Holistic Spirituality

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Bruce G Epperly. Holistic Spirituality

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HOLISTIC SPIRITUALITY

LIFE TRANSFORMING WISDOM

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Many scholars believe that the Epistle of James is an invitation to the early church to embody the wisdom of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in presenting a dynamic vision of holistic spiritual practices. Faith, for James, involves cells and souls, welcome and witness, diet and doctrine, and prayers and practices. Everything fits together in the Christian life – mind, body, spirit, and actions; and individual, community, and planet. All are part of God’s quest for salvation and should shape the daily life of Jesus’ followers.

A bit of sagely advice given to spiritual leaders goes “they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” James would agree: doctrine is dead without justice, and piety is meaningless without ethics and social concern. James joins the everyday spirituality of the wisdom tradition with the social concern of the Hebrew prophets, whose quest for justice found its wellsprings in the vision of personal God who truly cares about honest business practices, fair mortgages, and meals for the hungry. Our ritual purity, worship services, and doctrinal orthodoxy mean nothing unless the hungry are fed, naked clothed, and the homeless given lodging. In the background of James’ message is the prophetic admonition:

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