The audience of this book is the Anglican lay-person who wants to become a Proficient. Although moderns tend to think that religion is different than craftsmanship or engineering, one can also develop of proficiency in religion. Jesus going to the Cross required discipline. This discipline has been historically known by the Greek word for the athletic training discipline: ascesis. Ascetism in the modern meaning now derives from body-hating medieval monasticism, but that is not its technical (as in term-of-art) meaning in Christianity. Ascesis differs from devotions in that modern devotional material tends to be sentimental (that is, appealing to sentiment, to the emotional side), but it is related in that great devotional materially typically comes from those practicing ascesis.

Although much of modern Christianity judges effectiveness of practice by the production of positive feelings, the only way to accurately judge effectiveness is whether sin is reduced. A Christian Proficient is someone whose Christian life is efficient, which is to say that they have minimum practices for maximum effect in reducing sin. We can see the opposite of efficiency in two extreme cases, Confucianism and Eastern religion. Confucianism is immanence-only (there is only the material world), so Confucianism is only ethical. However, telling people what to do is not an efficient way to get people to do what is right. Eastern religion is only transcendent, so while it has mystical experiences, those by themselves also do not change behavior. Likewise, Christianity is not self-improvement (immanent) or total depravity (transcendent), but redemption (both). Furthermore, a Christian is not about beliefs or actions, but about being (ontology)—Baptism has made the Christian into something new. This new creation might act like the old creation, but that does not change what it is, only how efficient it is.

The Proficient is not doing more than average Anglican, but rather more efficiently, because he is using a framework to bring structure to what he is doing. This structure is Mass, Daily Office, private prayer. The Mass is participating in the corporate Body of Christ, the Daily Office is praise given to God, and private prayer is, obviously private, but because we are not disconnected individuals, we pray our prayers, but we also need to pray Christ’s prayers (and our prayers gathered together from all Christians form the Church’s prayers). Private prayer involves petition, self-examination, confession, intercession, thanksgiving / worship. Recollection (remembering God throughout the day) is part of private prayer, but is most prominent in fasting. (If this is confusing, there is a diagram in Chapter 3, reproduced in the notes.)

Now because everyone is unique and has a unique situation (which may change over time), this framework needs to find a unique implementation in each person. This is why spiritual direction is important, since a spiritual director is like a coach or mentor working with you. Anglican spiritual direction is empirical—try various things to see what is actually effective, as measured by reduced sin. This frees us from measuring by our changeable feelings and helps prevent becoming addicted to the feelings (which is a form of gluttony). Although spiritual directors often know who they are likely to be able to help, the entire process of spiritual direction must be initiated by the individual. Pick someone that you like and respect, but know that spiritual direction is not prescriptive; you are under no obligation to follow your director’s suggestions.

Just as one is unlikely to become proficient in a skill without some sort of structure, so the same with following God. In discussion with a director, we develop a Rule to guide our practices so that they actually deepen our character. Rule is not rigid legalism, and the Rule will need to be relaxed and even changed during different seasons of life. The Rule will also need to be adjusted initially to find something that works for you. It is not a sin to fail to keep your Rule (it is a fault, not a sin), and it is best for a Rule to be just a little hard to keep, because the nature of repeated faults frequently reveals areas of growth. Rule is a means to an end, it is not an end itself. It is meant to pre-decide what you will do, which frees your decision making, and allow the Rule to settle into your life as a natural habit. Thornton says that it is best to suggest a Rule to your spiritual director for feedback, and as an example he says that a Rule of Mass on Sunday, saying Matins (Morning Prayer) daily, thirty minutes of private prayer daily, and maybe communicating with your director twice a week, is a fine Rule for most people.

Recollection is remembering God throughout the day; it is “practicing the Presence of God”, and is the highest normal state which we can aspire to. It is like a husband being with his wife as he remembers her throughout the day, but it is quite unlike the besotted youth who cannot focus on work because he is always thinking of his love. This is one of the quickest discipline to see “results”, as we can easily develop a discipline of intentionally focusing on God at various times throughout the day, which will result in us feeling closer to God. Fasting is part of recollection: the Lenten fast reminds us of Christ in the wilderness. My own limited experience with fasting is that feeling hunger is an opportunity to re-collect God, and the time I would have spent eating can be spent in meditation and prayer. Another aspect of recollection is more intellectual. God the Father is transcendent, Holy Spirit we tend to see as immanent, but Jesus, as mediator between the two is both transcendent and immanent. We are also both transcendent (we have God’s spirit) and immanent (physical). Church festivals are also a time to recollect both times of Jesus’ life as well as the lives of the saint being celebrated.

“Mental prayer”, as Thornton terms is closer to what non-Anglo-Catholics would think of as “meditation”, and its purpose is growing in knowledge about God and as preparation for prayer. A lot of things become simpler when considered as “would Christ follow me in this course of action” than as an ethical problem of “is this acceptable in a New Testament ethic.” One of the most common methods is visualizing Jesus, and it can be helpful to consider what modern clothing he would wear. Another method is visualizing Bible stories through characters in them, both major characters, and minor characters (who set the scene of the story). It is also beneficial to meditate on the saints and on the Virgin Mary. Likewise, meditating on theological truth is helpful. Art is also useful, since it sits in the tension of communicating the transcendent through the material. For instance, the Church has always had two crucifixes: one with Jesus suffering in the flesh, and one with him in glory.

“Colloquy” is more what we would term “prayer”, but Thornton terms it colloquy to emphasize that it is a two-way conversation. It is important that it be honestly telling God how a certain situation makes you feel and what you want done; none of this “if it be thy will” or asking for the things you think you’re supposed to be asking for. Thornton quotes Heiler saying that “accepted, received” is better than “answered” in terms of prayers; he says our prayer is “accepted” if it turns to trust, although it may not be granted (and we may rescind the request). Thornton also emphasizes the importance of thanksgiving in building an attitude of thankfulness, but suggests that we tend to be too limited in the range of things we give thanks for: why not thank God for problems that did not happen, for a quiet beer at the pub, for the color of a woman’s hair? Ultimately thanksgiving and prayer should lead to adoration, “[which] is the peak of all prayer because it is the only possible approach to God perfectly known.” (106)

Rule prevents a Puritan, excessive introspection of sin because it focuses on attaining virtue rather than avoiding sin, but we do need some amount of self-examination and occasional Confession. This is most helpfully done with the framework of the Seven Capital (traditionally, Deadly) Sins. However, while we should grow in sorrow for our sins, we should not grow in worry about them, since worry doubts that God will handle them. Confession is helpful for a variety of reasons, including assurance of forgiveness, being cleansed from all sins including ones not known, and of ensuring our Christian duty of confession is done and done in a Christian way. First-time Penitents tend to worry if it will cause the Confessor to look at them differently, but they need have no fear, since that would violate the Seal of Confession (and the Confessor probably forgot it, anyway). Look for a Confessor who is loving Father-in-faith, enjoys being a physician of souls, applies moral law impartially, and is a good teacher-coach.

Thornton suggests a number of things that can help us. A study of theology is beneficial, so that we gain understanding, since blind obedience is not a great virtue—there is greater virtue available. Along a similar vein, why not talk theology in the pub, or ask each other “have you had any good meditations recently”; this would produce greater koinonia that a bland social group. The liturgical year is helpful, as, for instance, Easter requires Lent as preparation in order to be fully celebrated. Retreats, such as a three day retreat given to God that includes the Mass and the Office can be a good way to start direction and to combat aridity (feeling spiritually dry). A walk in nature should not be underestimated, for the way we treat things influences the way we other matters; our attitude on money is related to our attitude of things.

Private prayer is usually enjoyable, but there are seasons where God feels distant, prayer and worship feels like a waste of time, and we may even doubt the basics of the faith. This is called aridity, and is a natural part of the spiritual journey—it is God withdrawing his gifts so that the creature can walk on its own, and it has a certain cyclic recurrence. In these times it is helpful to know that it is both to be expected, and that our status with God is based not on our feelings but on our ontological change through Baptism. Spiritual direction helps, too. Relationship with God is like a marriage: at first you want to spend all your time together, but after a while, as your love deepens, it does not need to always be together to still be there. You do not love your wife of forty years less just because you no longer need to spend every minute with her. Just because we no longer want to pray all day does not mean that we are less mature.

Excesses also create difficulties and should be avoided. Excessive scrupulousness and introspection worrying about every possible sin does not create closeness with God (just as gripping the steering wheel out of fear does not make a good driver). Good relationships have a certain comfort and ease with each other. Similarly, while evangelism is good, an preoccupation with evangelism and growth (of a small group, church, etc.) is not healthy. It is, after all, Holy Spirit’s responsibility to convict people of sin and bring people to salvation, not ours. (Neither should we leave practical problems, which are our responsibility, “to the Spirit”.)

A final difficulty is that religious language is, of necessity, full of metaphor, analogy, and symbolism. We start off thinking that heaven is up above the clouds and hell is under the earth, but really these are just maps of meaning that is the best way we have of describing the concepts. They are, if you will, a sort of science theory describing things that are indescribable. Unless you want to do a study of it, you can just accept the interpretations the Church has already spent centuries developing without needing to go into the details.

The Anglican Rule is based on St. Benedict’s Rule, but we live in very different times, so we need to have some flexibility. For one thing, life is much more variable. If you are at a house party in the countryside, for example, loving your neighbor and not insisting on driving in to Mass on Sunday might take precedence over duty to Rule. Similarly, while it is best to attend your local parish, because we move around a lot and travel is easy, it might be infeasible in some circumstances. However, it is unwise to attend a distant parish that is exactly what you like, since it is friction with other people that builds connection.

“Christian maturity is the living resolution of a set of paradoxes” (161). Immaturity, therefore is not living in the paradox but at one edge. A good steak is not excessive indulgence (Puritan) nor the goal in life (hedonistic), but something to be enjoyed with thanksgiving. Both dressing in the plainest dress (Quaker) and being a fashionista are likewise excesses. Doctrine is not flexible, but how the paradoxes are lived out must be highly flexible. Every person and context are unique, so there are no standardized Christians (there is no “Christian X"). “If we need lists of qualities to help us and to aim at, the truest we can say is that Jesus Christ is Just, Temperate, Prudent, and possessed of Fortitude (the cardinal virtues); that his earthly life was governed by Faith, Hope, and Love (the theological virtues); that he adored the Father in Holy Fear, Reverence, and Godliness, he offered the world Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, and Counsel, and that these were derived from Ghostly Strength (the gifts of the spirit).” (157)

Evangelism tends to take Mars Hill as its model, but unless you are in a context where there are a bunch of people with free time who like to argue philosophy, you will need to do something else. Frequently evangelism involves an immature, hard-sell pressure tactic (“you might die tonight”), even though fear and panic is not a good Christian witness, especially since we claim that God is patient and omniscient. Rather, a Christian Proficient should have a good idea where the Holy Spirit is at work, whom he is drawing to Jesus. Evangelism should be like introducing a friend to one of your friends. You have built trust with both friends, and you are introducing them to each other, it’s just that one of them is Jesus and one of them is a friend in whom you see Holy Spirit at work. Similarly, apologetics as trying to win a debate is unhelpful, since people rarely change strong opinions and values even if they “lose” an argument. Rather, the best apologetic is for your life to demonstrate that God is real, which is a reason to follow Rule.

We can look at maturity in several other ways, besides the definition given above. A.R. Vidlar says that maturity is the synthesis of world-embracing and world-renunciation. David, for example was an example of world-embracing: he was a skilled harpist and composer, a passionate lover, and a heroic warrior. Since the early Old Testament expects God’s justice in this lifetime, David’s psalms are full of expectation for vindication in this lifetime. Immaturity is not bad, and world-embracing is a better way to start kids out than the reverse. Another way of looking at maturity is as a progression from aesthetic, to intellectual, to sacramental (and similarly, as from emotion, to intellect, to will). We start off captured by beauty in nature, then we progress to an interest in theology and liturgy, and finally to seeing God in all of creation. A final way is a pastoral progression, from evangelism, to ecclesiasticism, to ascetic discipline. In this model, the first stage is like a child excited by their new toy, then progressing to details of things like liturgy, and finally to the life of disciplined training.

Christian Proficiency is a great book for the experienced Christian looking for more. Thornton articulates a light structure of ascetic discipline that echoes Benedict’s “nothing harsh or burdensome” but that, unlike Benedict’s Rule, is flexible. He gives clear explanation and motivation for each of the parts of an well-balanced Anglican Rule. The only exception is the Daily Office, which gets just one line of explanation (ministry of praise to God).

This is an easy book to take notes on, as the chapters have a logical flow and each topic is contained under its own heading. This structure also makes it easy to understand, in addition to the clarity of the writing itself. Thornton’s clarity is reminiscent of C.S. Lewis’ clarity. Clarity is not the only similarity; Thornton frequently sounds a lot like C.S. Lewis in his turns of phrase and style of argument. In fact, the similarity is so noticeable that either Thornton has read a lot of Lewis, or they were formed by the same academic / ecclesiastical culture.

This book also acts as a good commentary for the Church Fathers, particularly the monastic ones, who are always talking about asceticism and the like. Thornton makes it clear that there is a ecclesiastical vocabulary—terms of art—that means something that might be quite different from modern, vernacular parlance (in particular, “asceticism”, which means almost the opposite of its meaning as a term of art). Thornton explains the terms, and since he is a descendant of the Benedictine tradition, itself a descendant of the Desert Fathers, his thoughts helped reveal mistaken assumptions I had about some of what the Church Fathers said.

This is also a window onto Anglican thought, as Thornton has a lot of witty, but thoughtful comments. This includes incisive criticisms of Protestant thinking. For instance, (American) Protestantism clearly tends towards a Puritan understanding, and he shows how this is an immature focus on only one side of the paradox (which is probably why American Evangelicals and Protestant conservative Christians have not been thriving recently). As another example, just to pick on Protestants, is that Protestants tend to focus on not sinning, while the ascetic Rule described by Thornton focuses on developing virtues. Lack of sin is not virtue, but developing virtue will certainly reduce sin.

This is one of those books which a summary cannot do justice at least to a Protestant reader like myself. Even reviewing my notes reminded me of so many good things he said, which I want to remember, and which are far too numerous to include in a summary. (Perhaps Anglo-Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox will not find these things so completely new, and will already have a framework for attaching his ideas, in which case it would be easier to integrate.) Reading this book will give you the tools to begin developing your own Rule, and the motivation to want to do it. Even the little steps I have taken so far are bearing fruit. This is a clear and comprehensive description of ascetical practice from a modern, and practical, perspective. It is already a classic in spiritual directing curriculum, and I expect it to continue well over my hundred year mark.


Review: 10
A definitive explanation: clear, comprehensive, and insightful, and which benefits from multiple exposures.
▶ Notes

Copyright © 2025 by Geoffrey Prewett