Hear the Ancient Wisdom: A Meditational Reader for the Whole Year from the Early Church Fathers Up to the Pre-Reformation

There is a hunger in the modern world for spirituality. One vast resource of spiritual wisdom comes from the pre-Reformation church--from the martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity through the long tradition of monasticism to the medieval Christian mystics. These are the deep wells of Christian reflection from persons such as John Chrysostom Augustine Benedict Francis of Assisi Bonaventure Bernard of Clairvaux Meister Eckhart Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich to mention just a few. The spiritual insights of over seventy men and women of pre-Reformation Christianity are found in these pages. From these figures we can learn more about the practices of prayer and contemplation a life of following Christ the relevance of community the challenge of asceticism the movement of withdrawal and engagement the love of God for Gods own sake living the gospel sacrificing for the kingdom of God the longing for union with God the practices of justice and a life of prophetic witness. For us so embedded and shaped by the modern world this ancient wisdom will come as refreshing water and as a breath of fresh air with the wings of the Spirit and whispers of angels. Charles Ringma has crafted a unique genre of inspirational literature. . . . Many of these meditations are riveting--stopping us in our tracks and pointing us to God and life. Far from being otherworldly and cloistered Ringma takes us deeper into this life and at the same time the life to come. Walking with these godly men and women then and today . . . is a rich and not-to-be missed experience. --R. Paul Stevens Professor Emeritus Regent College Hear the Ancient Wisdom is a book worthy of our time commitment and investment as you will (like me) be sustained and nourished by the astonishing breadth of understanding and depth of spiritual insight contained in these meditations and reflections. Here is lived wisdom given a voice for the twenty-first century enabling us to find a way to engage with the paradox and complexities of real life as it is today. Highly recommended! --Reverend Trevor Miller Abbot of the Northumbria Community In Hear the Ancient Wisdom these early voices are not antiquated echoes; instead their voices resonate through the centuries. Empowered by this great cloud of witnesses that surround us through history Charles takes us on a discipleship journey that is both beautiful and deeply challenging. --Right Reverend Justin Duckworth Anglican Bishop of Wellington Students and colleagues of Charles Ringma . . . know him to be a trustworthy guide in matters of the Spirit. In this book as in his life he unites a rich intellectual grasp of the broad tradition of Christian spirituality with a rigorous ethic of service leading the reader beyond the rhetoric of faith into a life of worship and service. This is a book I will gladly make my companion for a year--or more. --Maxine Hancock Professor Emerita Regent College This book of meditations fills a spiritual void in a time when modernity has spent itself and people are longing for a way of seeing life whole beyond ideologies and an efficacy beyond tools. For those of us in the Majority World it connects us to a spiritual tradition whose depths can be owned as part of the continuities of our historic Christian faith even as we shed off elements from that past that necessarily ought to be discontinuous with our own pathways to encountering and loving God. I thank Charles Ringma and his work for being a bridge to that important past and a companion in our present journey as nonwestern churches. Melba Padilla Maggay Ph.D. President ISACC Charles Ringma is Emeritus Professor of Regent College Vancouver; Research Professor at Asian Theological Seminary Manila; and PhD Supervisor at The University of Queensland Brisbane.