📄The Areopagus Update – Jan/Feb 2022
Exploring the Depths of Christian Spirituality and Discipleship
Our upcoming Areopagus seminar, “The Inner Journey: Exploring the Depths of Christian Spirituality and Discipleship,” begins on Wednesday, January 12th (for details, see the announcement under the Areopagus Calendar). In the sense that this study focuses on that which should be our exclusive priority in life – to develop a deep personal and intimate love relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to love others as we love ourselves – I consider this to be the capstone of our entire Areopagus catalogue of courses.
“The Inner Journey” is an introduction to the theory, the practices and the rich tradition of contemplative Christian spirituality – a focused, thoughtful and comprehensive Christcentered lifestyle that takes us beyond what usually passes for normative and conventional Christianity today. This incorporates practical disciplines for spiritual growth and maturity that have been modeled, preserved and passed down to us through the centuries from Jesus himself through some of the most conscientious and wise Christian thinkers and exemplars from ancient times to the present.
Rooted in biblical theology, biblical philosophy and Christian history, this interactive course is for those who desire to nurture their relationship with God through the internal presence of the Holy Spirit and the practice of the traditional spiritual disciplines that broaden and deepen our understanding of what it means to be a conscientious and committed Christian in the context of our contemporary society and culture.
As Jesus taught, we have no higher calling than to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love others as we love ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39). This kind of personal and intimate love relationship with God transforms our thinking, our values and our priorities in life in keeping with the precepts and practices of a wholistic Christian worldview.
Christians in America today cannot afford to continue thinking and living as in the past, functioning under the naive assumption that we live in a Christian-friendly or even a neutral society and culture. Contemporary America is decisively post-Christian,and the days in which generic Christian values were commonly accepted are gone forever barring some phenomenal spiritual and moral revival that is unprecedented in its depth and breadth.
If we value our spiritual lives and those of our family and friends, we simply cannot continue to mindlessly consume and absorb the dominant values of this world. More than at any time since the first three centuries of church history, committed Christians should understand that our calling is to think and live as a radical countercultural community of faith that offers spiritual Light, Love, Hope and Truth in the midst of an increasingly dark, degenerate and dysfunctional society and culture.
To that end, each of us is called to prioritize our own individual “Inner Journey” – the cultivation of our soul through the development of a deep and nurturing relationship with God through the biblically-based and traditional spiritual disciplines of the Christian faith. This is our primary and our highest calling in life, and it should be our preeminent priority.
“The Inner Journey” is an in-depth historical and practical seminar on Christian spiritual formation based on biblical principles and disciplines that broaden, deepen and enrich our spiritual lives and relationships with others as modeled by Jesus himself. This is also a valuable tradition that has been preserved and transmitted down to us by wise sages from the time of the early church to the present. Join us if your schedule allows – or perhaps otherwise rearrange your schedule!
The Areopagus Winter 2022 Seminar sessions can be viewed here.
Also in this issue… The Best/Recommended Books of 2021 by Jefrey Breshears
