Streams Run Deep | Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith

Simply Excellent | Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith | Richard J. Foster

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	• Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith Richard J. Foster HarperOne, 2001 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good, but read critically

No doubt this is a good book penned by a man who is extremely devoted to the Christian devotional life. Foster (in all his books)is execptionally strong on prayer, meditation, and focus. The way he brings to life the old heroes of the faith is commendable. However, at the most crucial moment he abandons the Bible in favor of his own theology. His interpretation of history can be flawed at times, favoring the either the pragmatic or the hysterical. Not to discredit the book (I gave my copy to a friend as a gift) but nevertheless, watch for his unscriptural moments. If you want a good book that combines History and Devotion and you have a critical eye, then this is a must.

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Streams Run Deep

Richard Foster weaves together spiritual movements in history and relates them to an individual's experience of these same "movements" spiritually. This book should be considered a primary text for anyone interested in spiritual growth. ccc_review

Simply Excellent

The more I read of Richard Foster, the more I like his style. As is always the case in his books, Foster's Streams of Living Water presents a well categorized methodical approach to understanding the Christian faith. In this case, he focuses on what he calls the "Traditions" of the faith.

Other reviews have detailed the Traditions of which Foster speaks. So, I'll comment on the structure of the chapters, which, in my opinion, is excellent. Each chapter gives multiple examples of people who focused on the Tradition for that chapter. One of these people is contemporary (Billy Graham is one), one is historical (St. Augustine of Hippo), and one is Biblical (Amos, for example). After using examples to give you a feel for the Tradition in question, Foster lays out what he considers to be the essentials of the Tradition, its defining characteristics. He then moves to a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Tradition, and closes the chapter with a discussion of how we can integrate it into our lives.

It's clear from reading the book that it is designed with an ecumenical understanding. Foster sees each modern expression of Christianity as presenting a part of the life of wholeness we are to live. Through people reading this book (and joining Renovare groups and such), Foster hopes to encourage Christians to live a balanced life. This book is certainly a good step in that direction.

If you want to live a full Christian life, this book will help guide you on your way.

A final note: I love the first Appendix in this book. It is a brief outline of some Church history, along with certain contributions that each branch of Christianity has given us (from Catholic to Orthodox to the various Protestants), that we can apply in our lives, regardless which of these groups we belong to.

On the whole, this is simply and excellent book. I pray that each one who reads it moves to apply it in their own walk.

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Another in the Series

PLOT: Like some other Renovare' books, this one deals with 6 traditions of Christianity: contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical, and incarnational. For each tradition (stream) Foster introduces us to Christians from Scripture, history, and modern times who serve as examples of that stream.

PROBLEMS: There was nothing wrong with the examples Foster selected, but they didn't grab me as much as other Renovare books have. Perhaps I'd rather read each person's own words than read about that person's life. Also, the binding on my book broke. I don't know if that is a problem or just happened to me.

POSITIVES: For me, the joy of this book was in the appendix and extra material. Foster gives us one appendix of critical turning points in church history and another of notable figures and significant movements in church history. He begins each chapter with a chart from the time of Jesus to present that lists significant people, movements, and dates related to that tradition.

CONCLUSION: The extra material is easily worth the cost of the book. The chapters are just the added bonus on this one. I've returned to these charts for reference time and time again.

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An attempt to reintegrate the Christian faith

Foster's "Streams" is a radical idea in contemporary Christian circles - drawing together the strengths in each of the recognized major protestant Christian sects he asserts a new, more whole view of life with God.

Foster uses modern and historical/mythical persons to flesh out the strengths he ascribes to each branch of protestantism. While this approach will test readers who look down on the stories of the saints of old (he relates St. Francis' reasoning with a wild wolf in one chapter) if you can put aside modern protestant prejudices against christian mythology you'll be much the better for it.

I found the book to be a refreshing approach to integrating the major movements in Christianity. I am more mindful of the traditions of faith I did not grow up in and am attempting to incorporate their strenghts into my experience of Jesus Christ.

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reviews: 1, page 2, 3, 4, 5

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recommendations

Books that challenged my thinking the last year
Recommended Reading for the Emerging Church
Foundations & Traditions Course
The Life of Discipleship
e4 willard 2004