Faith, The Yes of the Heart, and: A Graceful Life: Lutheran Spirituality for Today (review)

Faith, The Yes of the Heart. By Grace Adolphsen Brame. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1999. 192 pp. $14.99.

A Graceful Life: Lutheran Spirituality for Today. By Bradley Hanson. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2000. 200 pp. $14.99.

These two books on spirituality from Augsburg explore the theological rather than the practical side of spirituality. That is, they deal with how the relationship with God is understood rather than with how it is cultivated through particular methods. Both books present a Lutheran spirituality, though in different ways. Brame's work is rooted in Martin Luther's spiritual theology, although it also draws on the insights of other spiritual thinkers. Hanson's work is not based only on Luther but on the whole Lutheran tradition.

Both Brame and Hanson are college religion professors. Their books are written on a popular level, perhaps with undergraduates in mind, but certainly in a style that makes them accessible to "the average person" (Hanson). Brame's book, moreover, is written as though she were actually speaking to a lay audience. Hanson's book is explicitly intended for use as a text in adult education, providing questions at the end of each chapter for further reflection and discussion. Although these books can be used as study texts, it is disappointing that neither provides a bibliography of suggested works for further reading. Nor does Hanson provide an index of names and topics. A perusal of the endnotes indicates that neither author has made reference to contemporary secondary literature in the field of spirituality, although both authors cite spiritual classics such as the writings of Evelyn Underhill and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Although Brame's book is based on the spiritual insights of Luther, the author has developed her own spirituality and does not shy away from autobiographical examples. Her book's title is actually a quote from Luther. She has opened up the nonpolemical dimension of Luther's theology for the contemporary reader. I would argue, however, that faith defined as "the yes of the heart" was not as buried in Luther's writings as Brame suggests. One of the most familiar passages in Luther's Large Catechism is in his explanation to the First Commandment: " . . . to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart. As I have often said, it is the trust and faith of the heart alone that make both God and an idol" (The Book of Concord, Kolb/Wengert edition, 2000). The Catechisms are really a distillation of Luther's spiritual theology, but they play a minimal role in Brame's discussions. She compensates for this lacuna with copious use of biblical examples and hymnic citations (she is a professional singer as well as a professor and pastoral leader).

The first four chapters are given over to a discussion of the role of faith as an affair of the heart. She moves from the love born in the heart of God, and Christ born in the human heart to "loving with both head and heart." We say yes to God because God first said yes to us in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit prompts this affirmative response, which is an act both of the head and the heart; it is both belief and trust. From this foundation, Brame proceeds to discuss such topics as the divine call (the heart called), human decision (choices of the heart), the life of prayer (abiding in God's heart), the reality of suffering (the suffering heart), growth in grace both as individuals and as a church (the growing heart), salvation (the life-giving heart), and commitment to God (the committed heart). The beauty of Brame's presentation is that she takes a basic image of the heart as the center of our being and uses it to refract the whole of the divine-human relationship...