Introduction

Spiritual formation through the Patristic and Medieval eras covers the first 1300 years of church history. Christians of any era tend to look at their own small view of history and the world causing them to draw inaccurate conclusions about spiritual formations. Sittser explains that, “History can be a valuable resource for us, especially in the spiritual life, for it provides examples of how believers who lived in other times and places understood what it means to seek, know and experience God, which captures the essential meaning of “spirituality.”[1] History has a way of expanding one’s view of the future with a more accurate view of the past.

Theologian #1

The Bishop at Smyrna, Polycarp, is a church leader who brought a way of spiritual formation that fit his context. Polycarp was killed in AD 155 for his faith in Jesus, and it is recorded that as he was put into an arena to be killed a voice from heaven said, “Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.”[2] As many early Christians, Polycarp’s view of spiritual formation included the strong possibility for martyrdom.

Polycarp’s strong and defiant type of spiritual formation is one of the main driving predominant themes. Sittser explains some of the context in which Polycarp lived by stating, “Not only did he refuse to yield to the power of the state, dangerous enough in itself, but he also challenged Rome’s religious pluralism.”[3] The environment was in violent opposition to Christianity in the second century, so Polycarp’s spiritual formation did not have Christians cowering away from confrontation. Polycarp believed in Jesus, and this resulted in a rejection of sacrifice or worship in honor of Caesar, according to Sittser.[4]

Polycarp’s teachings of bold opposition to polytheism and Caesar worship contributed to a larger view of martyrdom as integral to spiritual formation. In fact, “The early martyrs believed that if Jesus is Lord and the only Savior, then he accepts no rivals—no person or religion or ideology or empire.”[5] Polycarp did not teach that martyrdom earned God’s love, but it was the response, if necessary, to express they already received God’s love.[6]

Theologian #2

Augustine of Hippo was a Bishop of Carthage and he lived from AD 354 to 430. Augustine’s writings about his transformation from sinner to saved is an important early work after the biblical accounts. “Augustine is one saint among hundreds whose stories need to be told, remembered and cherished, for they remind us that we are not alone, that we do not know it all, that we have not exhausted the depths of the Christian faith.”[7]

Augustine’s approach to spiritual formation was often characterized by one’s acknowledgement and not simply adjusting behavior. For example, Augustine’s In the City of God he writes, “Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self.”[8] The theme of illustrating the dichotomy between who gives acknowledgement to God. Augustine does not highlight the consequences of sin or struggles to success, but he primarily who gives credit to God and who gives credit to themselves. The inevitable conclusion of the Christian is in a humble is left in a humble place because they realized they take the credit for their achievements and neglect to give them to God.

The next place Augustine seeks to spiritual guide the Christian after being humble is resting in Christ’s finished sacrifice. Augustine states, “Oh! That I might repose on Thee! Oh! That Though wouldest enter into my heart, and inebriate it, that I may forget my ills, and embrace Thee, my sole good!”[9] Realizing one’s sin, through pride, and then resting in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross is the foundation of Augustine’s method for spiritual formation.

Theologian #3

In the year 1225, Thomas Aquinas was born into a wealthy family in Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino.[10] Aquinas had a significant experience with God, and this changed his life, which impacted his implementation of spiritual formation. During a Mass, Aquinas took the eucharist and “he was struck blind, deaf and dumb.”[11] Although before Aquinas’ experience during Mass, he wrote significant theological volumes: Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica.

Experientialism drove Aquinas’ spiritual formation while it was still grounded in biblical theology. Mysticism was a growing movement at the same time, but Aquinas was not a mystic, according to Sittser.[12] However, similarly to mystics, Aquinas valued his experiential encounter with God weightier than his previous biblical theology. For example, he is recorded as saying, “All that I have written seems to me nothing but straw … compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.”[13]

Conclusion

The spiritual formation is about growing to be more like Jesus, but theologians from the first century to the medieval period emphasized different aspects. 1300 years is a large swath of time, and several different influences impacted the church leaders and how they taught spiritual formation. Polycarp’s spiritual formation of bold opposition to religious oppression from the government was effective in his time. Augustine often presented the two paths to guide a Christian to the path Jesus paved, since Christianity was legal by this point. Aquinas had powerful experience with God, which could speak into the culture influenced by Mysticism. The author of Hebrews said it best, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various way” (Hebrews 1:1). The next verse in Hebrews states God gave his final word through Jesus (Hebrews 1:2). As with each of the aforementioned theologians, spiritual formation is contextualized differently, but it is always based on the final testimony of Jesus. The same goes for modern and future times, spiritual formation will be different than in the past but with the same goal, “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29, NIV).

[1] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries (IVP Books, 2007), 18.

[2] Ibid., 42.

[3] Ibid., 43.

[4] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries (IVP Books, 2007), 43.

[5] Ibid., 47.

[6] Ibid., 47.

[7] Ibid., 17.

[8] Courtney Brewer, “The Earthly and Heavenly Cities,” (Media Gratiae, September 27, 2021).

[9] Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo, The Confessions of St. Augustine, trans. E. B. Pusey (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).

[10] Ibid., 164.

[11] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries (IVP Books, 2007), 165.

[12] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well: Christian Spirituality from Early Martyrs to Modern Missionaries (IVP Books, 2007), 165.

[13] Ibid., 165.