Groundwork of Christian Spirituality

Groundwork of Christian Spirituality is Gordon Wakefield's final work, completed shortly before he died. Like his notable Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (SCM Press, 1983), it covers a wide range of Christian traditions: Orthodox Roman Catholic, Anglican, Reformed, Free Church. He writes with his usual keen insight and broad ecumenical sympathy, and in a style which is readily accessible to the general reader. This study, like all his previous writings, is underpinned by careful scholarship. Yet he is never a mere theorist, but always concerned to relate his study to the life of faith and the challenge of contemporary discipleship. Those who have appreciated his earlier studies in Puritan, Wesleyan and Catholic spirituality will relish this final offering of a writer who, rooted in Methodist piety, was also a choice example of John Wesley's 'Catholic Spirit'.