deeper, always finding yet another [gasp!] moment, as more of Him becomes known. I can’t imagine a more Heavenly reality than always seeing more of Him.

Ruth, thank you for your vision and your writing. You’re a gift.

M

Yes, the younger folks are definitely leading the way!

Aww….you are too kind, Michael. One of the best things about the spiritual life is that God is always out ahead of us, preparing exactly what we need.

So good to hear from you, Chuck! You are amazing, and of course, I can’t talk about communal discernment without quoting you. 🙂 Thank you for blazing a trail the rest of us can follow! You have my deepest regard.