Native Thought, Suffering, and Spiritual Formation as Theological Education

Abstract

In his inaugural lecture as the newly elected Floy and Paul Cornelsen Professor of Spiritual Formation, Gordon Straw wove together three distinct but interrelated subjects: what it means to apprehend the universe as living and personal rather than mechanical and objective; challenges to theological education which largely come from viewing the universe as mechanical and objective, and spiritual formation as theological education. In “Native Thought, Suffering, and Spiritual Formation as Theological Education,†Gordon Straw brought together his deep rootedness in Native theology and Lutheran theology, and how both were shaping his unique approach to spiritual formation.