Streams of Living Water: Essential Practices from the Six Great Traditions of Christian Faith, by Richard J. Foster. 

A review by Dr. Don L. Davis

In a day and at a time when many naysayers assert that there is nothing that we can learn from the rich history of the “tradition” of the Church, Richard J. Foster's Streams of Living Water begs to differ.  In this fascinating and inspiring guide on spiritual formation, Foster draws keen spiritual insight on the contemporary life of faith from six great traditions of the Christian Church.  Foster's book covers a broad and helpful range of spiritual practices based on the various traditions of spiritual formation that have developed through Church history.  As such, it serves as a nice introduction to a wide array of spiritual practices of six serious, biblical traditions which with others make up the whole tapestry of the Church.

With a deliberate focus on how each tradition understands and puts into practice its own search for spiritual maturity, Foster seeks to instruct us on the meaning of each tradition's core intuitions and truths regarding full, God-honoring spirituality.  His essays seek to tease out of each tradition its own unique vision and practice as it bears on the essential practices of spiritual growth.  As such, he covers in broad outline six great Church traditions--the contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical, and incarnational strands of faith and practice.

The structure of Foster's work is simple.  He begins by providing his own concise definition of these traditions in turn, providing clear examples and profiles of each tradition's essential convictions and practices through examples taken both from the Bible as well as modern contemporaries.  For example, in discussing the richness of the social justice tradition, Foster looks at the life and ministry of the prophet Amos in the Old Testament, and draws from the experience of the Quaker abolitionist John Woolman as his contemporary example of social justice.  
                                
Practical and thorough, Foster ends his discussion of each tradition with suggestions as to how we may be personally enlightened by the unique experience which that tradition embodies.   His aim is to challenge the reader to take seriously each of the six tradition's unique vision of spiritual formation, which we do as we incorporate the insights of each one into our lives and ministries.  In so doing, we can refresh and renew the traditions themselves, gain insights into unforeseen aspects of our spiritual lives, and grow in appreciation for the diversity of the Spirit shown in the practices of these rich yet unique Christian traditions.  

Written from a generous, biblical, and ecumenical framework, Streams of Living Water provides us with a practical guide as to how we can appropriate the best from the Spirit's leading through the six traditions throughout the history of the Church.  He helps us see how working through these various traditions can enrich our lives personally as we rediscover and apply each tradition’s insights through our practice of the spiritual disciplines.  Prepare to be challenged–read slowly, be enriched, and be full!

Previous Books of the Month

~Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement by Gustaf Aulen

~Handbook of Spiritual Warfare by Dr. Ed. Murphy

~God is a Warrior by Tremper Longman II and Daniel G. Reid

~Ancient Christian Devotional by Thomas C. Oden