Europe

Douglas Burton-Christie

Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, Volume 11, Number 1, Spring

2011, pp. ix-x (Article)

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/scs.2011.0016

For additional information about this article

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/436285

Access provided by K.U. Leuven (1 Dec 2017 10:31 GMT)

Europe
Douglas burton-christie

W hat does it mean to speak of “Euro-spirituality?” Or “Christian spiritu-

ality in Europe?” The idea that either of these questions would be worthy of ix
sustained critical reflection might seem unlikely. After all, there is a long-stand-
ing perception that European Christian spirituality is practically synonymous
with Christian spirituality itself, that to speak of Christian spirituality is to
speak of a tradition that emerged and flourished on European soil, whose main
practices, doctrines, texts and artistic expressions found their mature expres-
sion there. To reflect on Christian spirituality, then, is de facto to reflect upon
European Christian spirituality. The inadequacy of this way of thinking is, at
least from our present perspective, self-evident. It seems increasingly difficult
to argue that there is now or ever was such a thing as “European spiritual-
ity” in the sense of a single, unified tradition of spiritual thought and practice.
Instead, the unfolding history of Christian spirituality in Europe has yielded a
multiplicity of distinctive Christian spiritual traditions, each of which has been
shaped by a particular place and social-cultural milieu and by the blending and
clashing of cultural, political, intellectual influences from within and without
(the very question of what counts as European, what constitutes Europe is and
has always been contested, contributing to the difficulty in arriving at any clear
understanding of the meaning of European spirituality). The radical multiplic-
ity of Christianities that has always been reflected in Christian life in Europe
ought to serve as a caution against any generalized attempt defining the shape
of European Christian spirituality.
Further challenges arise when one takes into consideration the evolution of
Christian life and practice in Europe over time. In the present moment, shifting
demographics and secularizing trends have contributed to a reshaping of the
European religious landscape. Is it any longer meaningful to describe Europe as
broadly Christian—whether in terms of actual practice or in terms of general,
cultural orientation? As the number of those who formally profess Christian-
ity continues to shrink, and the presence of other religious communities and
of non-religious secular forces continues to grow, how are we to understand
the shape and character of contemporary Christian spiritual practice—both
on its own terms and as it comes into contact with other traditions of thought

Authors
Spiritus 11 (2011): ix–x © 2011 Last
by The Johns Name
Hopkins | Title
University Press
 and practice? This is a question of such great complexity that even to pose it
in this way is to illuminate the immense changes that are currently underway
in contemporary Europe. It is in part because of these changes, and because
this journal, while international in scope, has always had its primary home in
North America, that we decided to take the opportunity to consider what it
means to think about Christian spirituality in a European context today.
The essays by Philip Shelrake, Elisabeth Hense, Frans Maas, Lief Gunnar
Engedal, Bernadette Flanagan, Luk Bouckart and Andreas Andreopoulos take
up a wide range of questions relating to what it means to practice Christian
spirituality in a contemporary European context. These reflections, while cer-
x tainly not representative in any broad sense, do shed light on many of the ten-
sions and ambiguities currently arising amidst an increasingly pluralistic and
secular European culture. One can well imagine another half-dozen essays, and
another half-dozen after that taking up further and different questions; indeed,
it might be best to consider this present symposium on ‘Euro-spirituality’ sim-
ply an initial effort to surface key questions and concerns, to be followed up by
further conversation and exchange in the future. For the moment, it is intrigu-
ing to consider how the central questions of scholars living in Europe compare
those of their counterparts in North America and elsewhere.

SPIRITUS | 11.1