I acknowledge that the land on which I write is the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg peoples, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an international agreement to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes, and is covered by the Toronto Purchase.
In 2023, I took on an ambitious challenge for my Lenten series: Daily reflections on the spirituality of Julian of Norwich, a late fourteenth-century nun whose theologically rich contemplation of a series of visions, known as The Revelation of Divine Love, or ‘the Showings‘, has become a classic of Christian spirituality: Ash Wednesday – First Saturday…
An application of the Integral Hermeneutical framework to Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians
Read more The Life in Christ: Ephesians in Integral Perspective
In June 2021, I wrote a series called Setting our Stories Straight. It looked at some of the false narratives Christians told to underpin European imperialism and colonization, including the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’, the myths of Christendom and Progress, and damaging ways of understanding such biblical ideas as election, humanity’s vocation to exercise ‘dominion’ over…
Read more Pathways of Peace: Towards a Decolonizing Theology
Over the past few years, the focus of this blog — about how spirituality can change lives in tangible ways — has impelled me towards being more vocal on issues of social justice. And so I’ve done quite a bit of writing promoting the work of Black theologians, discussing some of the ways White folk…
Debates among Christians today are often framed in terms of “the Bible versus culture.” But, this is not a fair assessment. For most of the time, all sides in a debate care deeply about the Bible and its teachings. Indeed, the centrality of the Bible in the teaching, life, and faith of the Church is…
We are unquestionably living in fraught and frightening times. But our times are far from unique. Throughout the long course of our spiritual tradition, there have been many times when it’s seemed as though the good days were over and there was only uncertainty and fear for the future. And so, this Lenten series explores a few of these voices, to see what encouragement they may have to offer us as we are challenged to face our own uncertain futures with faith.
A series exploring and dismantling the bad Christian theology that was used to justify European colonialism.
This series explores my conviction that the imagination can be a great ally in the life of faith.
A series looking at an eightfold framework of spiritual growth.
Talk about God by its very definition stretches language beyond its limits, as we attempt to describe infinite truths in very finite words.
Following up on the series this Spring on the basics of Integral thought, I wanted to look at some of the specific ways this worldview predicts we can facilitate genuine spiritual growth and personal transformation. I introduced the series by discussing the problem of spiritual growth — or more precisely, the lack of spiritual growth…
An exploration of the different types of ‘good fruit’ our lives can bear, according to the Scriptures and positive psychology.
Some of the most basic questions of human life are ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Why am I here?’ Until we answer these questions, even partially, our lives tend to be dominated by a deep sense of dissatisfaction. In response to this restlessness or ennui, we have three choices: 1. We can languish in it, feeling…
Read more Called according to God’s Purpose: Exploring Vocation
Far from being something outside of our every-day lives, tradition is unavoidable: By virtue of being human, we are thoroughly traditioned. Yet, it is not a matter of simple repetition; whether intentionally or not, we always interpret and apply tradition in new ways in every generation.
Matthew Root is a civil servant and Christian thinker living in Toronto.
This series looks at the wide variety of images the Bible uses to describe sin and salvation in order to help us talk better about them.
This series explores the basics of Integral theory, a useful framework for understanding life and faith.
How did the Scriptures challenge the authorities of their day? And what might that mean for us today?
Matthew Root 