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Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard J. Foster
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 23049
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0060628227
Dewey Decimal Number: 248
EAN: 9780060628222
ASIN: 0060628227
Publication Date: December 1, 2001
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Amazon.com Review
Streams of Living Water is Richard J. Foster's roundup of six great traditions of Christian spiritual practice. His essays on spirituality--contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical, and incarnational--are grounded in straightforward profiles of biblical and modern characters whom Foster considers exemplars of these traditions. (The prophet Amos and the Quaker abolitionist John Woolman, for example, are featured in the chapter on social justice.) Each chapter ends with a bit of advice about how readers can cultivate new aspects of spiritual life and keep these Christian traditions alive: "Take a bath instead of a shower. Waste time for God," Foster writes, in his chapter on the contemplative tradition. Foster doesn't really break new ground in Streams of Living Water--he's written about most of these spiritual disciplines elsewhere--but this book is a useful and engaging introduction to a fairly broad range of Christian spiritual practices. --Michael Joseph Gross
Product Description
The author of the bestselling celebration of discipline explores the great traditions of christian spirituality and their role in spiritual renewal todayIn this landmark work, Foster examines the "streams of living water" -- the six dimensions of faith and practice that define Christian tradition. He lifts up the enduring character of each tradition and shows how a variety of practices, from individual study and retreat to disciplines of service and community, are all essential elements of growth and maturity. Foster examines the unique contributions of each of these traditions and offers as examples the inspiring stories of faithful people whose lives defined each of these "streams."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Streams of Living Water September 19, 2008
This book provides a great review of the diversity of the Christian Spirit that prevails in todays world. The details of the people that lived their spirit in their every day life is enlightening. The historical view of the origin of each stream is very interesting and written in a way that makes Richard Foster's prose very exciting.
A true classic... September 28, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is truly one of the best books that I've ever read. Having deeply appreciated Foster's "Celebration of Discipline," I had high hopes for this one, but they were met and exceeded.
In "Streams of Living Water," Richard Foster breaks down the entire history of the church into six traditions of spirituality, which he calls streams. He begins the book by describing how Jesus Christ demonstrated all six streams without blemish. Within his descriptions of each stream, he tells fascinating stories to gives examples of each tradition as represented by a historical figure, a biblical figure, and a contemporary figure. The six traditions are the contemplative, prayer-filled tradition (exemplified by Antony, John, and Frank Laubach), the holiness, virtuous tradition (exemplified by Phoebe Palmer, James, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer), the charismatic, spirit-empowered tradition (exemplified by Francis of Assisi, Paul, and William Seymour), the social justice, compassionate tradition (exemplified by John Woolman, Amos, and Dorothy Day), the evangelical, Word-centered tradition (exemplified by Augustine, Peter, and Billy Graham), and the incarnational, sacramental tradition (exemplified by Susanna Wesley, Bezalel, and Dag Hammarskjold). The book concludes with two significant appendices, explaining "critical turning points in church history" and defining "notable figures and significant movements in church history."
The strengths of the book are many. For those unfamiliar with church history, Foster will introduce the reader to some interesting individuals. It was striking to realize how unfamiliar I was with several of the individuals outside my primary faith tradition. His writing style is both intelligent and accessible, to the point that I was simultaneously challenged by and engaged in the text. The breadth of information and history is tremendous, yet it never feels overwhelming or encyclopedic. And the appendices alone are worth the price of the book, serving as excellent primers on the basics of church history.
My primary critique is relatively minor, but I felt that the ending was abrupt. I would have appreciated if Foster had spent an extra chapter providing some better closure and bringing together these rather disparate traditions.
Overall, this book is tremendous. It helped to free me of the Pharisitic superiority complex that I often feel toward my own faith tradition. Foster does a masterful job of demonstrating that all six streams are legitimate, life-giving expressions of the church, as shown by the model of Christ. We would be well served to honor Him by embracing our own stream or streams, opening ourselves to experiencing Him within a new stream, and appreciating the streams that may be beyond our own experience. In any case, I am confident that anyone will be blessed to read this wonderful book.
A REAL EYE OPENER FOR ONE TYPE OF CHRISTIANITY June 12, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book vividly shows us how we cling so tightly to our 'right way to worship' that we miss out on the greatest revelations!! We think in terms of "one way of worship" as the truth.....Foster explains how the most balanced people use all the 6 traditions of Christian faith. I didn't realize how narrowly focused I was until this book presented itself to me. You will come away with, not only a tolerance for all denominations of Christianity, but a recognition of NEED for all that each offers in worship of God.
Simply Excellent March 12, 2005
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
The more I read of Richard Foster, the more I like his style. As is always the case in his books, Foster's Streams of Living Water presents a well categorized methodical approach to understanding the Christian faith. In this case, he focuses on what he calls the "Traditions" of the faith.
Other reviews have detailed the Traditions of which Foster speaks. So, I'll comment on the structure of the chapters, which, in my opinion, is excellent. Each chapter gives multiple examples of people who focused on the Tradition for that chapter. One of these people is contemporary (Billy Graham is one), one is historical (St. Augustine of Hippo), and one is Biblical (Amos, for example). After using examples to give you a feel for the Tradition in question, Foster lays out what he considers to be the essentials of the Tradition, its defining characteristics. He then moves to a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Tradition, and closes the chapter with a discussion of how we can integrate it into our lives.
It's clear from reading the book that it is designed with an ecumenical understanding. Foster sees each modern expression of Christianity as presenting a part of the life of wholeness we are to live. Through people reading this book (and joining Renovare groups and such), Foster hopes to encourage Christians to live a balanced life. This book is certainly a good step in that direction.
If you want to live a full Christian life, this book will help guide you on your way.
A final note: I love the first Appendix in this book. It is a brief outline of some Church history, along with certain contributions that each branch of Christianity has given us (from Catholic to Orthodox to the various Protestants), that we can apply in our lives, regardless which of these groups we belong to.
On the whole, this is simply and excellent book. I pray that each one who reads it moves to apply it in their own walk.
An attempt to reintegrate the Christian faith June 22, 2004
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Foster's "Streams" is a radical idea in contemporary Christian circles - drawing together the strengths in each of the recognized major protestant Christian sects he asserts a new, more whole view of life with God.Foster uses modern and historical/mythical persons to flesh out the strengths he ascribes to each branch of protestantism. While this approach will test readers who look down on the stories of the saints of old (he relates St. Francis' reasoning with a wild wolf in one chapter) if you can put aside modern protestant prejudices against christian mythology you'll be much the better for it. I found the book to be a refreshing approach to integrating the major movements in Christianity. I am more mindful of the traditions of faith I did not grow up in and am attempting to incorporate their strenghts into my experience of Jesus Christ.
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