Christian Spirituality Unit

1. Evil Today (Lethal, Structural, Banal ...)

Christian spirituality implies confrontation with a broadly imagined, wide-ranging, and persistent category of evil. A strand within the Catholic tradition, informed by Thomism, understands evil as a no-thing, as a privation. Yet this is not the only way to understand evil theologically. Many individuals seek out spiritual direction or engage in traditions of “spiritual exercises” that raise awareness of the reality of evil as a deceptive spiritual and real force. Theologies of liberation amplify the reality of evil by naming the ways that evil is culturally and structurally produced, such that one must acknowledge sinful social structures as sources that produce or reinforce social evils (racism, sexism, heterosexism, etc.). Authoritarian regimes and their aftermath raise serious questions about “the banality of evil.” What is the “future” of evil given the aforementioned dynamics? What resources can Christian spiritual traditions marshal to contend with the overt and covert or banal presence of evil? How might Christian spirituality wrestle with the risks involved in naming evil wrongly—i.e., demonization, over-exaggeration, and the (mis)naming of evil?

2. A New, or Newly Imagined, Christian Asceticism

While by now, Christian theology and spirituality have rightfully critiqued the misuse and abuse of Christian asceticism (especially the meaning and application of sacrifice), the interlocking realities of ecological exploitation/devastation and unfettered capitalism may suggest that there is need to revisit asceticism as a discipline. In the aftermath, too, of a very well-received panel on commodifying spirituality, Christian spirituality scholars and practitioners should consider ways that asceticism is a site both for agency and for exploitation. Among the questions we invite proposals for are: How does a sense of the present and of the future reframe the place of asceticism and notions of sacrifice? What historical models and theories of asceticism have a future? Given the dynamics of commodification of religion and spirituality, to what extent does asceticism have a future?

3. Eschatology and Foresight

In conjunction with AAR’s announced theme of “FUTURE/S,” in what ways does the Christian spiritual tradition negotiate questions of what lies before us? Specifically, how does Christian spirituality enable us to imagine and live into “end times” and whatever may succeed them — that is, whatever may come after the “end”? The range of prospective topics here is virtually limitless, but the committee discussed such prospective themes as ecotheology (particularly Black ecotheology and other convergences of environment, race, and class), the specter of mythic utopias—the future fulfillment of pasts that never actually existed—as projections of present-day nationalist fervor, the ongoing evolution of artificial intelligence, and “Stage 4” conditions of crisis (whether personal or collective, “Stage 4” naming both a diagnosis of serious illness and, per theories of economic progress, a phase of advanced capitalism).

4. Crises of Leadership

Leadership is a longstanding feature of many American churches, much as it is across society. But leadership is widely perceived to be in crisis because of its practical caricature in public life, its co-optation by business cultures (and by business schools at universities), and its failures at the levels of church communities. What kind of leadership do we need now? On what resources might we draw from the long history of Christian spirituality?

5. Difficult Conversations (co-sponsored with Ecclesiological Investigations Unit and Vatican II Studies Unit

Difficult conversations occur less today between religious believers and non-believers or between one religion and another than within religious communities, particularly in Christian churches. As Christian Nationalism gathers momentum alongside polarisations, cancel culture, and toxic masculinity, in addition to ongoing crises such as environmental degradation and anti-immigration policies and practices, questions of how to coexist within Christian communities come to the fore, especially considering newer experiments in co-responsibility for difficult conversations in church life, such as synodality.

• How do we talk about difficult topics such as women’s ecclesial leadership? Synodality was meant to carve a path forward for the Catholic church and yet, the latest Vatican commission on women deacons insists on a conclusion that not only ignores scholarship but also global calls for ordained women. Meanwhile, in the Anglican church, the elevation of the first female to the role of Archbishop of Canterbury meant for some, the church had reached a milestone, for others it was heretical and reason to disassociate. Do we concede that synodality is a failed exercise when it comes to women’s ecclesial leadership? What can Christian Spiritual traditions and histories contribute in these otherwise seemingly failed synodal exercises on women in the church?
• When people engage in ecclesial dialogues, do they consider being trauma-informed? What is the current practice at both local and international levels such as the World Council of Churches? Is it within the ecclesial imagination to ensure we do not further traumatize and marginalize peoples as we invite them into these conversations? How can we take responsibility for understanding power dynamics and ensuring we do not make more vulnerable those who are already vulnerable? Take for example, the way in which communities still tread carefully around welcoming the LGBTQ+ community. Is the welcome simply a beautiful ideal or can we have real, even if difficult, conversations that enable both sides to be heard while keeping all participants safe? Again, Christian spiritual traditions and histories might reveal existing alignments with trauma-informed approaches to dialogue. It can also reveal the complications.
• Last, how do we begin or continue to engage in the difficult conversations about being colonial Christians or Christians on colonised lands? That we often worship on unceded territories and on lands that have no treaties? That indigenous spiritualities are still seen with suspicion as evidenced by the reaction to the presence of the Pacha Mama statue during the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region in 2019? Can we talk about how as Christian communities, we are not there yet in terms of unlearning internalised racism as white and brown/black skinned persons alike, and dismantling Western-Anglo-European structures in our churches? How might Christian spiritualities enable us to face and dialogue on these difficult truths about ourselves and our communities?