Editorial Reviews

From AMAZON.COM

When Richard Foster began writing Celebration of Discipline more than 20 years ago, an older writer gave him a bit of advice: "Be sure that every chapter forces the reader into the next chapter." Foster took the advice to heart; as a result, his book presents one of the most compelling and readable visions of Christian spirituality published in the past few decades. After beginning with a simple observation--"Superficiality is the curse of our age.... The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people"--Foster's book moves to explain the disciplines people must cultivate in order to achieve spiritual depth. In succinct, urgent, and sometimes humorous chapters, Foster defines a broad range of classic spiritual disciplines in terms that are lucid without being too limiting and offers advice that's practical without being overly prescriptive. For instance, after describing meditation as a combination of "intense intimacy and awful reverence," he settles into such down-to-earth topics as how to choose a place and a posture in which to meditate.

Perhaps most interesting and useful is Foster's chapter on the controversial Christian discipline of submission. According to Foster, submission does not demand self-hatred or loss of identity. Instead, it simply means growing secure in the conviction that "our happiness is not dependent on getting what we want" but on the fulfillment that naturally flows from love of one's neighbors. Such wise and encouraging suggestions have helped many readers to discard the idea that discipline is an onerous duty and to move toward a liberating and simpler idea of discipline--whose defining character, as Foster never forgets, is joy. --Michael Joseph Gross From AudioFile

Christian spiritual practices are the subject of this abridgment of Foster's 1978 book. The inward disciplines are meditation, prayer, fasting, and study; the outward disciplines are simplicity, solitude, submission, and service; and the community disciplines are confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. With intellectual clarity on par with that of C.S. Lewis, Foster is a wonderful teacher who is accessible as a speaker and in touch with the aimlessness of the modern era. He's also a humble teacher whose personality takes a backseat to his ideas and sensibilities. For anyone turned off by the concept of discipline and religious authority, this conversational audio will open up wonderful possibilities for introducing loving structure into one's life. T.W. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Spotlight Reviews

Reviewer: H. David Peirce "Zossima" (Houston, TX USA)

This is a Christian classic. Foster has written a comprehensive guide to spiritual disciplines. It is deep, yet accessible. Most of the reviews here agree with that. I've read this book 5 times in 8 years. I've been in churches where multiple people were reading it at the same time. I've been in small groups where everyone read it together. I've seen mature Christians read it. I've seen new Christians read it. And I've concluded that THIS BOOK CAN BE DANGEROUS.

The reason I say that is that even in the most non-legalistic churches I've ever seen, I've seen immature Christians stumble in part because they are overwhelmed by everything in this book. And when I say "stumble", I'm talking about people going back into severely addictive lifestyles. And the pressure they felt from feeling like they have to do all these disciplines contributed to that.

Unfortunately, it's easy for any of us to filter even the most well-intentioned, well-written book through our false self, that part of us that is performance- and fear-oriented. Spiritual disciplines do not change us; they open our hearts to the change that the Spirit of God wants to bring.

Again, I think this is a phenomenal book. But lest we feed our heads instead of our hearts and lest we frustrate ourselves with a standard of righteousness that Foster never intended, I'd like to humbly, humbly suggest some things: * I personally recommend that people start with Henri Nouwen's "Way of the Heart" for a primer on spiritual discipline. It is just much simpler. The big stuff can come later. (Other books by Merton, Nouwen, Keating, etc., will work just as well.)

* Get a spiritual director--I'm not talking about a pastoral counselor, though it may be a pastor; I'm talking about a spiritually mature guide who is only interested in your spiritual development, not your money or your time.

* Read this book with other people who can provide feedback to you on how they see you responding.

* Keep it simple: Pray, pray, pray; trust the Lord to guide your heart into other disciplines. Attempt other disciplines when your motivation is to honor God and mortify your flesh, not when it is to "get something", even if that "something" is spiritual maturity.



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