This page puts together the helpful teaching of Dr. James (Jamie) K. A. Smith, professor of philosophy at Calvin College, on spiritual formation. Jamie has become a leader in helping the church better understand how God shapes us as followers of Christ. This is called spiritual formation or discipleship or becoming like Christ. His book, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit (Brazos, 2016) is an important book for our time and with staying power in the life of the Church. You may read or download chapter one of this book here.
[Go to Spiritual Formation 2]
[Go to The Challenge of Easter]
Jamie gave three recent talks given at Wheaton College that better help us learn how God shapes us as Christ followers.
Here is a brief lecture by Jamie on a secular age. He argues against common misunderstandings of what it means that we live in a secular age. He argues that a secular society is not about unbelief but about “a society in which we all experience the contestability of our belief.” This is a shift in plausibility or a shift in what is believable and so what you believe cannot be taken to be axiomatic or the default belief in our society. This provides challenges for the church (recognize the part the church played in contributing to the disenchantment of the world) but also the opportunities for the church in a secular age (plant gardens in the cracks in the ceiling where the light is coming in).
In the following talk Jamie advocates a better understanding of culture.