This book provides a new introduction to the study of Christian spirituality, exploring it through the human sciences and ranging from philosophy and hermeneutics to psychology, history, sociology and anthropology.

Systematic and progressive, it introduces the key approaches and shows how they relate to the understanding, study and practice of spirituality. Covering a vast amount of ground - from traditional themes such as images of God, spiritual direction and pilgrimage to more contemporary issues, such as place and space, cyberspace and postcolonialism - the author takes an ecumenical, inclusive stance, allowing the book to be used in a wide variety of courses and across denominations.

David B. Perrin is President of St. Jerome's University, Waterloo, Ontario, is a former Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, and is a former President (2005-6) of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.

Acknowledgments, Preface, Introduction, 1. Questions of definitions, 2. Questions of context, 3. Questions of God, 4. Questions of Christian anthropology, 5. Questions of history, 6. Questions of text, 7. Questions of human-spiritual development, 8. Questions of spiritual practice, 9. Questions of critical edges, Index