In Search of Authentic Spirituality
Allan Chapple
"The inevitable result of [the mystic’s] approach will be what was with the Quakers: lip-service will still be paid to the importance of the Bible, but in practice it will be regarded as a dead letter, and there will be a marked preference for what the Spirit is thought to be saying here and now.”
True Devotion is the single greatest challenge to seeking extra-Biblical revelation that I have yet come across. Thorough, Bible-soaked and laudably humble, this book unpacks a steady assault on what Chapple calls “the Mystical Way”. He notes how the recent and fascinatingly widespread restlessness in evangelical circles concerning spirituality has led many a Christian to look to the works of Christian mystics to revitalise their walk with Jesus. Chapple aims to dissuade such Christians by targeting a vast swathe of different mystic practices. To the 21st century believer, probably the most relevant of such practices are the seeking of divine experiences and the “listening” to God extra-Biblically.
As with all productive contributions, Chapple does not seek to simply devastate his target, but to offer his vision of the way forward. Part I of True Devotion is a painstaking, 80 page examination of the gospel in order to ground spirituality, part II does the demolition work described above, but in part III he prescribes meditation on Scripture as our primary tool to soothe the current evangelical restlessness.
The subtlety of True Devotion cannot be overlooked. Refreshingly, never once does Chapple deny that many of the mystical phenomena happen. Instead, his argument is consistently against seeking said phenomena. His subtlety, however, means that he is occasionally tentative, and this tentativeness leaves wiggle-room for the mystic. She can accept almost every sentence of True Devotion and continue many of the practices that Chapple condemns. Despite this, I urge the mystic-leaning Christian in the strongest possible terms to read this book and to once again check her practices honestly and thoroughly against Scripture. It is far from devastating to all of the mystic’s practices, but it is the closest thing to it that I have come across.
7/10