When I was studying zoology and psychology at university in the 1970s the ‘nature versus nurture’ debate was at its height. Were an adult’s character and outlook on life attributable primarily to the genetic disposition he or she had inherited, or to the upbringing he or she had received? It was hoped that by studying, for example, identical twins separated at birth, the question might receive a definitive answer. Instead, what happened was that the debate largely died out of its own accord. Few today would deny that both nature and nurture have a crucial role to play, and that it is the interplay between them that is perhaps the most significant factor. For people of faith, spiritual growth and development are important aspects of what it is to move closer towards reaching one’s full human potential. The articles in this issue of The Way consider, from different perspectives, what such growth and development look like, and how best to achieve them.
Helen Orchard, ‘The Creature and the Sovereign Self: The Anthropology of the Spiritual Exercises and Contemporary Spiritual Narcissism.’, 11–21
The importance of spirituality is an idea that is widely (although not universally) accepted in the Western world today. ‘Mind-Body-Spirit’ sections are common in bookshops. Helen Orchard suggests that people of religious faith need to treat these facts w
Brian O’Leary, ‘Through Wonder To Fruitfulness’, 23–31
The Irish Jesuit Brian O’Leary is a familiar writer in the pages of The Way. In this essay he describes a spiritual path that leads from wonder, which comes naturally to a child but can be deeper in an adult; through gratitude, a conscious thankfulness for God’s many gifts; to fruitfulness, an availability to others that has the power to transform an individual’s relationship with God.
Jakub Walczak, ‘The Metaphor of the Garden in Spiritual Life’, 32–45
The poet Dorothy Gurney claimed that ‘One is nearer to God in a garden / than anywhere else on earth’. In this article Jakub Walczak explores the image of the garden in the different ways it can be applied to the spiritual life. He contrasts an exterior g
Kathleen Taylor, ‘Talking with Other Religions’, 47–57
The last half-century has seen rapid developments in the relationship between Christianity (here, specifically, Roman Catholicism) and other religions. Kathleen Taylor traces a journey from a belief that there is ‘no salvation outside the Church’ to a recognition that different faiths represent a variety of unique ways of being human, which are nevertheless capable of being in fruitful dialogue with one another.
John Moffatt, ‘Beyond Reasony The Problem of Solving the Meaning of Life’, 59–64
Traditional moral theology, John Zupez argues here, has often focused primarily on what he calls ‘sins of weakness’—a familiar list of forbidden acts, many of them related to sexual practice. He finds in the Bible an alternative tradition, touched on in the Second Vatican Council and currently being revived by Pope Francis, which takes as its subject ‘sins of strength’, including the failure to take personal responsibility for the state of the wider world.
Anneke Viljoen, ‘God of Seeing: Rehearsing the Presence of God in the Spiritual Direction Relationship’, 65–76
Even regularly worshipping Christians may have little expectation that God will intervene directly in their everyday lives. Here Anneke Viljoen describes how she became aware that this was her own unreflective position, and how an imaginative encounter wi
John Zupez, ‘Sins of Weakness and Sins of Strength’, 77–89
Traditional moral theology, John Zupez argues here, has often focused primarily on what he calls ‘sins of weakness’—a familiar list of forbidden acts, many of them related to sexual practice. He finds in the Bible an alternative tradition, touched on in the Second Vatican Council and currently being revived by Pope Francis, which takes as its subject ‘sins of strength’, including the failure to take personal responsibility for the state of the wider world.
Maria Prieto Ursúa, ‘Feminine Psychological and Spiritual Clues to the Spiritual Exercises’, 90–102
Historically, most writing on spirituality has been done from a male perspective. More recently, women’s voices and experience have increasingly been heard. Is it possible, though, to trace the contours of a spiritual outlook that is specifically feminine (rather than female)? This is the question that María Prieto Ursúa, a professor of psychology from Spain, addresses here.
Riyako Hikota, ‘The Church as a Missionary Servant in the Godless World: Erich Przywara on the ‘Holy Saturday’ Form of the Church’, 103–111
Two of the major Roman Catholic theologians of the twentieth century, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Karl Rahner, both acknowledged the Polish-German Jesuit Erich Przywara as a mentor. Each developed aspects of Przywara’s work on Holy Saturday, the day of waiting between the crucifixion and the resurrection. Here Riyako Cecilia Hikota considers what this understanding can contribute to a theology of the Church.