George Fox Evangelical Seminary

Course Description

A study of the relationships between personality, practices of spirituality, and spiritual formation. Using the resources of biblical and theological studies, the traditions of spiritual formation, and the insights of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), students will assess their own personality and spiritual journey. They will also consider how they may use specific understandings and practices to stimulate and sustain their own holistic spiritual development.

Course Objectives

• To provide students the opportunity to reflect on and describe their personal spiritual journeys as a resource for understanding spiritual formation.
• To assist students in understanding and appreciating the strengths and weaknesses of their Myers-Briggs personality types especially in relation to their spiritual lives.
• To help students, through their reading and classroom interaction, to analyze carefully their own spiritual journey in order to help create a paradigm for spiritual formation.
• To encourage students to see the historical Jesus as the model of the spiritual life.
• To provide an energizing classroom environment for discussion and application.

Required Texts

• Frazee, Randy. Christian Life Profile Assessment Tool. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.
• Mulholland, M. Robert Jr. Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
• Oswald, Roy M. and Kroeger, Otto. Personality Type and Religious Leadership. Washington, DC: The Alban Institute, 1988.
• Scazzero, Peter, and Bird Warren. The Emotionally Healthy Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003.
• Read one of the following:

• Chittister, Joan. Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today, reprint edition. San Francisco, CA: Harper SanFrancisco, 1991.
• Thompson, Marjorie J. Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995.

Recommended Text

• Baron, Renee. What Type Am I? Discover Who You Really Are. New York, NY: Penguin, 1998.

Students with Disabilities

If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please contact the Disability Services Office as early as possible so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You will need to provide current documentation of your disability to Disability Services. For more information, contact Rick Muthiah, Director of Disability Services (ext. 2314 or rmuthiah@georgefox.edu), or go to ds.georgefox.edu for more information.

Grading

For each assignment, students receive a check-minus (which is seldom given and indicates lack of effort), a check (which is normal and indicates acceptable completion of the assignment), or a check-plus (which indicates above average thought and/or reflection). Also, I take scores down a percentage for all late papers, depending on how late they are.

Electronic Equipment in the Classroom

Please keep cell phones in the “off” position while class is in session (you can check your messages at break). If an emergency arises that necessitates having your phone set to “vibrate,” please notify the teacher at the beginning of class. Should you bring a laptop computer to class, please refrain from conducting personal business during class, including reading and composing emails, surfing the web, doing work for other classes, etc. Our goal through these rules is to create an atmosphere of mutual respect and collegiality.

Spiritual Formation Reading List (approximately 150 pages required)

• Allender, Dan B. and Longman, Tremper. The Cry of the Soul: How our Emotions Reveal our Deepest Questions About God. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1994.
• de Mello, Anthony. Awareness: A De Mello Spirituality Conference in His Own Words. New York: Image Books, 1990.
• Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, revised edition. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1988 [1978].
• Hands, Donald R. and Fehr, Wayne L. Spiritual Wholeness for Clergy. Washington, DC: The Alban Institute, 1993.
• Howatch, Susan. Glittering Images. New York, NY: Fawcett Crest, 1987.
• McIntosh, Gary L. and Rima, Samuel D., Sr. Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: The Paradox of Personal Dysfunction. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1997.
• Ortberg, John. The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997.
• Quenk, Naomi L. In the Grip: Our Hidden Personality. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1996.
• Thomas, Gary. Sacred Pathways. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002.
• Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1991.

Christian Classics Reading List (approximately 150 pages required)

• Gregory of Nyssa. The Life of Moses, The Lord’s Prayer, The Beatitudes
• Teresa of Avila. Interior Castle
• Julian of Norwich. Revelations of Divine Love
• St. John of the Cross. Dark Night of the Soul
• St. Augustine. Confessions
• The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi
• The Desert Fathers (trans. Helen Waddell)
• The Rule of St. Benedict
• Thomas a Kempis. The Imitation of Christ
• Brother Lawrence. The Practice of the Presence of God
• Theologia Germanica of Martin Luther
• Richard Rolle. The Fire of Love
• Walter Hilton. The Ladder of Perfection
• The Cloud of Unknowing
• Ignatius Loyola. The Spiritual Exercises
• Francis de Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life
• Blaise Pascal. Pensees
• Madam Guyon. A Short Method of Prayer and Spiritual Torrents and/or Autobiography
• Francois Fenelon. Christian Perfection, Letters, or Maxims of the Saints
• William Law. A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life or The Spirit of Love
• Therese Lisieux. Story of a Soul
• Thomas Merton. Contemplative Prayer, New Seeds of Contemplation, Seeds of Contemplation, or The Seven Story Mountain
• Johann Arndt. True Christianity
• Philip Spener. Pia Desideria.
• Bernard of Clairvaux. On Loving God and selections from Works
• George Fox. Journal
• John Woolman. Journal
• John Wesley. Journal
• Toyhiko Kagawa. Meditations of the Cross
• Soren Kierkegaard. Purity of Heart
• John Bunyan. Pilgrim’s Progress
• Simone Weil. Waiting for God

Pre-Course Assignments

• Take some time to reflect intentionally and carefully on your personal spiritual journey, writing down in particular the events, experiences, practices, insights, etc. that have helped form you spiritually. Please take 2-3 hours for this reflection or, better yet, a personal retreat.
• Using your own journey as your primary resource, create a 500-750-word paradigm for spiritual formation. From your experience, how is one formed spiritually? In other words, if you were to create a universal model for spiritual growth (based solely on your experience), what would the key components be? Be specific. Pretend the Lord will use with everyone the same “methods” or “experiences” that helped you. This paper will be discussed in class. Note: please write this paper before you do any of your reading! The paper should be emailed to Dan Brunner (dbrunner@georgefox.edu) at the end of the Ramp Up period (by October 8, 2006).
• Read (in order): 1) Mulholland, 2) Scazzero, 3) Chittister or Thompson, and 4) Oswald & Kroeger. After each book, write a 250-300-word paper written as if the author was giving you personal feedback on your paradigm for spiritual formation. In other words, what insights did you gain on your spiritual formation model from each text? These papers should be brought the first day of class.
• Read and complete Randy Frazee’s Christian Life Profile Assessment Tool. Make sure you also ask three other people to complete their assessments, as outlined in the tool. This information will be used in class and for the final project.
• Become familiar with your Myers-Briggs type. Please take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator before you arrive on campus in January. You can do this online at:
  http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/Jtypes2.asp

After you’ve completed the inventory, press the “score it” button at the bottom. You will then get your results along with some links to various descriptions of your particular Myers-Briggs type. Make sure to print hard copies of these pages as they come up. In fact, you may want to make a hard copy of the answer sheet before you press the score button so you have a record of how you responded to each question. Please complete this assignment before you come to class.

For an informative, enjoyable overview of the MBTI, it is recommended that you read Renee Baron, What Type Am I? Discover Who You Really Are (New York, NY: Penguin, 1998).

Post-Course Assignments

• Read a total of 300 pages from the Spiritual Formation Reading List and the Christian Classics Reading List above (approximately 150 pages from each list). Via email, please let the professor know which texts from the Spiritual Formation Reading List you’ll be reading. If you want to read other texts, please get approval from the professsor.
• The final project will be a specific 16-month plan for your own personal spiritual formation based on the content of the course and your reading. The exact assignment will be given in class itself.

Expectations for Papers

• Each paper should be typed and double-spaced, with 1” margins, 12 pt. Times Roman type, and a cover page that includes the title, the name of the course, the professor’s name, and your name
• Please observe length requirements carefully and keep an eye on grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.
• Your personal paradigm for spiritual formation is due at the end of the Ramp Up period, October 8, 2006. The rest of the pre-course assignments are due on the first day of class.
• The post-course assignments are to be completed by December 10, 2006.