The Spiritual City: Theology, Spirituality, and the Urban

The meaning and future of cities is arguably one of the most important and challenging issues of our time. In  The Spiritual City , Philip Sheldrake provides a broad examination of the meaning and importance of cities within Christianity, uncovering some of its rich historical sources of urban thought and practice, as well as discussing some of the criticisms that Christianity has been hostile to cities and public life. The result is a deeply informative and thought–provoking account of cities and city–making that invites readers to rethink the idea of the urban life. The book unites contemporary thinking about urban space and the built environment with the latest in urban theology. Sheldrake discusses the history of Christian urban thinking and practice in the first half of the book. He addresses its long–standing anti–urban bias and emphasis on inwardness and pilgrimage. In the second half, he reflects on the potential of cities to create a strong human community and a sense of sacred space. He delves into topics such as place identity, re–conceiving the sacred, redeeming memory, transformation and regeneration, and urban virtues. In doing so, Sheldrake puts forth a positive vision of the city in relation to Christian thought, along with ample ideas for its reinvention in the future.

Philip Sheldrake is Senior Research Fellow in the Cambridge Theological Federation and Director, Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality, Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio Texas. He has taught and written extensively in the field of Christian spirituality, on the nature of space and place in religion, and on spirituality more generally. He is involved internationally in interreligious dialogue. His dozen books include Spirituality: A Brief History, 2nd edition (Wiley Blackwell, 2013), Explorations in Spirituality: History, Theology and Social Practice (2010), Spirituality and History, 2nd edition (1998) and, as editor, New SCM/Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (2005). He is a Past President of the international Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.