Posted On October 17, 2018

Looking Back: Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, part 1

by | Oct 17, 2018 | Theology

book cover of Celebration of Discipline by Richard FosterPerhaps you’ve never heard of the term “spiritual formation,” let alone Richard Foster or his foundational work, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. The writings of two authors, Richard Foster and Dallas Willard, are the primary drivers of the movement. Searching the Internet for “spiritual formation” is prone to cause more confusion than understanding. Many resources are rather vague and surface-level about what exactly the concept is. Others are profoundly negative and read like an endless exercise in name dropping and Six Degrees of Turkey Bacon. Piled upon this is that a great number of conservative seminaries are having their students undergo a mandatory spiritual formation program in order to graduate. My Th.M. alma mater is no exception. The idea is that graduating seminary students should also go through a program of sanctification rather than only being well-trained in theology, original languages, and overall “book smarts.”

Put most simply, spiritual formation is intended to be a method of sanctification in which certain spiritual disciplines are a means by which God brings about positive change in a person’s inner character. That sounds innocent enough, but understanding this requires a much deeper look. I won’t evaluate everything in this blog post, but we can start by taking a fresh, firsthand look at Celebration of Discipline to examine the roots of the movement.


In the foreword to the “Special Anniversary Edition” released earlier this year, Foster includes this statement which serves as a helpful central thesis:

Throughout the ages, Christians of all races and ethnicities from all geographic locations and economic backgrounds have witnessed that the classical Disciplines of the spiritual life can produce deep within us exactly this kind of life. The Spiritual Disciplines are the means of God’s grace for bringing about genuine personality formation characterized through and through by love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22–23). [emphasis original]

At its core, Celebration of Discipline is a book about spiritual disciplines. Aside from the introductory first chapter, each chapter is devoted to an individual discipline. These individual disciplines are divided among inward, outward, and corporate disciplines.

Part I: The Inward Disciplines
2: Meditation
3: Prayer
4: Fasting
5: Study

Part II: The Outward Disciplines
6: Simplicity
7: Solitude
8: Submission
9: Service

Part III: The Corporate Disciplines
10: Confession
11: Worship
12: Guidance
13: Celebration

Foster is careful to state that the disciplines are not a means of “earning” sanctification. They “possess no moral rectitude or righteousness in and of themselves. They are, most definitely, not ‘works righteousness’ as it is sometimes said. They place us—body, mind, and spirit—before God. That is all. The results of this process are all of God, all of grace.”

So far, we don’t seem to be dealing with any great amount of theological error. The distinction between meditation and prayer is somewhat curious. One might get suspicious at the mention of economic background in light of the current social justice argument, but this was first published in 1978. The spiritual discipline of solitude also might look suspicious, but we should dig in before judging that one.

But if Foster is trying to sneak aberrant teaching into the church in a covert manner, the sneak ends very shortly after the above thesis statement. We’re not even past the initial introduction to the 2018 edition when he writes that God’s giving humans the capacity to develop moral character is a “gamble.”

Now, we might want to sit for a moment with the thought that we have this unique capacity for moral development. I mean substantial character formation and transformation. Think of it. God could have created the human species into granite boulders or red radishes—merely minerals and vegetables. But instead God has given us the capacity for developing moral character, the ability to become glorious beings that can live in communion with the Triune Reality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for eternity.

This is a great risk on God’s part. The moral development of personality is possible only in a world of genuine freedom. And for us to have the freedom to grow in moral character also means we have the freedom to choose moral evil . . . at times horrendous moral evil. So, for us to develop and grow in moral character is God’s great project for human beings. This is the gamble God has made with the human enterprise. And what God gets out of this gamble is the kind of person we become.

Calling God’s redemptive plan a “gamble” denies a great amount of the New Testament’s teaching about God’s redemptive plan and aligns nicely with open theism.

In further introductory remarks, Foster goes on to advocate listening for the “Kol Yahweh, the voice of the Lord” by various suggested methods mainly involving turning off all electronic devices and citing selected scriptures. Later portions of the book make clear that Foster is not merely equivocating Kol Yahweh with the scripture being read out loud.

Reading farther into the introductory remarks, the reader discovers why some reviews of the work sound like Six Degrees of Turkey Bacon, namely that it drops a great number of names that compel the reader to consider the source, names such as Teresa of ÁvilaCatherine de Hueck Doherty, and Brother Lawrence. This continues throughout the entire work.

In future parts, we’ll dig farther into Celebration of Discipline and consider what Foster teaches about each of these disciplines and examine them in the light of scripture.

Related Posts

Episode 67 – How to Find a Church!

Episode 67 – How to Find a Church!

In the episode, Michael and Cuatro discuss how to find a local church if you are searching. What are some criteria whereby you can discern if a church is for you?

Episode 66 – Book Giveaway! Under God, Over the People!

Episode 66 – Book Giveaway! Under God, Over the People!

In the episode, Michael and Cuatro interview Oliver Allmand-Smith, author of Under God, Over the People. Listen to hear how you can enter to win a free copy of this book. Available to US and Canada addresses only. His book, Under God, Over the People, will help you...

Episode 63 – Are Nativity Scenes OK?

Episode 63 – Are Nativity Scenes OK?

Cuatro and Michael discuss the Christian trend to erect, display, and defend Nativity scenes, particularly those which include an image of the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. Are these depictions violations of the second commandment?

1 Comment

  1. Rick

    Garrett – interesting post. I have been a Christian for around 40 years (age 60). Recently began reading a lot of Willard (along with a guy named James Fowler (at http://www.christinyou.net/ – I put the link in because there is another James Fowler theologian). Over the past 40 years, I started out Charismatic (still consider myself as such) and the majority of those years were spent in a Reformed Charismatic church. I’ve actually read many of the puritan works, been through Charnock’s Existence and Attributes of God twice, read many of Jonathan Edwards writings, along with many current works on reformed theology. Also, have read much on the ‘sanctification debates’; much on the recent interest in the trinity and Union with Christ. What I find most helpful with the Spiritual Formation guys is their emphasis on what I would describe as the ‘relational’ aspects of Christianity – some refer to it as ‘affectional’ theology. Within the reformed ‘stream’ there are some that lean in this direction (the ‘marrow men’ of old, Richard Sibbes, some current names like Michael Reeves, Tim Chester (highly recommend Enjoying God – currently reading). I am thankful for all of the doctrine/theology over the years, but I wished I would have placed more emphasis on walking with God and learning to live in union with Christ via a living, dynamic relationship. I think it’s what we all desire in our heart of hearts and it seems to be more outward and others oriented – which is what the world needs to see and experience. Just putting in my two cents that were spurred on from your post.

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *