Lecture 2: Historical and Theological View

Lecture 2: Historical and Theological View of Spirituality

We have just nished in the previous lesson (Lecture 1) some of the fundamental
concepts in our study of Christian spirituality. It is also the goal of this introductory
course to show an overview of the development of Christian spirituality in its various
expressions through all different ages. But a quick caveat must be in order at the
beginning: one should avoid a purely historicist approach to these expressions so as to
overlook their theological underpinning that transcend historical time. This is due to the
unicity of the same Spirit who inspires different individuals of all times. Hence, it is
necessary to see not just the dialectic of events that lead to emergence of spirituality but
on the uni ed intention of the Holy Spirit in calling forth speci c spirituality at certain
time and period. Questions like: “Why St. Francis’ spirituality came in the 13th century
and not in the 20th century?”; What led St. Ignatius to found a militant order during the
Protestant Reformation?”, will certainly be useful in the study of “theology of history” in
spirituality.

In the present lecture, we will offer in the rst section an overview of the timeline
of spirituality. Avoiding an exhaustive list, we will only take out the most prominent in the
period. In the second section we will lter out the universal divine principles operative in
these spiritual epochs. In the last section, we will do a “spiritual reading” of our time and
offer possible characteristics of spirituality demanded us at the present.

Section 1: Timeline of Christian Spirituality from Past to Present

Timeline of any subject matter presupposes a certain continuity between epochs

so as to admit the existence of relationship between what precedes and what comes
after certain spirituality. Moreover, it implies that every spirituality is given by God for the
purpose of speci c time; that He offers them for the time and people who need them the
most. Having said this, we can delineate them as follows:

1. Biblical Spirituality. Divided into Old and New Testament, spirituality at this period
argues for the primacy of divine revelation to enter into authentic relationship with
God. The notion of true and false worship was crucial to this period given that
numerous non-Jewish and non-Christian religions pre-existed the biblical Faith. It
puts forth that thesis that without man’s divine initiative, any attempt of man to be
spiritual, although the tendency is deep seated to his humanity, will always be in
vain. It takes for God to become man so as to make man “gods.”

2. Patristic Spirituality. This is the age of the Fathers of the Church (100 AD - 7th
Century). Marked by the threefold divisions of Apostolic Fathers, Apologetic Fathers
and Systematic Fathers, the period was characterized by the development and
spread of Christianity beyond the Holy Land. The encounter of various culture,
philosophies and worldview allowed the Fathers of the Church to forge a spirituality
demanded of the time for the work of spreading, defending and preserving Christian

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Faith.

3. Early Medieval Spirituality. Ranging from 8th century to 11th Century, brought the
owering of spirituality that is typically monastic. The barbarian invasion and the fall
of the Roman Empire gave way to spirituality essential to the time when civilization
and culture had been messed up by barbaric invasion in Europe. The need to
preserve culture within the walls of monastery became a necessity. Rebuilding of
destroyed cities around monastic Churches produce a contemplative mood to daily
lives. The establishment of monastic schools was a response to illiteracy as remnant
of barbarianism.

4. High Middle Age Spirituality. (12th AD- 13th AD) The emergence of mendicant
Orders of the Franciscans and Dominicans. Monastic orders (Benedictines,
Carthusians and Trappists) were tied to their monasteries. There was a need of
missionary Orders that were mobile. The need for mass evangelization as residue of
the cultural dark age summoned for these spiritualities. The unprecedented
expansion of Mohammedanism, the widespread problems of corruption and scandal
within the Church, the blossoming of pseudo-spiritualities paved way for the need of
these mendicant Orders.

5. Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation. (13th-16th AD). Christian

spirituality from 13th to 16th century was immensely affected by the Protestant
Reformation ushered forth by Martin Luther (1483-1536 AD). It brought about an
entirely new “Christian” spirituality divorced from the mainstream Christianity
especially in its novelty in interpreting Sacred Scriptures. The period that followed
after that (Counter-Reformation) brought about spirituality which battled with
Protestantism such as the Jesuits, the religious reforms of St. Teresa of Avila and St.
John of the Cross.

6. Jansenism and the “Hearts” Spirituality. (17th - 19th AD) Jansenism, is a

heretical Catholic version of Calvanism in Protestantism. Jansenism was a Catholic
theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human
depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement
originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius
Jansen, who died in 1638. To battle this, various spiritualities emphasizing God’s
mercy emerged: St. Margaret Alacoque, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Francis de Sales,
St. John Eudes and a host of others. They pioneered a group spirituality focussed on
“Heart” devotions. Moreover the period was also characterized by the Age of
Enlightenment and popularity of Marian Apparitions of La Salette, Lourdes and
Fatima.

7. The Modern Time and Second Vatican Council. (20th Century). Secularization
splits the modern man from his Faith and worldview. The consistent departure of
culture and modern society from Faith lead to the convocation of the Second Vatican
Council which produced a new wave of spirituality with emphasis on the role of the
laity in the modern times. Moreover, the in uence of two mainstream of
Protestantism, namely the Evangelicals and Pentecostals, brought about the
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mergence of hybrid Christian spirituality with emphasis of charismatic phenomena

and “felt religion” on the one hand and Bible-based fundamentalism. Meantime, two
prominent Catholic trends were obvious: the liturgical movement and the Marian
movement.

Section 2: Spiritual Transcendentals in History

The general historical overview of spirituality that has just preceded begs for an
explanation to make sense of the varied, almost contrasting expressions of Spirituality
throughout different ages. This would even be a necessity if one is to consider that it is
the same Holy Spirit who inspires and continues to raise various spiritualities in different
historical ages. Hence, it is necessary to enumerate the “transcendentals” that we nd
consistently operative through varieties.

1. Historical Determination. This simply means that every spirituality came into
existence because they are shaped by their time and place. But more than temporal
and spatial in uence, these latter two are the raison d’être of their existence.
Individual spirituality is a gift of God for particular time and place. They have
prophetic purpose which answers to the spiritual and moral problem of the time.
They are God’s response on particular milieu. This does not mean that speci c
spirituality is irrelevant at all times. It only means that Divine Providence of God call
its existence on speci c time and place because of certain needs of the time. In
addition to time and space, spirituality is received according to the psychological
disposition of the individual recipients.1

2. Relationality. All spirituality in whatever time and space, if inspired by the Holy
Spirit, is a summon to enter into some form of relationship with God, with some
supreme being. Apart from the actual action of the Holy Spirit, relationality is
grounded in human nature which tries to reach out to transcendent being as a cry to
satiate human longing for divine relationship. This religious sense2 is a manifestation
that man is a homo religiosus.3 Having said this, one can not bypass not having any
form of spirituality. Doing so would go contrary to this religious instinct whereby
human nature is intrinsically tailored. Spirituality forms a fabric of man’s inner

1“Quidquid recipitur, recipitur ad modum recipientis.” (Whatever is received, is received according to the
mode of the recipients.) Summa Theologiae I, q. 75 a. 5.
2CCC n. 1674: “The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms
of piety surrounding the Church's sacramental life.”
3 CCC nn. 27-28: “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and
for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he nd the truth and happiness
he never stops searching for.

In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for
God in their religious beliefs and behaviour: in their prayers, sacri ces, rituals, meditations, and so forth.
These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal
that one may well call man a religious being. Also, CCC n. 2566.
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structure as human.

3. Primary Divine Agency. All authentic expressions of Christian spirituality have as

the Holy Spirit the primary agent. But such divine agency does not exclude the
freedom of expressions of secondary agents—individual souls which brought about
the manifold varieties of spiritual expressions and charisms. But one may ask
whether in spirituality where error is obvious (e.g. Protestantism, Jansenism,
Pentecostalism, etc.) the Holy Spirit is still the primary agent. The answer is no. Error
can not be attributed to God. It is man’s inability to correspond to authentic
inspiration due to man’s moral obstacles that cause error. In addition, preternatural
forces (i.e., diabolical, malign spirit) can also cause errors. By this third
“transcendental” one can state the obvious: natural spirituality is non-existent. If by
natural, means, the absolute exclusion of divine in uence, then there is no such a
thing as “natural spirituality.” It always presupposes a dynamic interaction with some
divine whose existence is objective and personal.4

Section 3: Reading the Signs of Times

Now we come to our time with a poignant question: “What spirituality is most
needed in our time?” Certainly God continue to inspire men and women in Catholicism
to found religious orders or promote certain spirituality that draw some following. But the
best way to assess this is to look at the prominent characteristics of our time.

1. Growing awareness of the dignity of the human person. Never it was in any time
that the sense of human dignity and that of the human person becomes prominent
than our time. The experience of totalitarian governments of Communism and
Nazism that lead to the slaughter of thousands of human lives must have contributed
to this. The experience of two consecutive world wars in the modern times must ha
lead people to have a growing awareness of his worth. The most prominent Catholic
protagonist of this human dignity is none other than St. John Paul II. He began his
ponti cate with the declaration of human dignity with his rst encyclical: Redemptor
hominis.

2. Increase awareness of the nature of the Church. Following the effort of the
Second Vatican Council whose primary aim is to clarify the nature of the Church in
the modern world, there is a growing awareness to emphasize the role of the Church
in the modern times. This, I believe is not just a mere triumphalist tendency in the
Church which wants to be relevant but rather there is need to let the mystery of the
Church and the Gospel to be made known. The introduction of radical institutions
and legislations that threaten the most basic human truth about man and human

4 Some spirituality and even religions are not strictly speaking religion given that they don’t have a
personal god to worship but just some form of non-personal entity or even a psychological fabrication of
the mind. The perfect example would be Buddhism. Most reliable authors acknowledge that it is not
religion but a philosophy.
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love calls for a more active presence of the Church.

3. Thirst for the spiritual. St. John Paul II characterized our time in the millennium as
a time when people, in spite of secularization, are searching for spirituality. 5 the
fascination for different oriental religions among the westerners manifest a thirst for
spirituality (though in wrong or misguided paths). The steady growth and expansion
of charismatic movement and membership to Biblical-based Christian groups show
that people of today hunger for some religious experience.

4. Consistent growth of the feminist movement. There is no century that has been
so much “gender-conscious” than our century. The promotion of the rights of women
and their attempt to erase inequality between men and women.

5. The emergence and innovation of technology. The ubiquitousness of technology

is certainly an obvious given in our time. What was once present in work places as
means of productivity, technology is placed in the hands of simple of consumers in
forms of gadgets, laptops and tablets. The addiction for consumption of information
and data is at its height which creates in modern man dissipated and too self-
observed at the cost of his social and interior life.

Conclusion:

Having discussed this part of our course, we notice from the overall view of
spirituality from the historical to its theological character, the persistent element at work:
the human person and his attempt to reach beyond himself. This quest for self-
transcendence is the deep-seated seed in human nature that makes one forge a system
of behavior in response to divine action and demands imposed upon by history. Such
system of behavior is called spirituality.

5 "Is it not one of the "signs of the times" that in today's world, despite widespread secularization, there is
a widespread demand for spirituality, a demand which expresses itself in large part as a renewed need for
prayer? Other religions, which are now widely present in ancient Christian lands, offer their own
responses to this need, and sometimes they do so in appealing ways. But we who have received the
grace of believing in Christ, the revealer of the Father and the Saviour of the world, have a duty to show
to what depths the relationship with Christ can lead." John Paul II's Novo Millennio Ineuente par. 33
(January 6, 2001).
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