Spiritual Friendship: Learning to Be Friends with God and One Another

Aelred's focuses on being God's friend expressed through three conversations with different friends. Aelred draws upon his friendships both with contemporaries and with authors who lived centuries before. This work provides an antidote to our contemporary milieu which, though replete with unremitting communications, propels toward individualism, autonomy, and loneliness. What affords is a guide toward "holy and life-giving" friendships fruitfully marked by joy and happiness. Professor Hank Voss amplifies a voice from the 12th century that explored Christian friendship in Scripture, in creation (reason), in church teachings (tradition), and in his own practice of spiritual friendship (experience). While acknowledging the work of others, in this edition Voss enables the reader to hear Aelred's with clarity and vibrancy and provides a suggested framework for deep engagement. Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology, Torrey Honors College, Biola University Sermons on the Song of Songs Spiritual Friendship Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College Lecturer in Theology and Programme Coordinator, Africa International University