CBU faculty members tackle the theology of “Biblical Spirituality”

Riverside, Calif. (Sept. 25, 2019) – Several faculty members within the School of Christian Ministries at California Baptist University helped produce the book “Biblical Spirituality,” which was released by Crossway publications in June 2019. The book is part of a theology series that explores biblical thought.

Dr. Chris Morgan, dean of the School of Christian Ministries at CBU, served as the editor for the book.

Morgan said the book addresses what biblical spiritually looks like on a day-to-day basis.

“Being spiritual is not separated from everything else we do. Being spiritual is related to our marriage, to our parenting, to our work; it’s related to every piece of what we do,” Morgan said. “The more I kept studying it, the more I kept thinking biblical spirituality is on the ground. It’s about day-to-day life.”

Morgan, Dr. Anthony Chute, professor of church history; Dr. Greg Cochran, professor of applied theology; and Ben Skaug, adjunct professor of Christian ministries, contributed writings for the publication.

Cochran’s chapter focused on how spirituality relates to work.

“With spirituality, typically you think of a monk chanting in a sanctuary, but it’s meant to be lived out in the real world,” Cochran said. “It’s not that you have to be at work doing spiritual things, it’s that your work itself is established by God as a means to do good unto others, to love others, to serve others.”

Chute’s chapter examines prominent Christian figures such as Martin Luther and John Calvin.

“I looked at historical examples of how they worked out their spirituality,” Chute said. “That was my way of trying to put examples before us of what it means to live before God.”

Morgan and Skaug’s chapter looks at the tensions of Christian living as they expound on Romans 6-8.

“We have new hearts and desires that are God-ward, but we still have the old habits of sin even though we are no longer slaves to sin. We are slaves to Christ, but at times, our selfish habits and desires return,” Skaug said.

Morgan also wrote a chapter addressing the book of James and co-wrote a chapter on the trajectory of spirituality.

“James makes it very practical,” Morgan said. “True spirituality results in how one approaches suffering, the poor, to controlling words.”

The book series was created to assist pastors, seminary students and lay church leaders in their understanding of scripture.

“I hope that the book allows people to see that Christian spirituality is not a vague and directionless thing that leads people to create their own solutions. Rather, it is something that God has revealed to us from the Bible,” Skaug said.