Distinguishing

It is important to make a distinction between "spiritual theology" and "spirituality". The reason is that there are a lot of folks who think that "spirituality" has nothing to do with theology. It is sort of a code word, at times, for non-affiliations. How many folks say "I'm not religious but I'm spiritual". I don't say that in judgement, but if I've heard this from one person, I've heard it from 100. Spirituality can be the code word more than a way of life… and in a Christian perspective, Spirituality is really "life in the Spirit" and a responsiveness to God who calls. Sprituality as spiritual theology is a serious study of how God calls and the many ways that human beings can truly respond to that call. Spiritual theology leads to spirituality if it is true; spirituality seeks its grounding in spiritual theology if it is authentic.  


In Christian terms, and certainly in Catholic terms where the Incarnation is so real a principle, all our other preparation comes into play. This is where we become "interdisciplinary", etc. Still, the methodology will be theological for the spiritual theologian.