Four Christian Pieties

{PRIVATE }	Intellectual Christians: Are not necessarily brilliant, but are interested in the speculative side of things. They want to know the reasons why behind issues of faith. Theology is very important for them. They are disciplined and dutiful, and sometimes morally legalistic. They want all aspects of their lives to be clearly defined. They tend to be independent and very difficult to work with in spiritual direction. They focus of God as the transcendent Father, awesome Creator, majestic Being, almighty Lawgiver, or even metaphysical absolute. Jesus Christ is seen as the Divine Redeemer-Revealer, with more stress on his divinity than his humanity. The Holy Spirit is God, of course - the creeds say so - but is not personally relevant for an intellectual Christian. Prayer is reasonable and dutiful, primarily exercised during corporate worship. The sacraments, and Christian themes like the atonement, grace, and repentance, are facts to be accepted rather than experienced.
Ascetical Christians: If sensual Christians find intimacy with God through their senses, ascetical Christians experience God beyond both their senses and intellect. They grope for a mystical, unmediated relationship with God. Material things are not seen as evil, but simply as a nuisance or hindrance to a pure encounter with God. Their path to God, the via negative, is often expressed in negative terms such as the cloud of in-knowing, the dark night of the soul, the desert, or the wilderness. Ascetical Christians tend to focus on God the Father as holy, transcendent, and hidden, and often ignore the implication of an incarnational theology. Certain types of meditation and contemplative prayer are extremely ascetical.		Sensual Christians: Experience God primarily through their senses. They find God in the beauty of the countryside, or in the power of great art or music - they experience God in the world. For them prayer is linked to their senses and is focused on material objects. Yet they are not in any way "worldly". They do not find their security of identity in the possession of things, and may adopt the most severe and ascetic disciplines. They simply discover God in and through the physical world. Sensual Christians tend to be extremely sacramental, seeing that in every way, grace perfects nature. They fully accept the human body and its senses as a gift of God's grace. Theologically, they champion the doctrines of Creation and the Incarnation, stressing both Jesus' sacred humanity and his role as the cosmic Christ renewing all things. They articulate the love of Creation as the scene of divine activity, experiencing God in the power of a thunderstorm or in the wonder of nature, as well as in the exquisite melody or in the smile of a loved one. Understandably, sensual believers will often use icons or other devotional objects to help focus their prayer.
	Emotional Christians: Are interested in experience, not ideas. Often indifferent to theology, they seek out and revel in experiences of faith, which can be found in charismatic worship, healing ministries, revival meetings, and small "sharing" Bible studies or prayer groups. Formal liturgies and worship services are borne as a necessary burden. The remote transcendence of God the Father removes him from the active role in the life of the emotional Christian. They are, however, deeply attracted to the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ, especially as the suffering and loving Redeemer. The indwelling Holy Spirit, as Comforter and Sanctifier, is also central in their life of prayer. Repentance and redemption are not abstractions but living realities, and far from being a mere memorial, the Eucharist is a living communion with the Present Saviour.

Cross Balance

Four Christian Pieties