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Preface ix <p>Introduction 1</p> <p><b>Part One The City in Christian Thought 23</b></p> <p>1 Augustine’s Two Cities 25</p> <p>2 Monasticism and Utopian Visions 43</p> <p>3 The City as Sacred 63</p> <p>4 The City and the Reformations 81</p> <p>5 Michel de Certeau: Everyday Practices and the City 99</p> <p><b>Part Two Theological Reflection and the City 115</b></p> <p>6 Place and the Sacred 117</p> <p>7 The Art of Community 137</p> <p>8 Reconciliation and Hospitality 157</p> <p>9 Urban Virtues 179</p> <p>Epilogue: A Spiritual Vision of the Human City 201</p> <p>Select Reading 211</p> <p>Index 221</p>

<p>“This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of cities — and that ought to be pretty much everyone, given that well over half the world’s population now lives in cites, up from 29 per cent in 1950. In any event, Revelation makes it clear that if we don’t live in one now, we shall, God willing.”  (<i>Church Times, </i>27 March 2015)</p>

<p><b>Philip Sheldrake</b> is Senior Research Fellow at Westcott House in the Cambridge Theological Federation and Director, Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality, Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio Texas. He has taught and written extensively in the field of Christian spirituality, on the nature of space and place in religion, and on spirituality more generally. He is involved internationally in interreligious dialogue. His dozen books include <i>Spirituality: A Brief History, Second Edition </i>(Wiley Blackwell, 2013), <i>Explorations in Spirituality: History, Theology and Social Practice </i>(2010), <i>Spirituality and History, Second Edition </i>(1998) and, as editor, <i>New SCM/Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality </i>(2005). He is a Past President of the international Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.</p>

<p>The meaning and future of cities is arguably one of the most important and challenging issues of our time.  In <i>A Spiritual City</i>, Philip Sheldrake provides a broad examination of the meaning and importance of cities within Christianity, uncovering some of its rich historical sources of urban thought and practice, as well as discussing some of the criticisms that Christianity has been hostile to cities and public life.  The result is a deeply informative and thought-provoking account of cities and city-making that invites readers to rethink the idea of the urban life.<br /> <br /> The book unites contemporary thinking about urban space and the built environment with the latest in urban theology.  Sheldrake discusses the history of Christian urban thinking and practice in the first half of the book. He addresses its long-standing anti-urban bias and emphasis on inwardness and pilgrimage. In the second half, he reflects on the potential of cities to create a strong human community and a sense of sacred space. He delves into topics such as place identity, re-conceiving the sacred, redeeming memory, transformation and regeneration, and urban virtues. In doing so, Sheldrake puts forth a positive vision of the city in relation to Christian thought, along with ample ideas for its reinvention in the future.</p>

<p>“A quite exceptionally original and timely book, which combines deep knowledge of the Christian tradition with sensitivity to the issues of urban life today, and offers fresh insight into what the sacramental community of Christian faith brings to our current anxieties about social cohesion, justice and inclusion.” <b>Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury and now Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge<br /> <br /> "</b>This is an extraordinarily thoughtful book. In carefully tracing the history of Christian thought on the city, Philip Sheldrake shows how a sense of the sacred can replenish the urban aesthetic and lives led today largely in environments that push belonging, community and fulfilment to the very edge of togetherness. A compelling and beautifully written book." <b>Ash Amin, University of Cambridge<br /> <br /> </b>More than half of the world’s population now live in cities, and the balance between town and country changes day by day. Christian understandings of the city have often been negative, but Sheldrake shows that there is a rich tradition of thinking about the city throughout Christian history. This tradition can contribute to the moral and spiritual vision which is essential if cities are to continue to be humanising and hopeful places, spaces of reconciliation rather than alienation. In dialogue with geographers, philosophers as well as social theorists Sheldrake sets out a rich and complex vision of how Christian thinking can contribute to a world wide debate. <b>Tim Gorringe, University of Exeter</b></p>

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