Dom John Chapman's Spiritual Letters

Abstract

In my first article I suggested that the reader of Dom John's spiritual letters lost much because they are not arranged chronologically, I suggested that he should begin with the first three letters to a Jesuit, in which Dom John developed his rounded theological theory of the world, and then attempted to outline this theory; its outstanding characteristics seemed to me to be the importance given to God's will, both as ‘permissive’ and as expressing his good pleasure, and the importance given to contingency. In this second article I propose to follow the development of Dom John's theory and practice of contemplative prayer. In a final article I hope to be able to show how Dom John's study of de Caussade's writings enabled him to coordinate his spiritual life with his theological theory.Towards the end of the long letter written to his Jesuit friend expounding his theological theory, Dom John said: ‘I always tell people that our spiritual life must be managed like the War Office on business principles.