The Spiritual Life
TALK 1 TALK 2 TALK 3 TALK 4 PREFACE
THE FOUR BROADCAST TALKS which are here reprinted were delivered as a sequel to a previous series by Dom Bernard Clements on the subject of Prayer. They have been revised and slightly expanded for publication; but their informal character has been retained My object was to present some of the great truths concerning man's spiritual life in simple language; treating it, not as an intense form of otherworldliness remote from the common ways and incompatible with the common life, but rather as the heart of all real religion and therefore of vital concern to ordinary men and women. So far as possible therefore, the use of technical theological terms and direct references to Christian dogma has been avoided; but I believe all that is written here to be in complete harmony with Christian belief. The book is now published in the hope that it may be found suitable for Lenten reading; not only by those who are accustomed to religious literature, but also by some of those whom its language often puzzles and repels. I have already discussed many of the points which are here dealt with at greater length elsewhere; but those who notice this fact are asked to remember the special purpose for which these brief talks were composed.
Evelyn Underhill.
Advent, 1936.