Abstract
This thoughtful and thought-provoking collection of essays is a welcome addition to Roger Haight’s recent writings in spirituality. It speaks to seekers, especially those who have questions about their Christian faith, in light of secular culture, the relation between science and religion, and religious pluralism. H. notes that many Christian denominations have developed more positive appreciations of culture, the relationship between religion and science and the truth and holiness found in other religions. Still, the traditional theological language of Christian doctrines often seems out of touch with these new developments and at odds with everyday life and spirituality. In addressing “seekers,” who might describe themselves as spiritual but not religious, H. turns to the category of spirituality to make the case for spiritual and religious. Observing a tendency in the West to think of spirituality in private terms, he wisely notes how easily such a spirituality can lose its connection with the larger world and become self-serving. Christian spirituality, rooted in following Jesus and measuring itself by his message and ministry, is demanding and depends upon the support, nourishment and empowerment of the church community. At the same time, he insists upon the primacy of spirituality, for the church exists as a medium of Christian spirituality and is accountable to it. The truth and vitality of religious institutions should be judged according to the degree that they do in fact, embody and support the spiritual experience and practice from which they arose.
The fourteen essays in this collection approach the connection between spirituality and religion from different perspectives. After developing broad definitions of spirituality and religion he turns to topics including the uniqueness of Jesus, the meaning of the cross, personal spirituality and church authority, liberation and ecospirituality, important contributions of the American church, and the meaning of the doctrine of the trinity. Throughout the essays, he uses the category of spirituality as a fundamental anthropological constant to open up new ways of imagining and responding to many challenging issues for the church today. In so doing, he purposely steers away from theology in a way he does not intend to be reductionistic. The essays show that H.’s approach is rooted in a robust theology of creation ex nihilo and in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, which remind us that God is in immediate relationship to every creature and that we may seek and find God present and laboring in all things and persons.
Key themes of the book come together in a particularly fine way in chapter 11, “The Spiritual Exercises as an Ecumenical Strategy.” While notable doctrinal agreements have been achieved, ecumenical efforts, which have generally focused upon doctrinal differences, seem in large measure to have stalled. Focusing upon the spirituality of following Jesus can offer a way forward. H. proposes that ecumenists, especially leaders of the churches, together make the Exercises as a group, and have important and powerful experiences of the core that is shared in common. Indeed, in many Jesuit retreat houses throughout the world, Christians from different denominations making the Spiritual Exercises are finding an experience of the fundamental unity of the church that is real, if not yet fully visible. This can have a profound impact on subsequent theological discussions and church life.
Two essays focusing upon religious pluralism are especially challenging and thought-provoking, precisely because the church’s teaching in this area has been developing and remains contentious. “The question addressed here is whether it is possible for religious persons to become convinced that other religions can be as true and authentic as their own” (160). H. envisions a positive answer to this question that avoids the mistake of thinking all religions “are the same or equal, because they are not”; or that all religions are “relative.” Turning to spirituality, he calls us to pay attention to, and learn from, the “spreading spiritual conviction among Christians today that other religions, even though they are very different from Christianity, participate in what can be called religious truth” and “have an autonomous validity” (161). Practically speaking, this should entail a “non-competitive” attitude and strategy in relationship with other religions based on religious humility before the transcendence of God. Following Schillebeeckx, H. asks us to wonder if and how our own Christian faith allows and even demands that we enter into “the relationship with other religions with a bias that other religions bear truth and that we bear some responsibility to be open to it, to find it, to acknowledge it, and appreciate it” (164). If we did, our theological judgments—when the time is right for them—might be closer to the truth.