Christian Prayer & Spirituality Fall 2022 Final Exam Review

Flashcards in vocabulary format.

the flesh

term for human impulses disordered by sin; what asceticism tries to weaken

teleios

lit. "full," "complete": term for how Jesus wanted his disciples to fulfill Torah; seen as ideal of perfect discipleship by ascetics

asceticism

from askesis ("training"): practices Christians engage in to develop virtues, weaken the influence of the flesh, and better conform themselves to the Holy Spirit's influence

virtues

good habits or character traits; what asceticism & the monastic lifestyle are designed to foster

vices

bad habits or character traits; what asceticism is designed to purge

monasticism

from monakos ("alone"): institution or lifestyle based on renouncing the "world" (life in society); finding optimal conditions for asceticism (a "rule" for prayer, fasting, etc.) virtues especially important for monks and nuns

cenobites

monks who live together in communities

Anthony of Egypt

(251-356 CE): early Christian ascetic and popularizer of monasticism

John Cassian

(360-435 CE): early Christian monk; famous for recording the teachings of the Desert Fathers

ceaseless prayer

state of constant conversation or sense of God's presence; Cassian identifies it as the end of every monk; particularly important for Eastern Orthodox spirituality

contemplation

term for highest level of prayer according to Cassian: simple, direct communion of the mind with God

mysticism

from myein ("to close"); mysterion ("hidden"): special state of consciousness surpassing ordinary experience; process by which human capacities are transformed for immediate experience of God

goal of mysticism

direct union/communion with God

the "threefold way"

common pattern of three stages in mysticism, popularized by Pseudo-Dionysius: 1. purgation; 2. illumination; 3. perfection

theology

lit. "speech/reasoning about God/gods"

divine transcendence

sense in which YHWH is "beyond" the limitations of all created things

kataphatic theology

positive speech about God: language that affirms something of God (ex. "God is good," "God is wise," etc.)

apophatic theology

negative speech about God: language that negates or denies that something is true about God (ex. "God is not a rock," "God is not wise," etc.)

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

(late 5th cent.) Syrian monk, mystic, and theologian; famous for describing the relationship between apophatic and kataphatic theology in mysticism

"divine darkness"

Pseudo-Dionysius' preferred image for God's transcendence; how the mystic is united to God "as unknown" (beyond what thought & speech can capture)

Teresa of Avila

(1515-1582 CE): Spanish Catholic Carmelite nun, mystic, and "Doctor of Prayer"; formalized accounts of mystical experience; stages/degrees of prayer

John of the Cross

(1542-1591): Spanish Catholic Carmelite friar, mystic, and "Mystical Doctor"; mystical poet; famous for the "dark night of the soul"

soul

the non-physical part of you: made up of powers like your senses, will, and intellect

"dark night of the soul" (general)

process by which the powers of the soul are separated from their ordinary attachments to objects so the soul can be prepared for direct union with God (a process it experiences as pain & deprivation)

"dark night of the senses"

first stage in the "dark night of the soul": when the senses are separated from attachments to sensible things ("dark" because God cannot be sensed)

"dark night of the spirit"

second stage in the "dark night of the soul": when the intellect & will are separated from attachments to things we ordinarily know & desire ("dark" because God is beyond what we can know or will)

sacraments (mysteries)

Christian rituals instituted by Jesus, through which the Holy Spirit transmits grace

saint

a holy Christian (now dead), held up by a church for living an exemplary Christian life; recipients of veneration by the Catholic & Orthodox

veneration (dulia)

lit. "honor": technical term Orthodox and Catholics use for honoring saints; distinct from worship

intercession

lit. "going-between": kind of petitionary prayer on behalf of someone else; what Orthodox and Catholics pray to Mary and saints for

Mary

the mother of Jesus; venerated and prayed to in special way by Orthodox and Catholics; believe she exists bodily in heaven

liturgy

lit. "work/service of the people": Christian public worship; usually refers to Sunday communal worship with a set structure or pattern

affective spirituality

spirituality focused on emotional experience, the senses, imagination rather than knowledge or language

Song of Songs (Song of Solomon)

OT book; Hebrew erotic love poetry; interpreted as a metaphor for Israel's covenant relationship with YHWH

Bernard of Clairvaux

(1090-1153 CE): French Cistercian monk, mystic and church reformer; known for his affective mysticism; allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs

mystical union

according to Bernard of Clairvaux, love as a union of our will with God's will; process of freeing our wills from love of carnal things, raising it to desire God above all

will

the power of the soul that desires, values, and chooses goods (goals) to pursue

love (agape; caritas)

to will the good of the other

four degrees of love

according to Bernard: 1. carnal love; 2. loving God for some benefit; 3. loving God for God's sake (while loving yourself in a carnal way); 4. loving God for God's sake & yourself for God's sake

vernacular spiritualities

spiritualities expressed in common languages & ordinary experiences; usually not those of the elite or educated classes

Julian of Norwich

(1342-1416 CE): English Catholic anchoress (hermit) & mystic; famous for her 16 visions ("showings") about the love of God

motherly love

Julian's model for the love of God

the Son (Jesus)

the divine person who is especially a "mother"

through creating humans & through saving humans ("birthing" them into grace)

ways Christ gives "birth" as "mother"

"all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well"

Julian's famous line expressing her hope that God's love and mercy will eventually overcome all sin

Eastern Orthodox

lit. "right opinion": major branch of Christianity derived from churches established in eastern Roman empire

The Great Schism

(1054 CE) official separation of Eastern and Western churches over authority of the pope, rituals, cultural identity, filioque

filioque

lit. "and [from] the Son": language added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed about the Holy Spirit; Orthodox reject it

uncreated energies (energeia)

God considered in his actions or relations to creatures; distinct from his essence (ousia): God considered in himself

synergy

freely cooperating with the grace of the Holy Spirit

deification (theosis)

lit. "god-ification": process of being made holy or god-like (sharing in God's nature) because God shared our nature

icon

2-dimensional sacred image depicting Jesus, Mary, saints; venerated by Orthodox; used in prayer and worship

hope

elpis: confident, present attitude toward the attainment of some future good

pilgrimage

journey to a sacred place

The Way of a Pilgrim

(1884) anonymously authored tale of Russian Orthodox traveler seeking advice on how to pray ceaselessly

hesychasm

lit. "quiet," "stillness": prayer "of the heart"; emphasizes physical/psychological techniques to attain ceaseless prayer

the Jesus Prayer

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner"

Protestant Christianity

lit. protest; "public witness": major branch of Christianity including denominations that emerge during the Reformation (early 16th cent.); contrasted with Catholicism

Sola fide

"faith alone": Protestant belief that only faith, and not good works, justifies

monergy

opposite of synergy; principle that the grace of the Holy Spirit operates apart from human cooperation

indulgence

a kind of "receipt" or permit acknowledging that the pope has applied the merits of the saints to someone else; usually, to souls in purgatory in order to shorten their purification

Martin Luther

(1483-1546 CE): Protestant Reformer and founder of the Lutheran tradition; credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation

the heart of the Gospel

according to Luther, justification by faith alone (faith as passive trust in Jesus' righteousness)

union with God

according to Luther, faith establishes communion with Christ (an exchange of our sin for his righteousness)

simul justus et peccator

"simultaneously justified and sinner": Luther's view that we are "reckoned" to be righteous by God, but Jesus' righteousness never becomes our own (we remain sinners)

inner and outer man

Luther's way of describing the part of us influenced by the Spirit and the part of us influenced by the flesh

purpose of asceticism

according to Luther, can only aid one's spiritual life indirectly: disciplining the body (outer man) to bring it into alignment with the inner man

Evangelicalism

trans-denominational movement in Protestantism; emphasizes affective experience, personal conversion, and spreading Gospel (evangelism)

John Wesley

(1703-1791 CE): English preacher and founder of the Methodist tradition; influential in the Holiness movement; emphasized active discipleship in the world, quest for Christian perfection

worship (latria)

shahhah ("bow"); proskuneo ("kiss"); adoratio: act of paying homage, honoring a superior (esp. a deity)

mystagogy

pattern of being formed by rituals (esp. liturgy)

Liturgy of the Word

first part traditional Christian liturgy: readings from scripture and sermon/homily

Liturgy of the Eucharist

second part of traditional Christian liturgy: reenactment of Jesus' last supper (ritual meal); a sacrament for many Christians

grace

God acting in humans to achieve something they can't; the Holy Spirit's activity in/on humans

charismata

"gifts" of the Spirit mentioned by Paul (1 Cor 12; Rom 12, etc.): healing, prophecies, speaking in tongues, discerning spirits, etc.

glossolalia

speaking in tongues: gift of the Spirit that enables humans to speak in indecipherable languages

features of Pentecostal spirituality

focus on the Spirit's direct action in prayer, evangelism, biblical interpretation; spontaneity in worship

justice

tzedakah; dikaiosune: to render to others what they are due

Óscar Romero

(1917-1980): Salvadoran Catholic archbishop, activist, martyr; preached radical solidarity with the poor; justice as central to spirituality

relationship between spirituality and politics, for Romero

spirituality is not politics; but it must have political implications; cannot be "spiritualized" away (disconnected from history and society)

"the heart of the poor"

what the Church must have to be the true Church: must make the cause of the poor its own

preferential option for the poor

important concept in Latin American spirituality: one's actions toward the poor = one's actions toward God (based on Matt 25:31-46)

conversion to the Gospel

for Romero, means embracing the cause of the poor, to the point of suffering as they do; even embracing sacrifice and martyrdom

1619 CE

year when first race-based slave trade established in U.S. colonies

passages used by Christians to justify slavery

1 Peter 2:18; 1 Tim 6:1; Col 3:22

African American Spirituals

Christian songs combining African themes & melodies with biblical narrative; applied to African American experience under slavery

Exodus story

biblical narrative central to African American spirituality: God acting to liberate his people from bondage

Black (liberation) theology

study of God in light of oppressed African American communities; seek to expose systemic racism as obstacle to Gospel

James Cone (1938-2018)

influential Black theologian; argued "God is black" (God sides with victims against white supremacy)

other themes of African American spirituality

challenging false uses of Christianity (slaveholding religion) and sensitivity to claims of poor and oppressed

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

Baptist preacher, theologian, and civil rights activist (doctor of SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY)

direct action

King's method of organized civil disobedience to force society to reckon with injustice; must be non-violent

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

(1963) famous letter King wrote while imprisoned; addressed to group of white moderate pastors who publicly denounced the civil disobedience of King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference

the fundamental problem with white moderate Christians

according to King, they prefer order over justice, delaying any systemic change

negative effects of segregation, according to King

segregation as a sinful structure: breeds complacency, bitterness, & dehumanization

King's view of law

an unjust law is no law at all

"extremism for love"

Jesus' demand to love enemies; willingness to suffer for justice without succumbing to hate

active life

lifestyle of the laity: engaged with temporal affairs in the world

contemplative life

lifestyle of monks and nuns: separated from temporal affairs

worldly spiritualities

spiritualities that see temporal things of ordinary life as a means to communing with God, not an obstacle