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    Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for "Celebration of Discipline"
    Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for "Celebration of Discipline"
    Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for "Celebration of Discipline"
    Ebook132 pages1 hour

    Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for "Celebration of Discipline"

    By Richard J. Foster

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    About this ebook

    Brief, incisive essays clarify key issues raised in Celebration of Discipline and encourage a fuller understanding and practice of the spiritual disciplines.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 23, 2010
    ISBN9780062006578
    Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for "Celebration of Discipline"
    Author

    Richard J. Foster

    Richard J. Foster is the author of several bestselling books, including Celebration of Discipline, Streams of Living Water, Life with God, and Prayer, which was Christianity Today's Book of the Year and the winner of the Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. He is the founder of Renovaré, an organization and a movement committed to the renewal of the church of Jesus Christ in all its multifaceted expressions, and the editor of The Life with God Bible.

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    Reviews for Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for "Celebration of Discipline"

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    • 5/5
      The best popular level book on spiritual disciplines. It is charismatic in some of its theology; sad that it takes a charismatic to write about the spiritual life; where are the Baptists, etc.?
    • 5/5
      Excellent book. Highly recommend to all.
    • 5/5
      In this excellent introduction, Foster leads the reader through an insightful study of the texts, traditions, and practices relevant to Christian spiritual disciplines. Celebration of Discipline examines inward (prayer, meditation, etc.), outward (simplicity, solitude, etc.), and corporate (confession, worship, etc.) practices that prepare one?s heart for spiritual growth. Foster is ecumenical and practical in his approach: a great resource. A
    • 2/5
      A very interesting book on Christian Spirituality for the discerning reader. Some sections are very good but other sections lean heavily on the Medieval mystics which are in turn reliant on Platonic thought.
    • 5/5
      This book is phenomenal. I didn't agree with everything he said, but his advice was typically very practical for the beginner in spiritual disciplines. In addition, I could always tell that Foster meant every word he said. I especially liked the sections on Prayer, Fasting and Guidance. This is a book I will read again and again for years to come.
    • 4/5
      An exploration of the vital, ancient Christian practices that can enrich our lives
    • 4/5
      Here Richard Foster lays before us the inward, outward and corporate disciplines of the Christian life. As the author writes, "The purpose of the Spiritual Disciplines is the total transformation of the person. It aims at replacing old destructive habits of thought with new life-giving habits." He makes the process very practical, but that does not mean it is an easy course to follow particularly when we consider the disciplines of fasting and simplicity. The beginning point in this adventure as the author states is "a longing after God." A serious, fresh look at spiritual growth.
    • 3/5
      Parts of it really convicting me and spoke to my spiritual. I have to be honest and say that some of it struck me as "weird" at the time, though I've matured since and should re-read.
    • 5/5
      This is an amazing book. If you want to change your walk with Christ. Read this book and do the things it requires. It will be like reading an exercise book if you do it any other way. This is a book about actually DOING the disciplines and not just talking about them or observing them. Once you start the journey of doing the disciplines, your life will never be the same. I originally read this as a library book, but realized I needed to add this book to my personal collection. It sits next to my bible and I read it and refer to it all the time. It tells me how to use my bible to get closer go God. It enhances my walk and it shows me how to apply the things that I have learned in the bible to my life.Read and follow this book and be changed forever!
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed reading another "classic" by Foster. Short, straightforward, and very encouraging book.

      Foster breaks down thirteen Christian disciplines, the practice of which have largely gotten neglected over the centuries. He divides them into three categories (inward, outward, corporate). Here are what I gleaned from his discussion of each discipline:

      Inward:
      Meditation - whereas the point of Eastern meditation is to empty your mind, Christian meditation is about filling your mind-- with Christ, with the Word, etc. Foster recommends a two-step process of giving and praying while you meditate.

      Prayer - He wrote a whole book on this, I recommend it.

      Fasting - This is a tough one. There are not specific instructions for how to fast or many details about how people fasted in Scripture because it was such a common practice over the ages, it needed no explanation. I'll take Foster's dietary recommendations with grains of salt, but agree that the clear New Testament explanation is for Christians to fast often. Why don't I do this more?

      Study - Foster gives a little advice on various ways to study Scripture, but also encourages us to study works of church fathers like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas for further application and insights.

      Outward:
      Simplicity - Foster cautions that purposeful efforts to live simply tend to lead towards legalism, so he gives ten recommended principles. The basic idea is to free yourself from a desire to be like the world, or to have complications in your life that keep you from hearing God's call. "Conformity to a sick world is to become sick." Foster is a Quaker, and like him I believe it's important to make decisions about necessary purchases and lifestyles in community. (I've been thinking about this quite a bit since seeing a PBS Frontline documentary on the Amish. The motivating factor behind their avoiding technology is to avoid objects that would lead someone further from focusing on his/her community. Cellphones and automobiles, for example, make it easier for us to get away from those we are created to be close to. A washing machine or tractor, however, may not necessarily create that pull, so some Amish/Mennonite communities may choose to have them. American individualism hates community dependence, and that is contrary to how God set up Israelite society in His law.)
      Does the latest gadget really help you be more productive, or is it about status? If you believe buying the latest fashions help you look better in the eyes of the world, then should you really be buying them?

      Solitude - Being intentional about making quiet times alone, and personal retreats so that when we're with people we can be fully with them; just as Jesus did. I am up before anyone else in my household, and have about an hour to myself in the car each day, so I consider that my solitude.


      Submission- Giving up your right to retaliate or to speak ill of others. To obey authorities. This is hard for Americans.

      Service - Looking to do the menial out of love.

      Corporate:
      Confession - Having people in your lives that you confess sins to, and pray together with for forgiveness. James says that we're to confess our sins to one another and be healed. How much healing do we forgo in our lives and churches because we don't practice this discipline?

      Worship - Embrace distractions in corporate worship, they may be a message from God. Bless the children when they raise a ruckus. Prepare your heart for corporate worship by reviewing the sermon Scriptures and hymns to be sung beforehand. That's a great idea (this is my preferred approach to Sunday school).

      Guidance (corporate) - Foster makes the point that our churches do a good job of promoting guidance by the Bible, and personal guidance through reading and prayer, and sometimes even prophetic words or other Spirit-led acts in corporate worship, but argues that we need to go beyond this in terms of guidance. He's getting at something deeper here.

      Celebration - Celebration should be the outflow of keeping the above disciplines. Embrace holidays and festivals, have your church and community create their own. Celebrate the answered prayers, the blessings, the hardships and tribulations.

      4.5 stars out of 5.
    • 5/5
      Deservedly a classic!I have always been surprised that so many people have purchased it since the word "discipline" carries so many negative connotations. Perhaps it was the juxtaposition the word "celebration."Foster challenged me with the discipline of solitude. At the time, one of my greatest personal fears was that some day I would be "alone." Recognizing I NEEDED solitude and silence to commune with God was so-o-o helpful spiritually.
    • 5/5
      Excellent introduction to the spiritual disciplines. Great for individual as well as group study.
    • 5/5
      This book changed my outlook on the spiritual disciplines. Very insightful, challenging, and well written. An ageless book for all generations.
    • 5/5
      The classic study and how-to manual for the traditional spiritual disciplines of the Christian church.
    • 4/5
      A classic. When I want to be challenged in my personal intimate growth with Jesus this is where I turn. By the end it tends to get dry (as with all Foster books), but it offers so much.
    • 5/5
      For those who want to get started on practical and "practice-able" spiritual disciplines, this is an excellent step. Foster helps us to understand how to "put ourselves in the way" of God's transformation, and to guard against guilty legalism.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Celebration of Discipline has been both widely acclaimed and criticized. Richard Foster has been praised for his approach on the spiritual disciplines as being one of the best works on the subject matter of the twentieth century. Still others ridicule him for his misinterpretation of Scripture and the use of some works cited. Although it may not all be biblically correct, for the novice, it is an excellent resource on the use and practice of the spiritual disciplines. If it is anything, it is a magnificent compilation of quotes from an abundant cache of authors ranging from first century to the present. Many of Foster?s insights are incredible. Celebration of Discipline has been a wonderful and inspiring read. Though some of his points I cannot agree with, as with all extra-biblical literature, we are to compare and contrast with God?s truth only found in His holy Word.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      I really loved this book when I was a Neoevangelical. But then I grew Reformed, and it helped me that I ended up pinpointing what so discomfitted me when first reading it: its emphasys on mystical disciplines deviate from Scriptures and end up deemphasysing grace in favour of a focus on works.

      Not that it cannot be read with profit. We sure can benefit of spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study, meditation &c. But we have to be aware, for example when it deviates from Biblical thoughtful, thinking meditation into visualisation of Jesus that borders on idolatry and idol making.
    • 5/5
      In my opinion, this might be the single best book EVER on spiritual disciplines. I had to buy a new copy because the old ones had so many things underlined that it was hardly readable.

    Book preview

    Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for "Celebration of Discipline" - Richard J. Foster

    Richard J. Foster’s Study Guide for Celebration of Discipline

    Richard J. Foster

    To Ken and Doris Boyce

    who believed in me and encouraged me

    and filled a great void within me when the lives of

    my own parents were cut short

    Contents

    Acknowledgments

    Preface

    Introduction: The Good Life

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    1. The Spiritual Disciplines: Door to Liberation

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    Part I. The Inward Disciplines

    2. The Discipline of Meditation

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    3. The Discipline of Prayer

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    4. The Discipline of Fasting

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    5. The Discipline of Study

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    Part II. The Outward Disciplines

    6. The Discipline of Simplicity

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    7. The Discipline of Solitude

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    8. The Discipline of Submission

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    9. The Discipline of Service

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    Part III. The Corporate Disciplines

    10. The Discipline of Confession

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    11. The Discipline of Worship

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    12. The Discipline of Guidance

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    13. The Discipline of Celebration

    Daily Scripture Readings

    Study Questions

    Suggested Books for Further Study

    Scripture Index

    About the Author

    Other Books by Richard J. Foster

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    Debts of friendship and help are unrepayable, but one can at least acknowledge the debt. The support and encouragement of my wife, Carolynn, and our boys, Joel and Nathan, have been superb, especially when the writing marathon began.

    This Study Guide would not have been written were it not for the efficiency and support of my administrative assistant, Karen Christensen. At one point in the project I stood in my office glaring at my crowded datebook and declared, It can’t be done! Quietly, Karen responded, "But it can be done," and so it was.

    Many others helped bring the Study Guide into its present form. My special thanks go to Lee Farley Burkhart for her persistent concern that a study guide be produced for the many small groups studying Celebration of Discipline. Several of the study questions in the present volume owe their inspiration to her. Thanks, too, to Dorothy Craven and David Holly, who read the manuscript and offered many helpful comments. My greatest debt, however, is to the untold number of individuals who, through letters, in the classroom, and in seminars throughout the country, have helped to shape and sharpen my own understanding of (and experience in) the Spiritual Disciplines.

    PREFACE

    If I rightly understand the concept of a study guide, it has two purposes. First, a study guide is designed to highlight the issues raised in the book. Second, it is designed to enlarge and to further the discussion of the book. These two goals are virtual opposites. One tries to nail things down; the other tries to open things up. One tries to narrow the discussion; the other tries to broaden the discussion. But both are essential in any genuine learning situation.

    The brief essays that begin each chapter are usually aimed at broadening and illuminating the landscape of the Discipline. This is especially true with the introductory chapter, in which I attempt to expose to your view the foundation upon which the Spiritual Disciplines are built. In a couple of the essays, I do try to clarify several items mentioned in the book.

    Each essay is followed by a list of Scripture passages for personal or group study. It is of utmost importance that we flesh out our understanding of the Spiritual Disciplines in light of the Bible, for it is our sure foundation in all matters of faith and practice.

    It is important that you understand the function of the study questions. While some of the questions are aimed at helping you to read the book carefully (that is, they fulfill the first goal of making the issues clear), most of the questions are meant to encourage an expanded understanding of the Spiritual Disciplines. The questions do not have answers that are a foregone conclusion. They are not intended to elicit parrot-like responses; instead they are meant to encourage thought and discussion. In compiling the questions, I have kept in mind the perceptive comment of John Ciardi: A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of ideas.

    Obviously, the bibliographies are provided in the hope that you will become drawn into the subject and desire further exploration. The books provide markings for your journey. I have attempted to include a healthy variety, from literature for the beginner to more advanced reading. Hopefully, the annotations will guide you to select those books that meet your specific needs. For each chapter I have included several of the recognized classics in the field.

    It is my hope that this study guide will serve in some small way to enhance your ability to be attentive to the voice of the true Shepherd. If these words (which are a broken and fragmentary witness at best) can direct you to Jesus Christ, your ever-living, ever-present Teacher, they will have served their purpose.

    RICHARD J. FOSTER

    March 1982

    Friends University

    INTRODUCTION: THE GOOD LIFE

    It is one thing to praise discipline, and another to submit to it.

    —Don Quixote de La Mancha

    If we expect to enter wholeheartedly into the experience of the Spiritual Disciplines, we must understand clearly that these Disciplines open us to the Good Life.* Their purpose is not to make life miserable but joyful, not to put us in bondage but to set us free, not to confine but to liberate.

    There is a general cultural confusion today about the Good Life. And given the popular notion of abundance, it is almost impossible to believe that God is good and that His desire is to fill our lives

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