In the original dustsheet. White cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

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A year’s plan of carefully selected spiritual readings from ancient and contemporary writers with questions, exercises and commentary for individual or group use. The result is a wealth of spiritual treasures to enrich and delight.

Richard Foster’s best-selling Celebration of Discipline provides the framework for this new work. The twelve spiritual disciplines featured are now developed as the themes for selected readings and study helps.

The 12 spiritual disciplines are:

Inward disciplines
Prayer
Meditation
Fasting
Study

Outward disciplines
Simplicity
Solitude
Submission
Service

Corporate disciplines
Confession
Worship
Guidance
Celebration

Christian classic writers will include Augustine of Hippo, John Henry Newman, Thomas Merton, as well as 20th century authors such as, Simone Weil, Catherine Marshall and Joyce Huggett.

Each reading will be followed by an introduction to the life and work of that author, as well as relevant scriptural quotations, questions for discussion, suggested exercises and a reflective commentary by Richard Foster.

Reading with the Heart – Many Christians today are seeking a deeper understanding of God. They want their faith to be meaningful in everyday life; to walk closely with the Lord and to live out the Gospel message. An important resource for Christ-like growth is the great wealth of writings from Christian writers past and present. The readings in ‘Spiritual Classics’ have been carefully selected, accompanied by a short documentary, scriptural quotations, and exercises for use by individuals or small groups. Following a year’s plan the readings are arranged according to the twelve spiritual disciplines featured in Richard Foster’s best-selling ‘Celebration of Discipline.’

Classic authors included here who have inspired Christians through the ages are: Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Merton, John Henry Newman, Thomas More, John Milton, John Wesley, Gerard Manley Hopkins and many more. Twentieth century authors include Simone Weil, Catherine Marshall and Joyce Huggett. ‘The spiritual classics invite us into the world of Christian devotion in such a way that we come to adore God.’   Richard Foster

The Author – Richard Foster is possibly the foremost writer today on spirituality in the Christian Church. He speaks widely around the world and especially in the UK and New Zealand. The Director of Renovare – a project to encourage spiritual renewal – he is a former visiting professor at Azusa Pacific University in California.

Richard James Foster (born 1942) is a Christian theologian and author in the Quaker tradition. His writings speak to a broad Christian audience. Born in 1942 in New Mexico, Foster has been a professor at Friends University and pastor of Evangelical Friends churches. Foster resides in Denver, Colorado. He earned his undergraduate degree at George Fox University in Oregon and his Doctor of Pastoral Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, and received an honorary doctorate from Houghton College.

Foster is best known for his 1978 book Celebration of Discipline, which examines the inward disciplines of prayer, fasting, meditation, and study in the Christian life, the outward disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, and the corporate disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. It has sold over one million copies. It was named by Christianity Today as one of the top ten books of the twentieth century. A work described as a sequel to Celebration is Foster’s 1985 Money, Sex & Power. and associated study guide.

He also published Freedom of Simplicity in 1981, which further explores the discipline of simple, intentional living. Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (1992, ISBN 0-06-062846-4), which explores 21 different types of Christian prayer, edited Devotional Classics (1993, ISBN 0-06-066966-7), a devotional guide featuring Christian wisdom through the ages, and Streams of Living Water (2001, ISBN 0-06-062822-7), which examines the place of the different spiritual traditions – Contemplative: The Prayer-Filled Life; Holiness: The Virtuous Life ; Charismatic: The Spirit-Empowered Life; Social Justice: The Compassionate Life; Evangelical: The Word-Centered Life; and Incarnational: The Sacramental Life – in Christianity.

Foster (along with several others) also wrote the devotional Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible (now published as The Life with God Study Bible). Two editions of this NRSV-based study Bible exist, one with the apocryphal/deuterocanonical texts and one without.

In 2008, he co-authored with Gayle Beebe, the book Longing for God.

In 1988 Foster founded Renovaré, a Christian renewal para-Church organization.

In recent years he has allowed his hair to grow, wearing it in a long ponytail. He says this is his way of honoring the portion of his heritage which is Ojibwe.