Christianity Today has honored A Short Guide to Spiritual Formation: Finding Life in Truth, Goodness, Beauty, and Community, written by Dr. Alex Sosler, as the 2024 winner of the Christian Living Book of the Year.
“I didn’t even know it was nominated for an award, much less that it won,” admitted Sosler, an Assistant Professor of Bible and Ministry at Montreat College. “You just hope it resonates with somebody, but to have it come back that other people found it helpful was really affirming and humbling.”
Sosler’s A Short Guide to Spiritual Formation was born out of a deep desire to make Christian growth more accessible and approachable. He was inspired by an article from Peter Kreeft that explored how different Christian traditions emphasize specific transcendental virtues like truth, goodness, and beauty. These concepts became central to Sosler’s vision of holistic spiritual formation.
“If we want to be shaped into the image of Christ—who is the image of the invisible God, and who is all true, all good, all beautiful, and united in community—our Christian formation ought to be holistic in the same way,” explained Sosler. “In many ways I wrote this book as what I wish I had as I started out in my Christian formation. My goal for the reader is to be drawn into a greater desire for God, that they would go from shallow levels of knowing certain things about God to adding a few tools to their tool belt with other formation resources to grow deeper.”
Published by Baker Academic, the book weaves together church history, theology, and devotional practice to offer a holistic introduction to spiritual formation, encompassing biblical truth, the pursuit of the good life, the contemplation of God, and communal belonging.
“This book should appeal both to those just starting to explore the subject of spiritual formation and those further along in the journey,” wrote Paul Mallard, former president of the Fellowship of Individual Evangelical Churches in the United Kingdom, in his review of the book. “Sosler’s holistic approach helps us see how true spirituality is grounded in theological truth, sustained by a longing for holiness, and worked out in the context of Christian community. With so many distractions in life, we must be deliberate in our search for God, and Sosler’s book gives masterful guidance.”
Each section of the book includes a biblical and historical precedent for the tradition and highlights an exemplar from church history, including Augustine on truth, Dorothy Day on goodness, Teresa of Ávila on beauty, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer on church commitment and community.
“We gain fresh perspectives on these pillars as we consider what Scripture says, how others understand it, and the testimony of individual Christian lives,” wrote Lynda MacGibbon, vice president of people and culture for InterVarsity Canada. “Augustine, Dorothy Day, Teresa of Avila, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer pursued holiness despite being far from perfect.”
“The exemplar chapters are the most practical and moving because there are people in your life who radiate light and exemplify Christ who will teach you more about spiritual formation than I can because they are living it,” Sosler added while encouraging readers to build relationships. “Find those people who you want to be like, spend time with them, get to know them, serve them, and pray.”
For Sosler, spiritual formation holds particular importance as the world shirts toward a post-Christian, secular age.
“I think we’ve gone through a generation or two that has rightly emphasized quantitative growth, but I fear that the qualitative measure of discipleship has been missed,” Sosler asserted. “We all need deeper formation than just casual Sunday attendance. If we want people to be formed in deep ways, we need greater resources than that.”
Published in May 2024, A Short Guide to Spiritual Formation is Sosler’s second book. He previously authored Learning to Love: Christian College as Pilgrimage in 2022, and he co-wrote The Artistic Vision: Cultivating a Sacramental Imagination for Creative Practice with Gary Ball, which was released on paperback in July 2024. During his sabbatical this academic year, Sosler is working on his next project, Mystical Meals: Eating and Drinking to the Glory of God, a book that explores the spirituality of food and beverage through motifs such as bread, wine, and feasting.
Born and raised in Cleveland, Sosler now lives in West Asheville with his wife, Lauren, and their three children. He ministers part-time as an assisting priest at Redeemer Anglican Church and serves on the board of Canterbury Classical School while continuing his own journey of spiritual formation.
“I’m writing about these ideals of spiritual maturity, knowing in my own life that I fall short from the ideal,” he acknowledged. “I think the area that Christ is leading me into is a kind of aesthetic contemplation. As an introvert who doesn’t have much to say, I sometimes think I’m not good at prayer because I just don’t have enough to say, but I’ve found that God is maturing me in the silence if I cultivate that attention to stillness.”