REL 255: Spiritual Formation for Ministry

'But if you wish to know how these things come about ask grace not instruction, desire not understanding, the groaning of prayer not diligent reading, the Spouse not the teacher, God not man, darkness not clarity, not light but the fire that totally enflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections. This fire is God and his furnace is in Jerusalem...' --Bonaventure, 1217-1274

Simply Bonaventure provides an introduction to the life, thought and writings of the medieval Franciscan, Bonaventure of Bagnoregio. The majority of the work is devoted to Bonaventures theology, which is summarized according to his own metaphysical scheme of origin (God), purpose (creation), and destiny (goal of creation). His trinitarian, Christocentric theology is highly relevant to a global world and to the postmodern Christian experience. Sr. Delios work places his theology in the context of contemporary human experience. This second edition includes an updated bibliography.

In this comprehensive study of St. Bonaventure's theology of Christ crucified, Sr. Ilia Delio explores the breadth and depth of mediaeval philosophy and theology and she does so in a way that makes it relevant to the twenty-first century.  "In a fragmented, suffering, and power-dominated world, Bonaventure offers a vision that is not only breathtaking in its comprehensiveness but metaphysically grounded in divine goodness and contingent on personal intimacy and relationship. It is a worldview that is critically needed in our time," writes Delio.