Foundations of Catholic Spiritual Theology. Volume I. Synthetic History. Theological Discipline. Foundations of Christian Spiritual Life

The monograph by Rev. Maciej Biedroń Foundations of Catholic Spiritual Theology. Volume I. Synthetic History. Theological Discipline. Foundations of Christian Spiritual Life offers a systematic introduction to spiritual theology understood as a distinct academic discipline rooted in Revelation and Tradition. The author combines a historical approach with dogmatic and theological analysis, presenting the development of Catholic spirituality from biblical beginnings through the patristic era, monasticism, the Middle Ages, the post‑Tridentine period and up to the twentieth and twenty‑first centuries. The first part provides a synthetic outline of the history of spirituality as a history of communion between God and the human person, highlighting key periods, figures and lines of tradition that shaped fundamental paradigms of spiritual life. The second part focuses on the status of spiritual theology as a discipline: it defines its object, sources and method, its relationship to other branches of theology and its place within the Church’s scholarly work, underlining the need to integrate academic reflection with the lived experience of faith. The third part presents the anthropological and sacramental foundations of Christian spiritual life: creation of the human person in the image of God, personal communication between God and human beings, baptism as the beginning of life “according to the Spirit”, and the universal call to holiness and apostolate. Rev. Maciej Biedroń’s book is synthetic, didactic and formative in character: it serves both as an academic textbook and as a guide to discovering the beauty of Catholic spirituality understood as communio with God lived in the midst of the world.