A Short Guide to Spiritual Formation - by Alex Sosler (Paperback)

About the Book

Weaving together church history, theology, and devotional practice, this introductory guide to spiritual formation retrieves the traditions rooted in truth, goodness, beauty, and community to help students follow the way of Jesus.

Book Synopsis

Christianity Today 2025 Book Award (Christian Living / Spiritual Formation)

Outreach 2025 Resource of the Year (Spiritual Growth)

"With so many distractions in life, we must be deliberate in our search for God, and Sosler's book gives masterful guidance."--Christianity Today

In a society always seeking the new and novel, Christians can become more grounded and mature through a retrieval of our common tradition. Alex Sosler sets forth the "transcendentals" of truth, goodness, and beauty--along with community--to help readers follow the way of Jesus.

Weaving together church history, theology, and devotional practice, Sosler offers a holistic introduction to spiritual formation, encompassing biblical truth, the pursuit of the good life, the contemplation of God, and communal belonging. Each section includes a biblical and historical precedent for the tradition and highlights an exemplar from church history: Augustine on truth, Dorothy Day on goodness, Teresa of Ávila on beauty, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer on church commitment and community.

This accessible book provides avenues for a broader and deeper spirituality that can shape the complexity of our souls. It is ideal for undergraduate students and as a formation primer for church adult education classes, classical schools, and homeschooling communities.

From the Back Cover

Weaving together church history, theology, and devotional practice, this introductory guide to spiritual formation retrieves the traditions rooted in truth, goodness, beauty, and community to help readers follow the way of Jesus.

"Spiritual formation with substance and depth! Sosler gives a thick account of Christian growth in holiness and wholeness shaped by a biblical-theological-ecclesial vision of truth, goodness, beauty, and community. This is one to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest and then share with another pilgrim on the way of the restless heart."
--Alex Fogleman, Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University; director, Catechesis Institute; author of Knowledge, Faith, and Early Christian Initiation

"This fresh account of Christian spiritual formation will captivate students and seekers while reminding seasoned leaders of the many gifts that the Christian tradition offers to our weary souls."
--Kaitlyn Schiess, author of The Ballot and the Bible: How Scripture Has Been Used and Abused in American Politics and Where We Go from Here

"A great help to anyone interested in personal and corporate spiritual formation. Sosler does a masterful job of describing the historical, theological, and spiritual foundations of the Christian faith, and in doing so he invites the reader into a deeper relationship with God. This text is well worth your time."
--Donald Shepson, Grove City College

"Sosler provides readers with a theological, historical, contemplative, and applicable approach to living life from a formative perspective. He is passionate about the well-being of God's creation and implementing practices designed to educate, empower, and equip the learner."
--Barbara L. Peacock, Peacock Soul Care

"You will not leave this short book burdened down with a sense of all the things you can't ever seem to do. You'll instead start to see the possibility of how you, in your own life, can seek holiness and formation."
--Russell Moore (from the foreword)

About the Author

Alex Sosler (EdD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is assistant professor of Bible and ministry at Montreat College and assisting priest at Redeemer Anglican Church in Asheville, North Carolina. He is the author of Learning to Love: Christian Higher Education as Pilgrimage and the editor of Theology and the Avett Brothers.