The Politics of the Spirit

Book excerpt: The Politics of the Spirit is an in-depth discussion of the impact of the Spirit upon the community called Church. It is a call to the members of the covenant community to recognize that in the reality of the changing moments in the Church and the world, there are those dark inward times when winter stillness overtakes the Church and would seek to destroy it. It is a call for a contemporary appraisal of the Church's Spirituality when, on the broader scale, there are manifold claims to Spirituality. The breadth of the work is seen in such questions as "What is Spirituality?", "What does it mean to be Spiritually mature?", "What is the relationship between Spiritual authority and political authority in the Church?", "How do we differentiate between the activity of the Spirit in revelation, inspiration, interpretation, doctrinal formulation and church tradition?", and "Where do we place politics in these issues?" In a word, The Politics of the Spirit simply looks at the Spirit in the culture of the community called Church.