Book Review: Teaching for Spiritual Formation: A Patristic Approach to Christian Education in a Convulsed Age

Abstract

The assumptions and ideas behind Kyle Hughes ’ s Teaching for Spiritual Formation are bold, at least in today ’ s educational contexts: that catechesis can and should occur in schools, especially Christian schools; that the primary goal of education is formation of virtue and “ Christian imagination ” ; that the “ ascetical theology ” of the classic Christian Fathers is an important guide to such formation; and that it is both possible and imperative to pursue such formation within contemporary Christian institutions and the world they serve. Hughes draws on several contemporary conversations about spiritual formation in children and teenagers: Christian Smith ’ s and Melinda Lundquist Denton ’ s analysis of “ moralistic therapeutic deism, ” Charles Taylor ’ s description of post-Christian social contexts, James K.A. Smith ’ s ideas on formative social liturgies and embodied learning, David I. Smith ’ s insights on patently Christian pedagogies