Wholistic Spirituality

Dr. Richard Smith of the Kuyper Study Center recently hosted a conference at a historic Danish Lutheran church titled, Espiritualidad Integral (Wholistic Spirituality), based on the Shema (Dt 6:4–5) and the Great Commandment (Mk 12:29–31).

Iván Tomassini focused on the nature of God expressed in Deuteronomy 6:4 – "The LORD our God, the LORD is one." He explained how the Hebrew permits three nuanced meanings about biblical monotheism: "Yahweh is one", "Yahweh is unique" and "Yahweh alone."

Together, Iván and Dr. Smith described the spiritual, ethical, and social implications of the Shema and Great Commandment. The reasoning is covenantal and uses an indicative-imperative rationale: Because of who God is and what he has done for us (the indicative, Dt 6:4), we must therefore respond wholistically (the imperative, Mk 12:30–31) – "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" and "love your "neighbor as yourself." Afterwards, we assembled into groups to explore implications and ask questions.

Please Pray with Us!

Dr. Smith reports: "When we began three years ago, we knew that Buenos Aires is a challenging context. Culturally, there are many distractions. Within the churches, lots of activities keep congregants busy. Many believers embrace an anti-intellectual spirituality. Some churches do not esteem para-church ministries or reject Reformed theology.

"For this conference about wholistic spirituality, we received messages of interest from believers in various South American countries. However, just fifteen local believers attended—all excellent thinkers and we had a good discussion! (About 450,000 evangelicals live in Buenos Aires.)

"So, given our context, we pray in this way, and we invite you to join us in ongoing supplication, seeking God's powerful intervention in this region:

1. Create a thirst for knowledge among evangelicals in Buenos Aires. Stir up passion to know God, his Word, the world, and themselves deeply, and to make God known for his glory.
2. Send us those who want to learn and become disciples who "sit at the feet of Jesus." Enable them to reorder priorities and sacrifice for understanding and wisdom.
3. Send us collaborators who share our vision, mission, values, and confession of faith.

From November 4 – 10, Iván and I will be ministering in Chile, teaching at a conference in Santiago about the biblical worldview and Neo-Calvinism. We will also speak at a gathering in Chillán, about four hours from the capital."