An introduction to the study intended to promote the apostleship of interior life

The apostleship of spiritual life connects together the research in Spiritual Theology with the pastoral field. Such a connection is at the heart of authentic theology.  Saint John Paul II explains “Theology, almost since the beginnings of the Church, has developed together with pastoral practice. It always had, and still has great power due to this purpose.”[1] Along the same lines, Pope Francis emphasizes that theologians “must always remember that the Church and theology exist to evangelize, and not be content with a desk-bound theology” (Evangelii Gaudium n.133).

This idea is also shared by Schillebeeckx who believed that theologians must “reflect on their present situation, facing problems which it raises today. Otherwise, they are wasting their words.”[2] For this reason, he argues that true theology must work in line with the pastoral field, because “A theology which was written for eternity, i.e. a theology stripped out of historicity, would be irrelevant for people living in time.”[3]  Furthermore, “Theology is valueless, whether it is progressive or conservative, as soon as it loses contact with the empirical basis of the praxis of the community of believers.”[4]

This pastoral connection is also acknowledged by authors in the field of spiritual theology such as Federico Ruiz. He states that “With the widening to pastoral activity, spiritual theology does not renounce its quality as a theological discipline.  On the contrary, it will gain a greater fullness and ownership as a theology of the living God, of the life of grace, and of the spiritual experience.”[5]

Pastoral Spiritual theology

“Spiritual Theology is the theological discipline that studies systematically, starting from revelation and qualified experience, the growing assimilation of the mystery of Christ, in a constant and gradual process, up to perfection.”[6] This branch of theology works simultaneously on two aspects: theological-scientific examination and pastoral application.[7] 

In the last decades, many attempts have been made to promote an area of research directly intended to deepen this field of knowledge intended to study and promote the pastoral aspect within the field of spirituality. This is a “new science that is being born,”[8] that is still searching for its proper identity, and has been referred to under different denominations including “Pastorale della spiritualità Cristiana,” “Espiritualidad pastoral,”[9] and “Mystagogia pastorale.”[10]  Various monographs, articles, and courses.

Two prominent definitions, written by chief promoters of this new approach, namely Rafael Checa and Luis Jorge González, synthesize the grounds of this new approach. They define this new branch in theology as:

Each Christ-Pneumatological and ecclesial action, which is directly oriented to promote an integrated Christian life which leads to sanctity.^[11]

The action of the Church that, driven by the Spirit, prolongs the work of Christ uniting us with God as his children, and with all men and women as brothers and sisters.[12]

The specificity of this new mystagogical and pastoral approach could be delineated in three basic orientations: 1) Emphasizing the process rather than content, by giving value to the content and vital importance to the process.[13] 2) Finding ways to encourage spiritual life, by “teaching,” “guiding,” and “reminding” (John 14:26; 16:13) under the guidance of the Spirit, that the Union with God is the aim of our being and existence on earth, and offers resources and techniques to encourage the process to achieve its aim.  3) Deepening the practice of the spiritual action, by having a greater awareness of the message received, rather then the content transmitted.  In this way, Catholic Spirituality becomes accessible to all and inserts itself in a project towards a new evangelization.[14]

This field of pastoral spiritual theology is infinite.  Checa suggests six main sectors through which the relationship to God could be promoted.  These include study and teaching, mystagogy, pedagogy, promotion of strong moments, social transmission of spirituality, and concrete life witness. 

Sectors in pastoral spiritual theology according to Rafael Checa

Here is an introduction to the sectors of pastoral spiritual theology, according to Checa [15].

a) Study, research and teaching on every level.  

This includes research on the history of spirituality, hagiography (the study on the writings and the lives of saints), the relationship between grace and nature, the effect of methodologies and techniques in promoting spiritual life, the sacramental and liturgical life, the experience of God, modern movements of spirituality, diverse individual and group charisms, socio-cultural movements and their impact on the relationship with God, human Christian values, the relationship between medicine, psychotherapy, and counselling and the spiritual life, the spirituality of different cultures and ethnicities. Checa explains that often—on behalf of those engaged in pastoral work—this type of work is not much appreciated. However, at the same time, it is fundamental. He explains this by the following metaphor:

The job of the surgeon seems more brilliant than that of a researcher in a laboratory, who nobody knows, but who accomplishes the more important job in the field of medicine. The same in spirituality, the work of a researcher and thinker, even if it does not appear to be so, is fundamental for whoever performs a front line job, such as the preacher of a retreat or a spiritual tutor.[16]

b) The promotion of spiritual life as mystagogy.

Checa explains: “Here we intend that mystagogy is an introduction to mystery, with the aid of mediations […]. God speaks and the human being listens. The person many times replies with an attitude of adoring silence.  One tries to penetrate into the ineffability of God, and this amazes, surpass, and exceeds the person. There is an instance in which the mystery of faith and life is duly celebrated, and the word of God is proclaimed, made flesh, and sacramentalised: it is the liturgical moment”[17].

This sector promotes meeting God through the sacraments primarily through the Eucharist, in a contemplative way. It also deepens the theories and practices related to prayer in its various forms and styles, including but not limited to the practice of vocal prayer, meditative prayer, mental prayer, repetitive and litanic prayers, living in the presence of God and communitarian prayers such as liturgies, para liturgies and group prayers. These could be promoted through courses on prayer, prayer retreats with an introduction to a specific form of prayer, the promotion of new movements each with its style of prayer (Opus Dei, Charismatic movements, Focolarini, neo-catechumenate movement,  Communion and liberation, Taizé, etc.) and the establishment of prayer centres.

c) The pedagogy of spiritual life.   

Checa comments: “Certainly [the pedagogy of spiritual  life is] one of the most important sectors for the actions taken as a whole that compose it; one of the most difficult and delicate to accomplish, because it deals with ‘affirming’ and ‘concluding’ the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit. This is due, particularly, to the fact that not only the person desiring to draw near to God is committed, but the most convenient thing is that the person seeks help from another.  And those people who have to solicit and advance, are not always the most suitable.  It means assisting the total development of man and woman, in their highest human dimension, which is the spirit”[18].

This can include in-depth human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation targeted for specific individuals or groups such as the youth, laity, consecrated, ordained ministries, spiritual animation of groups, vocational or circumstantial discernment, and personal or group spiritual accompaniment.

d) Strong moments of the Spirit.

These are: “hours, days, weeks, and even a month or more, that people can dedicate exclusively to God, leaving behind any other occupation or commitment, and even the place where one lives.”[19] Jesus himself did moments like this during his earthly life. After his baptism, “full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1-2).  Jesus experienced this strong spiritual moment before starting his public life. Following his example, the first disciples also experienced strong spiritual moments, such as the one in the cenacle after his death. Luke comments that while they were there, they stayed “constantly devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14). Other biblical examples are Paul who did a short retreat after his conversion in Damascus in the house of Ananias (Acts 22:6-16); subsequently in the dessert of Arabia (Galatians 1:17). The disciple John exiled on “the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 1:9), lived a life of strong spiritual recollection. It was here where he was inspired to write the book of Revelations.  

Taking the example of Jesus and of his immediate followers, the Church continues to promote such strong spiritual moments of retreat. Today, more than ever before, such moments are gaining popularity even through the internet. These can take the form of spiritual exercises, retreats of various styles, contemplation days, prayer workshops, encounters of God’s experience, deserts, online retreats, and so on.

e) Social transmission.  

This includes spreading the message of spiritual life and its promotion through media, including the press, radio, cinema, theatre, television, and the internet. It also includes the promotion of spiritual life through the arts: painting, sculpture, literature and poetry, music, songs, religious dance, stained glass and iconography, etc.

f) Living witness.

All the pastoral resources which we have mentioned above would not have the desired effect if they are not supported by a testimony of a deep, simple and contagious spiritual life on a personal and community level. In the bible, human imitation ranges from simple comparison with the conduct of other believers (1 Thessalonians 2:14) to presentation of examples of conduct to imitate (Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 9; Hebrews 6:12; 13:7). Paul, a leading example of how to be a life witness of the words and deeds of Christ,  gives himself as an example for imitation (1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 9), but he does not hold himself as the ideal of mature perfection. In fact, on one occasion he deliberately confesses his own imperfection before he gives the call for them to imitate him (cf. Philippians 3:13, 17). It is important that the behaviour of Christ’s witness, ultimately point to Christ himself. Twice, Paul calls for his readers to imitate himself, but at the same time he names Christ as the final object of their imitation (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). This reminds us of Christ’s command to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13.14). Apart from the good example we can give to each other in our daily lives, some of the centres that could irradiate such life witness are: female and male monasteries, shrines, houses of prayer, retreat houses, centres of spirituality, hermitages, seminaries, convents, religious houses etc. One can also be a living witness through the use of social media. In the digital age, we have unprecedented access to “all the world”, and an enthusiastic evangelist can become a living spiritual memoir.

In practice, each subject related to the experience of God could be studied and promoted through all the named sectors. Click here to see an example of how these sectors could be applied to the practice of imitating Christ.

The ‘GOD mediation’ website intends to contribute to each area mentioned above by co–ordinating the resources already available on the internet, as well as by filling in the gaps of what is missing on the world wide web. The plan is that this website will be multilingual so that every person on earth can be given the possibility to unleash the goodness and beauty already within.

The Hermeneutical Approach in spirituality

Taking into consideration the above-mentioned sectors in pastoral spiritual theology, it comes natural that such research and knowledge needs to be ‘interdisciplinary.’ In fact, current spiritual theology, the same as biblical exegesis[20] and theology[21], is being challenged towards a rethinking in the light of the latter contemporary philosophical hermeneutics.  Such a challenge also comes from Pope Francis who stated that “A theology which is in dialogue with other sciences and human experiences is most important for our discernment on how best to bring the Gospel message to different cultural contexts and groups” (Evangelii Gaudium n.133).

One of the pioneers who have opted for this approach in the study of Spiritual theology is Sandra M. Schneiders. Rather than rendering a method, Schneiders offers an approach[22] that combines the traditional ‘deductive’ and ‘inductive’ methods, with an aim “to understand the phenomena of the Christian spiritual life as experience.”[23] 

Schneiders refers to the study of spiritual theology as ‘The study of Christian Spirituality’ with a special emphasis on the word ‘Spirituality.’[24]  She opts for this title, because according to her opinion, “Unlike spiritual theology, which aimed to apply unquestioned principles derived from revelation and tradition to the life of the Christian, spirituality wishes to understand religious experience as it occurs.”[25] For these reason, she suggests that the object of the discipline of Christian Spirituality “is materi­ally the spiritual life of the Christian and formally the complex and concrete experience of that life in its totality as the interaction of the human spirit with the Spirit of God, an interaction that includes but is not reducible to its theological or religious components or dimensions, nor necessarily exclusively Christian in its sensibilities or content.”[26] Such an approach is echoed in other writings. In fact, several authors of Spiritual Theology consider “lived experience” as the principal object of their study. This is obvious from the definitions these authors give to this field of study,[27] and from studies like the writings of Jesús Manuel García[28] and Sorrentino.[29]

In summary, rather than presenting a systematic technique, this approach[30] emphasizes the understanding of the phenomena of the Christian spiritual life as experience. Schneiders explains that,

By this [the hermeneutical approach in spiritual theology] I emphatically do not mean the application of some particular hermeneutical theory, e.g., that of Paul Ricoeur, to the subject matter of spirituality. Nor do I mean the prosecution of some particular hermeneutical agenda, e.g., feminist or deconstructionist hermeneutics, in regard to the subject matter. Rather, I mean that the primary aim of the discipline of spirituality as I understand it, is to understand the phenomena of the Christian spiritual life as experience. And since understanding of such phenomena is a function of interpretation, the presiding intellectual instrumentality is hermeneutics understood as an articu­lated and explicit interpretational strategy. The project of interpretation, […], is interdisciplinary because of the complex and multi­faceted character of spiritual experience as such. [31]

The approach of Schneiders is currently a well established method in the study Spiritual Theology.   This is confirmed by eminent academics and institutions in the field. For example, Steven Payne, in the OCD international Congress about Spiritual Theology of the year 2000, considers the hermeneutical approach as one of the three main approaches in the USA.[32]  In the English speaking world, this hermeneutical approach has been highly recognized especially in the volume, Exploring Christian spirituality: essays in honour of Sandra M. Schneiders; in which authors such as Philip Sheldrake, Judith A. Berling, and Belden C. Lane praised her methodology.  Schneiders’ way of doing Spiritual Theology, is also acknowledged by scholars such as Domenico Sorrentino and Jesús Manuel García. [33]

The structure of a research according to the hermeneutical approach

The Hermeneutical approach as presented by Schneiders, is an approach “whose proper methodology is a hermeneutically governed interaction of description, critical analysis, and constructive interpretation for the purpose of the fullest possible understanding of the [spiritual] phenomenon.”[34]

Schneiders describes that, “The logically first step is one of description of the phenomenon/a under investigation.”[35] This might include, “an individual movement, like Benedictinism; an individual commit­ment, like Martin Luther King’s non-violence; an individual charism, like Francis of Assisi’s stigmata; an individual devotion, like that of Edward Taylor to the Lord’s Supper; or an individual aspect of Christian life, like work.”[36] 

“The logically second step is one of critical analysis. This will surely include theological criticism.  But it may also include […other aspects such as sociology, psychology, or literary studies].”[37] This approach “is interdisciplinary by nature,” “because the object it studies, transformative Christian experience as such, is multi-faceted.”[38] It “requires us to bring into play not only theology and historical studies, but psychology, sociology, the natural sciences, comparative religion, aesthetics, literature and the arts, and whatever other disciplines might be required by the character of the phenom­enon to be studied.”[39]

“The logically third step is one of constructive interpretation. The objective of the study of spirituality is not simply to describe or explain the spiritual experience but to understand it in the fullest sense of that word. Understanding involves not only intellectual deciphering of a phenomenon but appropriation that is transformative of the subject […]. A further objective of the study of spirituality is the enlighten­ment of the current situation, a contribution to the understanding of the spiritual life today.” [40]

[1] John Paul II, Discorso ai membri della Commissione Teologica Internazionale, 26 Oct. 1979, n. 5, in AAS 71 (1979), p. 1431 (translated by the author). See also, Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Donum Veritatis, 24 May 1990, n. 6-7, in AAS 82 (1990), pp. 1552-1553; Benedict XVI, Address to the Members of the International Theological Commission, 3 Dec. 2010, in AAS 102 (2010), pp. 911-914.

[2] Edward Schillebeeckx, I am a happy theologian: conversations with Francesco Strazzari, SCM Press, London 1994, p. 11.

[3] Edward Schillebeeckx, Interim Report on the books ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christ’, SCM Press, London 1980, p.30.

[4] Edward Schillebeeckx, The Schillebeeckx Reader, edited by, Robert Schreiter, T&T Clark, Edinburgh 1986, p. 118. Schillebeeckx shows also some concern on the current attitude in the Church, because according to him, theologians seem to have lost their pastoral orientation by failing to attend to the issues of recollecting theory and practice in Christian living: “We theologians have not been able to bridge the gulf between theory and practice: on the contrary, it has become broader and deeper.  We have paid too little or no attention to the questions which believers constantly raise, or have made them too little ours.” Edward Schillebeeckx, God Among Us: The Gospel proclaimed, trans by, John S. Bowden, SCM, London 1983, p. 85.

[5] Federico Ruiz, Le vie dello Spirito. Sintesi di teologia spirituale, EDB Bologna, 2004, p. 35 (translated by the author)..

[6] Federico Ruiz, Le vie dello Spirito. Sintesi di teologia spirituale, trans. Romano Gambalunga, Silvano Giordano, Fabrizio Iodice, Marilena Milani and Renzo Tarter, Nuovi saggi Teologici. Series Maior, EDB, Bologna 2004,  p. 25. (trans. by the author)

[7] See Federico Ruiz, Le vie dello Spirito. Sintesi di teologia spirituale, EDB Bologna, 2004, p. 35.

[8] Jesus Castellano Cervera, “La spiritualità. Ispirazione, ricerca, formazione,” in Desk. Rivista di cultura della comunicazione 3 (September 1996), pp. 42-50.

[9] Luis Jorge González, “Espiritualidad pastoral. Una nueva ciencia que está naciendo,”in Teresianum 48 (1997), pp. 79-117.

[10] Jesus Castellano Cervera, “Mistagogia pastorale e spiritualità” in La spiritualità ispirazione, ricerca, formazione, Roma 1984, pp. 29-42.

[11] Cf. Rafael Checa, La pastorale della spiritualità Cristiana,  (Città del Vaticano: LEV, 1998), p. 106.

[12] Luis Jorge González, Creatividad spiritual, (Rome: Teresianum, 1999), p.19.

[13] The difference between content and process can be noticed for example in cooking.  One may know the ingredients of a special pastry (content), but to achieve the final product one needs to cook those ingredients in a specific order (process).   In spiritual life, this process can be elicited from the life of Jesus, the tradition of the Church, and the lives of saints,  together with observations in human sciences such as in pedagogy.

[14] Cf. Luis Jorge González, Creatividad spiritual, (Rome: Teresianum, 1999), p. 107-134.

[15] Cf. Rafael Checa, La pastorale della spiritualità Cristiana,  (Città del Vaticano: LEV, 1998), p. 124-208.

[16] Rafael Checa, La pastorale della spiritualità Cristiana,  (Città del Vaticano: LEV, 1998), p. 133.

[17] Rafael Checa, La pastorale della spiritualità Cristiana,  (Città del Vaticano: LEV, 1998), p. 138.

[18] Rafael Checa, La pastorale della spiritualità Cristiana,  (Città del Vaticano: LEV, 1998), p. 154.

[19] Rafael Checa, La pastorale della spiritualità Cristiana,  (Città del Vaticano: LEV, 1998), p. 182.

[20] “Hermeneutical reflection took new life with the publication of the works of Friedrich Schleiermacher, Wilhelm Dilthey and above all, Martin Heidegger. In the footsteps of these philosophers, but also to some extent moving away from them, various authors have more deeply developed contemporary hermeneutical theory and its applications to Scripture. Among them we will mention especially Rudolf Bultmann, Hans Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur.” The Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, 15 April 1993,  Pauline, Boston 1993, p. 76.  For a detailed explanation see, Ibid, pp. 76-80. For a historical overview of the use of hermeneutics in the bible see, Klaus Berger, Hermeneutik des Nueven Testaments, Mohn, Gütersloh, 1988. Italian translation, Ermaneutica del Nuovo Testamento, Quareniana, Brescia 2001, pp. 11-54.

[21] See for example: Oliver Davies, “Hermeneutics”, in The Oxford handbook of Systematic Theology,  edited by John Webster et al., Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 2007, pp. 494-510; Claude Geffré, Croire et interpreter: le tournant herménetique de la théologie, Chef, Paris 2001; Ireneusz Wojciech Korzeniowski (editor), Per un’ermeneutica veritativa: studi in onore di Gaspare Mura, Città Nuova, Roma 2010; Roberto Mancini, Il servizio dell’interpretazione: modelli di ermeneutica nel pensiero contemporaneo, Il pozzo di Giacobbe, Trapani 2010; Gaspare Mura, Introduzione all’ermaneutica veritativa, Edizioni P.U.S.C., Roma 2005; and Jeanrond Werner, Theological Hermeneutics, Crossroad, New York 1991.

[22] Her emphasis is more on the ‘approach’ to the study, than to its ‘methodology.’  She explains, “Approaches reflect primarily the types of knowledge (or skills) the student seeks to attain which reflect the aspects of Spirituality that she or he finds more interesting or important.  Methodologies are articulated complexes of procedures (methods) which are developed to investigate what is of interest. Methods do not, or at least should not dictate either what can be studied or how it should be studied. Rather, methods are systematic attempts to ensure the validity and fruitfulness of the research.” Sandra M. Schneiders, “Approaches to the Study of Christian Spirituality.” In Blackwell Companion to Christian spirituality, ed. Arthur Holder, Blackwell Pub., Oxford 2005, p. 15-33.

[23] Sandra M. Schneiders, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in Minding the Spirit: the study of Christian Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth A. Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, p. 56.

[24] Even though Schneiders opts to use different words for ‘Spiritual theology’ and ‘Spirituality,’ in this study, the term ‘Spiritual Theology’ considers the latter as one of its trends.

[25] Sandra M. Schneiders, “Spirituality in the Academy,” in Theological Studies 50 (1989), p. 692. For a further description see the same article, pp. 676-684. This emphasis on the lived experience leads Schneiders to define the field of Christian Spirituality by stating that: “Spirituality as the subject matter or material object of the discipline ‘is the experience of conscious involvement in the proj­ect of life-integration through self-transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives.’ In Christian spirituality these formal categories are specified by Chris­tian content: the horizon of ultimate value is the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ, and the project involves the living of his paschal mystery in the context of the Church community through the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Sandra M. Schneiders, “The Study of Christian Spirituality. Contours and Dynamics of a Discipline,” in Studies in Spirituality 8 (1998), pp. 39-40.

[26] Sandra M. Schneiders, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in Minding the Spirit: the study of Christian Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth A. Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, p. 54.  See also, “The Study of Christian Spirituality. Contours and Dynamics of a Discipline,” in Studies in Spirituality 8 (1998), p. 40. 

[27] For further details see, Salvador Ros García, “Definiciones de la teologia spiritual en el siglo XX,” in Teresianum, Vol. LII (2001), pp. 306-316; in which one can observe that 12 out of 35 definitions mentions directly the word “experience”, while another good number refer to it indirectly. Among the authors that directly mention the experience there are: Fabio Giordini (1965); Gustavo Gutiérrez (1972); Federico Ruiz Salvador (1974); Charles André Bernard (1976); Innocenzo Colosio (1976); Giovanni Moioli (1977); Jordan Aumann (1980); Michael Downey (1991); Saturino Gamarra (1994); Domenico Sorrentino (1994); and Jesús Manuel García (1995).

[28] Jesús Manuel García, “La Teologia Spirituale Oggi. Verso una descrizione del suo statuto epistemologico,” in Teresianum, Vol. LII (2001), pp. 205-238. In this study García after observing some current trends in Spiritual theology (namely Vandenbroucke, Colisio, Weismyer, Secondin and Goffi, Gozzellino, Aumann, Waaijman, Sorrentino, Bernard, Schneiders, and Ruiz Salvador), and other recent trends in theology (namely Mouroux, Von Balthasar, and Rahner), concludes by justifying the study of Spiritual Theology as the “theology of the lived Christian experience” (“teologia dell’esperienza spirituale cristiana”).

[29] Domenico  Sorrentino, L’esperienza di Dio: disegno di teologia spirituale, Cittadella, Assisi 2007. In this study Sorrentino, like García after doing an analysis of the current trends in spiritual theology also concludes that it is moving towards a “theology of spiritual life” (“teologia del vissuto spirituale”), see especially Chapter I, pp. 23-93.

[30] Her emphasis is more on the ‘approach’ to the study, than to its ‘methodology.’  She explains, “Approaches reflect primarily the types of knowledge (or skills) the student seeks to attain which reflect the aspects of Spirituality that she or he finds more interesting or important.  Methodologies are articulated complexes of procedures (methods) which are developed to investigate what is of interest. Methods do not, or at least should not dictate either what can be studied or how it should be studied. Rather, methods are systematic attempts to ensure the validity and fruitfulness of the research.” Sandra M. Schneiders, “Approaches to the Study of Christian Spirituality.” In Backwell Companion to Christian spirituality, ed. Arthur Holder, Backwell Pub, Oxford 2005, p. 15-33;  

[31] Sandra M. Schneiders, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in Minding the Spirit: the study of Christian Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth A. Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, p. 56.

[32] Steven Payne, “The Teaching of Spiritual Theology in the U.S.A.,” in Teresianum, Vol. LII (2001), p. 325.

[33] Domenico  Sorrentino, L’esperienza di Dio: disegno di teologia spirituale, Cittadella, Assisi 2007, p.28. Jesús Manuel García, “La Teologia Spirituale Oggi. Verso una descrizione del suo statuto epistemologico,” in Teresianum, Vol. LII (2001), pp. 207, 210.

[34] Sandra M. Schneiders, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in Minding the Spirit: the study of Christian Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth A Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, p. 59.

[35] Sandra M. Schneiders, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in Minding the Spirit: the study of Christian Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth A. Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, p. 56

[36] Sandra M. Schneiders,“The Discipline of Christian Spirituality and Catholic Theology”, in Exploring Christian spirituality: essays in honour of Sandra M. Schneiders, ed. by Bruce H. Lescher, and Elizabeth Liebert, Paulist Press, New York 2006, p. 206.

[37] Sandra M. Schneiders, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in Minding the Spirit: the study of Christian Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth A. Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, p. 56. 

[38] Sandra M. Schneiders, “The Study of Christian Spirituality. Contours and Dynamics of a Discipline,” in Studies in Spirituality 8 (1998), pp. 40, 42.

[39] Sandra M. Schneiders, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in Minding the Spirit: the study of Christian Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth A Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, p. 52-53.

[40] Sandra M. Schneiders, “A Hermeneutical Approach to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in Minding the Spirit: the study of Christian Spirituality, ed. Elizabeth A Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, p. 57