The Spiritual City Theology, Spirituality, and the Urban

A Spiritual City provides a broad examination of the meaning and importance of cities from a Christian perspective.

• Contains thought-provoking theological and spiritual reflections on city-making by a leading scholar
• Unites contemporary thinking about urban space and built environments with the latest in urban theology
• Addresses the long-standing anti-urban bias of Christianity and its emphasis on inwardness and pilgrimage
• Presents an important religious perspective on the potential of cities to create a strong human community and sense of sacred space

Philip Sheldrake is Senior Research Fellow in the Cambridge Theological Federation and Director, Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality, Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio Texas. He has taught and written extensively in the field of Christian spirituality, on the nature of space and place in religion, and on spirituality more generally. He is involved internationally in interreligious dialogue. His dozen books include A Brief History of Spirituality, Second Edition (Wiley Blackwell, 2013), Explorations in Spirituality: History, Theology and Social Practice (2010), Spirituality and History, Second Edition (1998) and, as editor, New SCM/Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (2005). He is a Past President of the international Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.

Introduction 1

Part One The City in Christian Thought 23

1 Augustine’s Two Cities 25

2 Monasticism and Utopian Visions 43

3 The City as Sacred 63

4 The City and the Reformations 81

5 Michel de Certeau: Everyday Practices and the City 99

Part Two Theological Reflection and the City 115

6 Place and the Sacred 117

7 The Art of Community 137

8 Reconciliation and Hospitality 157

9 Urban Virtues 179

Epilogue: A Spiritual Vision of the Human City 201

Select Reading 211

Index 221

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