Overview
Post-Christian life and society do not eliminate a desire for the transcendent; rather, they create an environment for new and divergent spiritual communities and practices to flourish. We are flooded with spiritualities that appeal to human desires for nonreligious personal transformation. But many fail to deliver because they fall into the trap of the self.
In the last book of the Ministry in a Secular Age series, leading practical theologian Andrew Root shows the differences between these spiritualities and authentic Christian transformation. He explores the dangers of following or adapting these reigning mysticisms and explains why the self has become so important yet so burdened with guilt--and how we should think about both. To help us understand our confusing cultural landscape, he maps spiritualities using twenty of the best memoirs from 2015 to 2020 in which "secular mystics" promote their mystical and transformational pathways. Root concludes with a more excellent way--even a mysticism--centered on the theology of the cross that pastors and leaders can use to form their own imaginations and practices.
In the last book of the Ministry in a Secular Age series, leading practical theologian Andrew Root shows the differences between these spiritualities and authentic Christian transformation. He explores the dangers of following or adapting these reigning mysticisms and explains why the self has become so important yet so burdened with guilt--and how we should think about both. To help us understand our confusing cultural landscape, he maps spiritualities using twenty of the best memoirs from 2015 to 2020 in which "secular mystics" promote their mystical and transformational pathways. Root concludes with a more excellent way--even a mysticism--centered on the theology of the cross that pastors and leaders can use to form their own imaginations and practices.
Media
The Church in an Age of Secular Mysticisms reviewed in The Presbyterian Outlook
“This concluding volume [of the Ministry in a Secular Age series], as well as the entire series, is the most important and practical modern ecclesiology we have.”
Andrew Root interviewed by Joel Wentz on YouTube
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Table of Contents
Read before Using (Don't Skip)
1. New Mystics without God: Closed World Structures and Memoirists
2. When Dogs Bark during Paris Lockdown: Meet the Magnificent Jean-Jacques
3. Performing Selves Are So Guilty: Why Mysticism and Guilt Are Back
4. When the Everyday Houses a Mysticism without God
5. The [Bleeping] Triangles Are Everywhere: How Triangulated Dilemmas and Conflicts Map the Mysticism of a Secular Age
6. Mystical Memoirists: Mapping the Spiritual Pathways of a Secular Age
7. Why Not All Mysticisms Are Equal: Welcome to a Smooth, Pornographic World Obsessed with Action
8. Why Passivity Is the Path
9. The Headless Man of Shadows: Into Negativity
10. When a Late-Night Talk Leads to Deconversion: Or, How We Keep from Hating the World
Index
1. New Mystics without God: Closed World Structures and Memoirists
2. When Dogs Bark during Paris Lockdown: Meet the Magnificent Jean-Jacques
3. Performing Selves Are So Guilty: Why Mysticism and Guilt Are Back
4. When the Everyday Houses a Mysticism without God
5. The [Bleeping] Triangles Are Everywhere: How Triangulated Dilemmas and Conflicts Map the Mysticism of a Secular Age
6. Mystical Memoirists: Mapping the Spiritual Pathways of a Secular Age
7. Why Not All Mysticisms Are Equal: Welcome to a Smooth, Pornographic World Obsessed with Action
8. Why Passivity Is the Path
9. The Headless Man of Shadows: Into Negativity
10. When a Late-Night Talk Leads to Deconversion: Or, How We Keep from Hating the World
Index
Endorsements
“Brilliant, genre-defying—part philosophical history, literary analysis, and a new postmodern apologetics—Root playfully illustrates how we have become trapped in the present by way of the past, and neither heroics nor introspection nor ourselves will save us. Instead, he posits an enticing, ancient transformation in confession and surrender to something beyond ourselves. A balm for those guilted by Instagram and self-help, Root’s book is both illuminating intellectual history and an essential guide for spiritual leaders navigating secular mysticisms.”
Erin Raffety, writing faculty, Princeton University; empirical researcher, Princeton Seminary
“Andy Root has penned a theological gem. This book is a primer on spiritual theology and philosophical theology that inspires readers to recover and reconsider traditions of confession and surrender. Root balances wit and humor with intellectual depth. His theological musings not only touch the mind but set the soul on fire. This thought-provoking book is an important read that challenges mainline pastors and congregations striving for relevance in the secular age.”
Kermit Moss, faculty, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary
“Once again, Andrew Root manages to bring together lighthearted story and reflection with a remarkable mastery of philosophy, theology, literature, and art to help us make sense of how emerging generations think about God and the spiritual life. A gifted practical theologian, Root invites us to wrestle with the nature of historical and contemporary mysticism in the Western world so that we might resist a spirituality that essentially ends in the self and respond to the transformative invitation to Christ-centered relationships. Ministry leaders seeking to understand and connect with the youth and adults they serve will benefit greatly from Root’s practical wisdom that invites us to open ourselves to the God who reaches out to us and calls us into the world.”
Angela Reed, associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor of practical theology, Truett Seminary, Baylor University
“Root’s final book of the Ministry in a Secular Age series is like a good farewell speech: full of reflective storytelling and festive comments on the past—here in the form of memoirs. Most importantly, the book passes on a legacy: the mystery of how a theology of the cross paradoxically offers a path for transformation of the self. At the end of his secular pilgrimage, Root becomes a mystical guide, pointing passionately at how transcendence may be found in the receptive life—a life of passive surrender and confession.”
Bård Norheim, professor of theology, NLA University College, Norway; coauthor of The Four Speeches Every Leader Has to Know
Author
Andrew Root
Andrew Root (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Faith Formation in a Secular Age, The Pastor in a Secular Age, The Congregation in a Secular Age, Churches and the Crisis of Decline, The Church after Innovation, and The End of Youth Ministry? Root is also the coauthor (with Kenda Creasy Dean) of The Theological Turn in Youth Ministry. He is a frequent speaker and hosts the popular and influential When Church Stops Working podcast.