20 Christian mystics often regarded as โ€œGreat Soulsโ€

Throughout Christian history, mystics have been recognised as โ€œgreat soulsโ€: women and men whose lives display an unusual depth of prayer, moral seriousness, spiritual authority, and love for God and neighbour.ย  Here are twenty of them. Who else, in your opinion, should make the list? Augustine of Hippo Gregory of Nyssa Evagrius Ponticus Macrina the …

Christian mystics as “great souls”

In his writings, the Australian Baptist theologian G. H. Morling occasionally refers to โ€œgreat souls,โ€ people of extraordinary humanity or spiritual insight โ€“ those rare individuals able to express uncommon empathy or magnanimity, whether in actions or words. The phrase โ€œgreat soulโ€ echoes the classical Greek notion ofย megalopsychos,ย the โ€œgreat-souled man,โ€ย articulated by Aristotle, denoting largeness of …

Until the Son of God appear

Perhaps you donโ€™t feel inclined to rejoiceย as we engage withย Advent this year. And thatโ€™s okay. Advent does notย demandย joy and celebration, although thereโ€™s nothing wrong with expressing happy emotionsย orย accompanying others who are keen to express them. Advent meets us where we are,ย in every season of life, in whatever mental or emotional frame it finds us. But …

How to find your place on the page

Ever wonder how and why your eyes return to the precise spot on the page after an interval of distraction? Essentially, what you experience is saccadic re-fixation. But itโ€™s a complex set of processes, one of the most elegant instances of unconscious coordination between vision, memory, and spatial cognition. When you reopen a book or …

Ten spiritual disciplines to grow deeper in faith

Here are ten classic spiritual disciplines or practices for Christian discipleship, drawn from Scripture and centuries of church tradition. There are many more. 1. Sabbath (Rest) A weekly rhythm of ceasing from work to delight in Godโ€™s creation, grace, and sovereignty (e.g., Gen 2:2โ€“3; Ex 20:8โ€“11). Sabbath is a time for rest, play, feasting and celebration, …