Shaping the Journey

""This book is a significant addition to the literature on spiritual formation! How wonderful to have the contributions of these three giants of our faith--Robert Mulholland, John Wesley, and Thomas Merton--in conversation with each other across the generations. My heart is strangely warmed."" --Ruth Haley Barton, Founder, Transforming Center ""Daniel Harris has brought us a hugely significant piece of work. We need this kind of parallel analysis that identifies common themes and shared influences when we study spiritual formation and what this means for the church. Harris has done this and done it so very well, giving us an invaluable resource."" --Gordon T. Smith, Executive Director, Christian Higher Education Canada ""Daniel Harris has done the field of spiritual formation a great service! In this outstanding book he highlights the work of three giants of spiritual theology--John Wesley, Thomas Merton, and M. Robert Mulholland Jr.--revealing heretofore unrecognized points of overlap in the teaching of these seemingly disparate figures. Harris sheds light on the surprising connections among these teachers and their respective traditions, offering important insights into the history and future of the spiritual formation movement."" --Robert C. Pelfrey, author of An Untold Story: Heroism, Mysticism, and the Quest for the True Self ""When I received the text from Daniel saying his work on this book was complete, I wept. I would not be the person I am becoming without the love, teaching, and mentorship of Dr. Bob Mulholland. And Dr. Bob, in turn, would not have become the towering figure he is in my life and in the spiritual formation movement without the influence of John Wesley and Thomas Merton. This story needed to be told--and Daniel tells it with such grace and depth that you will find yourself profoundly encouraged to be more fully conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others."" --Steve Brooks, Pastor First Methodist Church Midland, Texas ""Harris's Hegelian approach in this volume introduces important connections between three church leaders who, at first, seem distant stars within the galaxy of the Spiritual Formation Movement. With Wesley's pietistic evangelicalism as thesis, Harris explores the 'faith in bands' which led early Methodists toward mutual contemplation for spiritual refinement. To this, he pairs the antithesis of Merton, a Trappist monk who viewed solitude as the place where God orders the mind of faith. Mulholland, who began teaching as American fundamentalists were regaining power in the latter half of the twentieth century, emerges as Harris's synthesis--as a skilled practitioner of spiritual formation which was both pietistic and evangelical but not fundamentalist, and contemplative but not quietist. Harris's approach is fresh and will please clergy and laity who have much to learn from these three giants in the history of the history of the Spiritual Formation Movement."" --Gregory Tomlin, Director of PhD Programs, East Texas Baptist University