2023 Evangel Gathering - Friendship and Flourishing for Missions

W orkshops • 39

C. Understanding the Sacred Roots definition of a spiritual classic.

1. “A spiritual classic is a non-canonical text that has proven helpful in addressing perennial pastoral problems across many cultures and over many centuries.” 8

2. Three important aspects of the Sacred Roots definition.

a. “Non-canonical”

1) Spiritual classics are not Scripture.

a) With Scripture, our interpretations can be wrong, our translation or textual tradition may have an error, but the Scripture itself as spoken by God and recorded by humans is perfect and without error (e.g. Moses with horns). b) Spiritual classics, in contrast, have much that is valuable, much that leads to increased intimacy with God, much that heals our souls. But all spiritual classics have bones—things that must be rejected.

1. Principle: Eat the meat; spit out the bones.

2. Example: Protestant use of the Apocrypha. 9

2) Principle: Identify which of four types of reading best fits your text:

a) Leisure reading aims for enjoyment.

b) Informational reading aims for knowledge.

c) Spiritual reading aims for transformation.

8 For more on an evangelical understanding of spiritual classics see Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel, eds., Reading the Christian Spiritual Classics: A Guide for Evangelicals (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2013). Note that Sacred Roots team members involved with this book include James Houston, Greg Peters, Evan Howard, Kyle Strobel and Tom Shwanda 9 Ben Sirach, Books Jesus Read: Learning from the Apocrypha , ed. Bob Lay, vol. 5, Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics (Wichita, KS: The Urban Ministry Institute Press, 2022).