Lives of the Saints: Studies in Spiritual Biography

We begin with Augustine, since he virtually invented the idea of spiritual biography, and his autobiography Confessions is a perennial source of insight and beauty. He also introduces a general theory of spiritual formation as a movement from restlessness to rest in the rectification of our desires. Second, we turn to Gregory the Great as a case study for how to follow God at the end of a civilization, in troubled times that included war, plague, and deep political unrest. On the third day, Teresa of Avila will teach us about how deeply the life of prayer can shape our biographies at a fundamental level and provide inner freedom in oppressive conditions in a society rife with authoritarianism, racial tensions, and shame. Fourth is the converted slave-trader John Newton who later wrote Amazing Grace and knew something about how grace can reach the lost and change even the most sinful and hardened soul. He knew too that how God’s grace leads to making amends. Finally, on the last day we will study the life and spirituality of C. S. Lewis, a kind of modern Augustine, whose life and work is rich with spiritual insight as we seek to go “further up and further in” with Christ. None of these saints was perfect, and we’ll look at their lives critically as well as appreciatively, but these are five Christians you should definitely know. In the end, there is an invitation to consider more deeply your own spiritual biography and the unique way in which Christ is offering to deepen his life in you.