Week beginning Monday 30 November 2026
This week introduces the framework we'll use throughout the unit. Before looking at particular spiritual practices, we need to ask why formation is needed, what it aims towards and how it happens.
By the end of this week you should be able to
- explain what is meant by spirituality and spiritual formation, and one way Christian and non-Christian accounts differ
- name the four relational domains (God, self, others and creation) and give an example of each
- describe, in a first attempt, how God's work and our participation relate in formation
Where this week fits
The whole unit is built around four questions:
- Who are we supposed to be, and what has gone wrong?
- What are we being formed towards?
- How does God form us?
- How do we participate in God's forming work?
These questions adapt the five questions in Tom Kimber's article, one of this week's readings. Kimber begins with "What are we talking about?", which is this week's work of defining terms. His questions about being human and being fallen become our first question. His final question, about how we engage in the journey, becomes our third and fourth questions, so we can look at God's work and our part separately.
Readings
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Reading
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Length
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Time
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Foundational Reading 1: Chris Pretorius, Universal and Christian Spirituality (DMin thesis, chapters 2–3, pp. 3–22)
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20 pages
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about 1.5 hours
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Foundational Reading 2: Thomas Kimber, "What Shapes Our Understanding of Spiritual Formation? Five Key Questions to Consider", Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 27, no. 4 (2025): 605–622
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18 pages
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about 1.5 hours
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Optional: Bruce Hindmarsh, "The Calculating Spirit: Theological Anthropology and the Measuring of Spirituality", Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care 14, no. 2 (2021): 162–177
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16 pages
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about 1 hour
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As you read Foundational Reading 1, notice where the Christian account agrees with the non-Christian definition of spirituality and where it parts ways. Pay particular attention to who defines the "authentic self". Chapter 2 surveys non-Christian research on spirituality and spiritual health. Chapter 3 compares Christian traditions and asks whether Scripture supports the four-domain model.
As you read Kimber, notice how the answer to each question shapes the answer to the next. In particular, how does a view of what it means to be human and fallen shape a vision of the spiritually formed person?
The optional Hindmarsh essay is for those who want to go further, and especially for Level 8 students. It cautions against reducing a person to what can be measured. Read it alongside section 2.2 of Foundational Reading 1, on measuring spiritual health.
This week's task
Write a brief reading response of no more than 250 words, answering three questions. Full instructions are in Week 1 Reading Response, due Friday 4 December, 11.59 pm. The task isn't marked, but you'll receive feedback, and it prepares you for everything that follows
