Wilderness Spirituality

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

A formative moment in Christian spirituality occurred from the 4th through 7th centuries when men and women left the city to go into the wilderness, in imitation of Jesus (Mt 4:1-11), in order to find a deeper relationship to God. This course will provide a grounding in the spirituality of the so-called desert fathers and mothers that emerged during this period (approximately half the course) in order better to understand other persons and movements in the Christian tradition that have made the same movement since, including figures and texts from Celtic Spirituality, and contemporary figures such as Kathleen Norris, Thomas Merton, and the iconographer William Hart McNichols. This course will be taught as a complement to "Contemplative Ecology," which students should also be taking. The course is discussion based, with weekly reflections on the readings, a written midterm, and a final oral exam/conversation with the instructor.