Spiritual Disciplines of Faith
Contact
Ron Choong
actron@mac.com
Where & When:
Online:
Week 1: Sep 22-28
Week 2: Sep 29-Oct 5
Week 3: Oct 6-12
Week 4: Oct 13-19
Week 5: Oct 20-26
Live sessions (New York):
Sep 21, Oct 5, Oct 26
From 3-5pm
Cost:
Online: $100 (Early Bird) & $150 After Aug 31
Live: $300 (Early Bird) & $400 After Aug 31
The 8 Deadly Thoughts:
Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Sadness, Anger, Sloth, Vainglory and Pride
The outcome of each deadly thought is a reduced capacity to love your neighbor with compassion and generosity. They are called thoughts rather than sins because in themselves, they do no harm. It is only when these thoughts are nurtured and executed upon that they can created situations that stop you from fulfilling your potential as a person created by and loved by God.
In the five-week seminar, we shall read Diogene’s Allen’s Spiritual Theology alongside Ron Choong’s insights from the histories of science, technology and medicine as well as the history of religion, to develop an interdisciplinary grasp of the inner life of spiritual theology.
To meditate upon the Lord by forming habits of spiritual discipline.
Scope:
We begin with a brief history of spiritual theology, followed by a discussion of Evagrius’ eight deadly thoughts, and conclude with the practical application of assessing the kind of person you are and think about the kind of person you ought to be.
Obstacles:
Much of academic thinking suffers from a theological amnesia about the purpose of theology – to nourish our spirit beyond just wishing it so. Worship without theological integrity can result in ritualistic slavery and theology without the goal of worship can result in dry religious philosophy. Responsible spiritual theology combines a desire for devotional experience alongside rigorous assessment of every truth claim about God.
In this seminar:
We use the eight deadly thoughts as starting points to help us navigate the theological cobwebs that plague the Church with increasingly longer lists of do’s and don’ts. We shall examine medieval insights into the nature of the human mind alongside modern neuroscientific understanding of how the brain works.
Practical actions:
Live every moment of your life with an awareness of God, even if God seems remote in you daily life. As we grow in wisdom and experience of life, we tend to desire something more than what seems to be our lot in life. Desire God’s habitual presence. We will consider how we might form communities among trusted fellow pilgrims of faith, to celebrate the gift of life to the fullest while delighting in God’s grace by practicing the discipline of compassionate generosity.
Readings:
Selections from Spiritual Theology: The Theology of Yesterday for Spiritual Help Today by Diogenes Allen. Allen introduces the rich tradition of medieval Christian spirituality for us today. Philosophical, scientific and theological noise often obscures our need to connect to God. Allen’s life-long reflection to understand how we may find union with God was instrumental to my own quest.