The Word Invites

This concise and accessible work offers a clear introduction to spiritual theology—the study of the spiritual life within the Christian tradition. Fr. Aidan Nichols, OP, explores how Christian spirituality unites biblical revelation, Church Tradition, and lived experience into a single path of holiness.

Drawing from both Catholic and Orthodox sources, Latin and Byzantine alike, Nichols presents the spiritual life as it has been received from the Church Fathers and passed down through every age. He unfolds the subject through eight essential themes:

• The Word of God as the Source

• The Liturgy as the Context

• Meditation and Contemplation

• Principles of Asceticism

• Asceticism: Monastic, Lay, and Pastoral

• Purification

• Illumination

• Union

Christian spirituality, Nichols explains, is biblical in its source, liturgical in its context, ascetical in its development, and mystical in its fulfillment. While “mystical” may sound extraordinary, the Dominican school—following theologian Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange—insists that mystical union with God is the normal flowering of grace for every believer.

Spiritual Theology thus provides a rich and systematic guide to the Christian journey toward God, accessible to clergy, students, and all who seek to grow in the interior life.

About the Author

Aidan Nichols, OP, is a Dominican friar of Blackfriars, Cambridge, and one of the most prolific Catholic theologians writing in English today. He has published numerous works on Catholic and Orthodox theology, philosophy, and the spiritual life.