1. SPIRITUALITY IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD: SELECTED STUDIES

 

See the Bibliographies for Studies of the Reformation for a more complete listing of books on the history and theology of the Reformation.  The following are limited to works on spirituality:

 

Louis Dupré and Don E. Saliers, Christian Spirituality III: Post-Reformation and Modern, World Spirituality Series 18 (New York: Crossroad, 1991) paperback, $35.  Valuable articles on early Jesuit spirituality, the Carmelites, and much else.

 

Gillian T.W. Ahlgren, Teresa of Avila and the Politics of Sanctity (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996) paperback, $18.

Michael Lawrence Birkel, Silence and Witness: The Quaker Tradition, Traditions of Christian Spirituality (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004) paperback, $16.

Michel de Certeau, The Mystic Fable: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992) paperback, $22.

Harvey D. Egan, Ignatius the Mystic, Way of the Christian Mystics, vol. 5 (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991) paperback, $15.

Brad S. Gregory, Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000) hardcover, $50.

Stephen Haliczer, Between Exaltation and Infamy: Female Mystics in the Golden Age of Spain (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) paperback, $25.

Bridget Heal, The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Early Modern Germany: Protestant and Catholic Piety, 1500-1648, Past and Present Publications (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) hardcover, $99.

Edward Howells, John of the Cross & Teresa of Avila: Mystical Knowing and Selfhood (New York: Herder & Herder, 2002) paperback, $40.

Colin P. Thompson, St. John of the Cross: Songs in the Night (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003) hardcover, $50.

George W. Traub, An Ignatian Spirituality Reader (Chicago: Loyola Press, 2008) paperback, $19. NEW.

Rowan Williams, Teresa of Avila, Outstanding Christian Thinkers Series (reprint: New York: Continuum, 2000) paperback, $23.

Thomas Worcester, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Jesuits, Cambridge Companions to Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) paperback, $30.  NEW.

God Speaks in the Night: The Life, Times, and Teaching of St. John of the Cross (Washington, DC: Institute of Cistercian Studies, 1991) paperback, $40.

 

 2. PROTESTANT SPIRITUALITY: CLASSIC TEXTS

 

Johann Arndt, True Christianity, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Peter Erb (New York: Paulist Press, 1979) paperback, $23.

Jacob Boehme, The Way to Christ, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Peter Erb (New York: Paulist Press, 1978) paperback, $23.

John Calvin, Writings on Pastoral Piety, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Elsie Anne McKee (New York: Paulist Press, 2002) paperback, $27.

John Comenius, The Labyrinth of the World and The Paradise of the Heart, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed., Howard Louthan & Andrea Sterk (New York: Paulist Press, 1997) paperback, $17.

John Donne, Divine Poems, Sermons, Devotions, and Prayers, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed., John E. Booty  (New York: Paulist Press, 1990) paperback, $20.

George Herbert, The Country Parson and the Temple, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. John Nelson Wall (New York: Paulist Press, 1981) paperback, $25.

William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, The Spirit of Love, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Paul G. Stanwood (New York: Paulist Press, 1978) paperback, $25.

Emmanuel Swedenborg, The Universal Human and Soul-Body Interaction, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. George F. Dole (New York: Paulist Press, 1984) paperback, $23.

Jeremy Taylor, Selected Works, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Thomas K. Carroll (New York: Paulist Press, 1990) paperback, $23.

John and Charles Wesley, Selected Prayers, Hymns, Journal Notes, Sermons, Letters and Treatises, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Frank Whaling (New York: Paulist Press, 1981) paperback, $30.

Valentin Weigel, Selected Spiritual Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 2003) paperback, $25.

David Crowner & Gerald Christianson, eds., The Spirituality of the German Awakening, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 2003) paperback, $28.

Peter C. Erb, ed., Pietists: Selected Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1983) paperback, $23.

Daniel Liechty, ed., Early Anabaptist Spirituality, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1994) paperback, $20.

Douglas C. Steere, ed., Quaker Spirituality: Selected Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1984) paperback, $25.

Charles Taliaferro & Alison J. Teply, eds., Cambridge Platonist Spirituality, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 2004) paperback, $25.

John Tyson, ed., Charles Wesley: A Reader (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) paperback, $20.

Robley Edward Whitson, ed., The Shakers: Two Centuries of Spiritual Reflection, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1983) paperback, $23.

 

 3. CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY (16th-19th Centuries): CLASSIC TEXTS

 

Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises and Selected Works, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1991) paperback, $28.  This volume, translated by some of the top Jesuit historians, offers Ignatius’ Autobiography, which details his conversion and the formation of the early Jesuits. Ignatius’ other classic, The Spiritual Exercises, should not really be read.  It is what it says it is: a gymnastics book for the spirit, and really should be used under the guidance of a spiritual director.  This volume has some good excerpts from Ignatius’ little-known letters and his Constitutions.

 

John of the Cross, Selected Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh (New York: Paulist Press, 1987) paperback, $22.  John is perhaps the greatest and most austere analyst of mysticism in the Catholic tradition.  His paradoxical language can be baffling and easily misunderstood by one unfamiliar with the tradition of ‘negative theology.’  This is a better translation than the older one by E. Allison Peers.

 

Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez (New York: Paulist Press, 1979) paperback, $22.  Teresa is warm and chatty, but is a shrewd analyst of the interior life.  This is perhaps her best work.  Once again, a better translation than the E. Allison Peers.

 

Robert Bellarmine, Spiritual Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. John Patrick Donnelly and Roland J. Teske (New York: Paulist Press, 1989) paperback, $25.

Jean-Pierre Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence, trans. John Beever (reprint: New York: Image Books, 1992) paperback, $11..

John Baptist de La Salle, The Spirituality of Christian Education, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Carl Koch, Jeffrey Calligan, and Jeffrey Gros (New York: Paulist Press, 2004) paperback, $27.

Fenelon, Selected Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Chad Helms (New York: Paulist Press, 2006) paperback, $30.

Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life and Treatise on the Love of God, ed. Wendy M. Wright (New York: Crossroad, 1993) paperback.

Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, Letters of Spiritual Direction, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Wendy Wright & Joseph F. Power (New York: Paulist Press, 1988) paperback, $20.

Francisco de Osuna, The Third Spiritual Alphabet, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Mary E. Giles (New York: Paulist Press, 1981) paperback, $13.

John of Avila, Audi, filia / Listen, O Daughter, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Joan Frances Gormley (New York: Paulist Press, 2006)

John of the Cross, The Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross, rev. ed., trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez (Washington: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1991) paperback, $18.

Alphonus de Ligouri, Selected Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Frederick M. Jones (New York: Paulist Press, 1999) paperback, $25.

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Selected Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Pamela Kirk Rappaport (New York: Paulist Press, 2005) paperback, $28.

Luis de Leon, The Names of Christ, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Manuel Duran & William Kluback (New York: Paulist Press, 1984) paperback, $12.

Maria Maddalena de’ Pazz, Selected Revlations, Classics of Western Spirituality, trans. Armando Maggi (New York: Paulist Press, 2000) paperback, $25.

John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, ed., Ian Ker, Penguin Classics (New York: Penguin Books, 1995) paperback, $15.

John Henry Newman, Selected Sermons, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. Ian Ker (New York: Paulist Press, 1994) paperback, $23.

Vincent de Paul & Louise de Marillac, Rules, Conferences, and Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality, ed. John Rybolt & Francis Ryan (New York: Paulist Press, 1995) paperback, $19.

 

William V. Hudon, ed., Theatine Spirituality, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1996) paperback, $23.

Martin E. Palmer, ed., On Giving the Spiritual Exercises: The Early Jesuit Manuscript Discoveries and the Official Directory of 1559 (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996)

William M. Thompson, ed., Berulle and the French School: Selected Writings, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1989) paperback, $15.

 

 4. JONATHAN EDWARDS: TEXTS & STUDIES

 

George M. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003) paperback, $20.  Jonathan Edwards, often described as “America’s theologian,” was, first and foremost, a pastor and preacher.  As the pastor of an 18th-century New England church, he played a key role in the first of the great revivals that swept through American religious history.  This is an excellent new biography and study.

 

John F. Smith, Harry S. Stout, and Kenneth P. Minkema, ed., A Jonathan Edwards Reader, rev. ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003) paperback, $17.  This offers a fine selection of his works.  For Edwards’ complete works, see The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 22 vol. to date (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957-2003).  This collection, over 40 years in the making, serves as the standard scholarly edition of Edward’s complete works.

 

Leon Chai, Jonathan Edwards and the Limits of Enlightenment Philosophy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998)

Joseph Conforti, Jonathan Edwards, Religious Tradition, and American Culture (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1995).

Nathan O. Hatch, Jonathan Edwards and the American Experience (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988).

Robert W. Jenson, America’s Theologian: A Recommendation of Jonathan Edwards (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988).

Sang Hyun Lee and Allen C. Guelzo, ed., Edwards in Our Time: Jonathan Edwards and the Shaping of Amercian Religion (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999) paperback, $18.

Sang Hyun Lee, ed., The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005) hardcover, $45.

Michael J. McClymond, Encounters with God: An Approach to the Theology of Jonathan Edwards, Religion in America Series (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).

Gerald R. McDermott, Jonathan Edwards Confronts the Gods: Christian Theology, Enlightenment Religion, and Non-Christian Faiths, Religion in America Series (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) hardcover, $50.

Gerald R. McDermott, Understanding Jonathan Edwards: An Introduction to America’s Theologian  (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) paperback, $25.  NEW.

Perry Miller, Jonathan Edwards (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2005) paperback, $17.

John E. Smith, Jonathan Edwards, Puritan, Preacher, Philosopher (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 1992).

Stephen J. Stein, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Edwards, Cambridge Companions to Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) paperback, $28.

Christopher J. Viscardi, Signs of Authenticity: A Study in the Spirituality of Jonathan Edwards (Rome: Pontifica Universitas Gregoriana, 1980).

Stephen R. Yarbrough, Delightful Conviction: Jonathan Edwards and the Rhetoric of Conversion (Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1993).

 

 5. AMERICAN SPIRITUALITY (17th-19th Cent.): CLASSIC TEXTS

 

Henry Alline, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. George A. Rawlyk (New York: Paulist Press, 1987) hardcover, $20.

Orestes A. Brownson, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. ed. Patrick W. Carey (New York: Paulist Press, 1991) hardcover.

Horace Bushnell, Sermons, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Conrad Cherry (New York: Paulist Press, 1985) hardcover, $13.

William Ellery Channing, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. David Robinson (New York: Paulist Press, 1985).

Bartolomé de las Casas, The Only Way: A Restored Version, Sources of American Spirituality, trans. Francis Sullivan (New York: Paulist Press, 1992).

William Porcher DuBose, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Jon Alexander (New York: Paulist Press, 1988) hardcover, $20.

Isaac Thomas Hecker, The Diary: Romantic Religion in America, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. John Farina (New York: Paulist Press, 1988) hardcover.

Charles Hodge, The Way of Life, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Mark A. Noll (New York: Paulist Press, 1987) hardcover, $15.

Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Diane Culbertson (New York: Paulist Press, 1993) hardcover, $25.

Marie of the Incarnation, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Irene Mahoney (New York: Paulist Press, 1989). 

Phoebe Palmer, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Thomas C. Oden (New York: Paulist Press, 1988).

Walter Rauschenbusch, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Winthrop S. Hudson (New York: Paulist Press, 1984) hardcover, $15.

Josiah Royce, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. John E. Smith and William Kluback (New York: Paulist Press, 1988) hardcover, $25.

Elizabeth Ann Seton, Selected Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Ellin Kelly and Annabell Melville (New York: Paulist Press, 1987).

Joseph Smith, Selected Sermons & Writings, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Robert L. Millet (New York: Paulist Press, 1989) hardcover, $25.

Felix Varela, Letters to Elpidio, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Felipe J. Estevez (New York: Paulist Press) hardcover, $25.

Alaskan Missionary Spirituality, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Michael Oleska (New York: Paulist Press, 1987).

American Jesuit Spirituality, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Robert Emmett Curran (New York: Paulist Press, 1988) hardcover, $25.

Devotion to the Holy Spirit in American Catholicism, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Joseph P. Chinnici (New York: Paulist Press, 1985) hardcover.

Early New England Meditative Poetry: Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Charles E. Hambricke-Stowe (New York: Paulist Press, 1988).

Eastern Spirituality in America, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Robert S. Ellwood (New York: Paulist Press, 1987) hardcover, $17.

Pennsylvania Dutch: Folk Spirituality, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Richard E. Wentz (New York: Paulist Press, 1993) hardcover.

Sisters of Mercy: Spirituality in America, 1843-1900, Sources of American Spirituality, ed. Kathleen Healey (New York: Paulist Press, 1992).

 

Catherine L. Albanese, American Spiritualities: A Reader (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001) paperback, $28.

Jon Butler and Harry Stout, ed., Religion in American History: A Reader (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).

Edwin S. Gaustad, ed., Memoirs of the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999) paperback. 

Colleen McDannell, ed., Religions of the United States in Practice, 2 vol. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002) paperback, $22 per volume.

 

 

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Revised: April 29, 2009

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