c. 1998 Religion News Service

(Dale Hanson Bourke is publisher of RNS.)

UNDATED _ In the church of my childhood, other faiths were viewed with considerable suspicion. A good portion of my early theological education was devoted to spotting unorthodox or heretical symptoms.

Thus, I learned to be suspicious of those who were too emotional in expressing their faith, and those who were too logical. I was warned about those who spent too much time looking inward as well as those who got caught up in social work and forgot to look upward.

At times it seemed to me that I knew more about the foibles of other groups than what was right about my own denomination.

And then I went to college and became friendly with some of these heretics. I even attended their churches and participated in their worship services. And before long, I began to realize that we had a great deal in common. I was even surprised that I was drawn to many of the traditions missing in my own background.

Thus began the stitching of my own patchwork spiritual life, one that borrows heavily from several Christian traditions without ever really discarding the essential fabric of my childhood faith.

When I travel on weekends, I make a point of worshipping in different types of congregations and am almost always surprised to hear God’s voice in a new way.

Some scholars call me and others like me post-denominationalists. But Richard Foster, author of the newly published”Streams of Living Water”(HarperSanFrancisco) might just say that I have started swimming in the main river instead of treading water in one of its tributaries.

Foster, perhaps best known for his book”Celebration of Discipline,”now celebrates the great traditions of the Christian faith. His new book looks at the ways distinct practices are now flowing together into one remarkable river of faith.

Respectfully defining each group, Foster looks at six different movements: the contemplative, or prayer-filled life; the holiness, or virtuous life; the social justice, or compassionate life; the evangelical, or biblically centered life; and, the incarnational or sacramental life.”Streams of Living Water”is both educational and inspirational. Foster has worked hard to document the historical facts forming each stream, as well as the individuals who helped define it. He provides a timeline for each tradition, and begins each with Jesus, whom Foster views as incorporating all the traditions into his faith and life.”When we carefully consider how Jesus lived while among us in the flesh, we learn how we are to live _ truly live _ empowered by him who is with us always even to the end of the age,”says Foster.

After describing and documenting each stream of faith, Foster devotes a section to celebrating all the good that comes from the particular tradition. Then he offers another section on how that tradition can go astray and how its strengths can become weaknesses. Finally, he offers practical ways to participate in that tradition or incorporate its practice into your own spiritual life.

For example, Foster suggests that if you are interested in incorporating the charismatic tradition into your spiritual life, you might ask someone to lay hands on you and pray for you to”enter more of the life and joy of the Spirit.”An inclination toward the social justice tradition might move you to support a relief agency.

Foster’s explanations of potential weaknesses in each tradition may be one of the most important aspects of this book. By showing how basic teachings or tendencies can be corrupted, Foster helps those of us who have looked at each tradition as embodied by flawed mortals see why we shouldn’t judge the entire movement by individual interpretation.

Clearly moved by the people he has met as he researched this book, Foster concludes with a passionate tribute:”Right now we are largely a scattered people. … But a new thing is coming. God is gathering his people once again, creating of them an all-inclusive community of loving persons with Jesus Christ as the community’s prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant. This community is breaking forth in multiplied ways and varied forms.” If this”new thing”is a movement, Foster will be credited with advancing it greatly. For”Streams of Living Water”provides the chart for negotiating through the shallows and narrows, the rapids and bays that make up a remarkably diverse and rich body of faith.

DEA END BOURKE