Brant Pitre has created a humble, informative, and relevant guide in his book Introduction to the Spiritual Life. Throughout the book, he manages to strike a balance between being engaging while still being serious and scholarly. A difficult challenge indeed, and Pitre gets it right.

A very helpful book outlining basic practices of the spiritual life. Dr. Pitre has a gift for taking difficult subjects and making them understandable to a lay reader without much theological training. Challenging, but solid.

This book provides a powerful introduction to the first stage of spiritual growth, the purgative way.

Here are my three biggest takeaways.

Vocal prayer, meditation and contemplation are deeply biblical. We need a balance of all three. As we move from vocal prayer to meditation to contemplation, we plunge deeper into the bottomless, depths and layers of an amazing God who loves us and has much to teach us. This is exciting and great news!

It is vital to go within and examine these seven vices: 1. Pride 2. Envy 3. Anger 4. Avarice (a.k.a. greed) 5. Lust 6. Gluttony 7. Sloth. Which one(s) do I struggle with? How can I partner with God to attack them head on?

“By perseverance in prayer, our hearts become gradually more and more conformed to the will of God—whatever it may be.” My job is to show up. Trust God. Do not judge my prayer session. Each time I sit with God, God works in me to align my will with God’s will. I am free to act from my true self! Who is my true self? It is the person God wishes me to be. It has no endpoint. It is a life-long journey.

If you are not familiar with Pitre’s body of work, you might really enjoy checking out his other books and this is a great book to begin with. He has the ability to take what can be more scholarly or academic and write with such great prose that you cannot help but become immersed in the topic which, in the case here, are spiritual practices and personal formation. And his newest book, Introduction to the Spiritual Life, is a great book with beautiful cover art. There is a lot to be gained from reading this book and I hope you find it as enjoyable as I have. This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley and Crown Publishing for an honest review.

I've started to explore the spiritual classics this year, and really appreciate this introduction--both to the classics themselves, and to how they're rooted in Scripture and Jewish tradition.

Being a nondenominational Protestant myself (who grew up in the Presbyterian church and still misses its liturgy and practice of--for example--quiet self-examination and confession prior to Communion), I often feel the classics are underutilized in my (non-)denomination. I'd love to see them incorporated more, and feel that this read provides a solid base for how to start that--as well as to see, again, the biblical and traditional roots.

Biblical Hebrew and Greek are such rich languages; English translations of the Bible often only capture one facet of the original texts' meaning. Pitre often goes back to the original text and provides further context and scope--truly fascinating.

Anyone curious about prayer of any type, including Christian meditation and lectio divina; Christian tradition and classics; and resources for further study will find much to enjoy here.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Brant Pitre takes his readers through a logical explanation and sequence on the development of a spiritual life. The text is meaty, and should not be read hurriedly. Pitre uses a great deal of Scripture to back up his thoughts, as well as quotes from spiritual classics. I found the book to be educational and inspirational, and recommend it to Christians who are looking for more in their spiritual life. This is a book that will assist believers in moving toward maturity.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of Introduction to the Spiritual Life from Image via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

The book springs from the author’s “transformative” experience from discovering and reading the “spiritual classics”, weaving quotes from them into each chapter. He open with describing the three (3) types of prayer and stages of spiritual growth along with the “universal call to holiness” or spirituality in the Introduction before going more in depth on Prayer in the first section. The rest of the book is organized to look at the three (3) major temptations and their remedies, three (3) spirit exercises, seven (7) mortal sins and opposing virtues, and then some guidance to keep you on the path. Each chapter starts with a brief introduction of the topic with several illustrative quotes before looking at the Jewish roots, then how it was used/illustrated by Jesus before finishing with Christian tradition. As expected, each topic is well researched and supported, although not all chapters had the same impact on me (The author does emphasize that this is an introductory work, so parts of it might already be familiar depending on where you are on your path). Over all, I believe this to be something to come back to and reread, especially when I find myself struggling (Spiritual Dryness is discussed in Chapter 22).

<spoiler>Introduction

Prayer
Chapter 1: Vocal Prayer
Chapter 2: Meditation
Chapter 3: Contemplation

The Spiritual Path
Chapter 4: The First Step
Chapter 5: The Ten Commandments
Chapter 6: The Three Temptations
Chapter 7: Fasting
Chapter 8: Almsgiving
Chapter 9: The Lord’s Prayer

Vices and Virtues
Chapter 10: The Seven Sins
Chapter 11: Pride vs Humility
Chapter 12: Envy vs Mercy
Chapter 13: Anger vs Meekness
Chapter 14: Avarice vs Generosity
Chapter 15: Lust vs Chastity
Chapter 16: Gluttony vs Temperance
Chapter 17: Sloth vs Diligences
Chapter 18: Sorrow vs Patience

Making Progress
Chapter 19: Examination of Heart
Chapter 20: Lectio Divine and Jacob’s Ladder
Chapter 21: The Battle Prayer
Chapter 22: The Dark Night
Chapter 23: The Living Water
</spoiler>

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#IntroductiontotheSpiritualLife #NetGalley.

I have found this book a fantastic encouragement and practical guide to spiritual growth. Brant Pitre walks the reader through the spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditation, fasting, almsgiving, and much more. Each practice is traced through Jewish Scripture and tradition into the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament and on into the life of the Church. This book is rich with Scripture and the voices of faithful saints from throughout the history of the Church. The writing is accessible and practical - each practice and teaching is made clear and doable! At each point and with each practice I felt encouraged and empowered to put what I read into practice. I will reread this book and it will be a key reference for me to guide others on the path of the Spiritual life. If you are looking for a grounded, clear, practical book on the Spiritual life and disciplines of fath, then this is the book for you. Recommended without reserve or hesitation.