Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 08:2 (Fall 2011)
Article: The Classics Of Christian Devotion: Wellsprings Of Spiritual Renewal
Author: Daniel H. Holcomb

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JBTM 8:2 (Fall 2011) p. 14

The Classics Of Christian Devotion:
Wellsprings Of Spiritual Renewal

Daniel H. Holcomb

Senior Professor of Church History at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

In the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains is an old church, St. George’s-by-the-Vineyard, that holds title to an extraordinary vineyard. Over the years, natives claim, the vineyard has produced the most delicious grapes in that region. And they insist that the wine made from the grapes is unsurpassed in quality. No one was able to account for the excellence of the vineyard until old Jeremy, the church sexton, died. A taciturn man, he had faithfully and unobtrusively cared for the church properties. After his death, church officials found a note stating simply, “The key to everything is under the altar.” Under the altar they discovered not only a key but also a moveable stone slab and stairs leading down into a cellar. Exploring the dark crypt they were surprised to find a gurgling spring beside which was a chart and a time schedule. Unknown to anyone else the sexton at regular intervals had been releasing the waters of the spring into the ducts that irrigated the vineyard. That was the secret of its amazing productivity--a hidden source of nurture regularly released by a wise and faithful keeper of the spring.1

A host of witnesses, saints past and present, invite contemporary pilgrims to the wellsprings of the spirit, the sources of spiritual renewal hidden from the arrogant and self-sufficient but accessible to sincere seekers after faith, to those who truly thirst for the living God. Among these witnesses is a body of extraordinary mentors, faithful sextons of the spirit--Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas A Kempis, John of the Cross, Blaise Pascal, Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales, William Law, Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Thomas Kelly, to name a few--who provide wise and vital counsel for those who long for a life of faith that is “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”2 Their spiritual legacy includes a rich vein of writings--autobiographies, biographies, confessions, journals, allegories, theological reflections, letters of spiritual counsel, manuals of spiritual discipline, guides for private worship--recognized as classics of Christian devotion.

JBTM 8:2 (Fall 2011) p. 15

These works fall within the range of pastoral or practical theology because their didactic intent is more existential and formational than academic and informational. They are devotional: they speak to the heart about the fundamental issues of human existence. They call the reader to the love, worship and ...

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