Chase, Steven

PERSONAL: Male. Education: University of Washington, B.A.; Princeton Theological Seminary, M.Div.; Fordham University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Office—Western Theological Seminary, 101 E. 13th St., Holland, MI 49423-3633. E-mail—steven.chase@westernsem.edu.

CAREER: Professor and writer. Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, CA, former adjunct professor; Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, former doctoral faculty member; Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI, current associate professor of Christian spirituality. Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, NJ, two-time member-in-residence. Christian Spirituality Group, American Academy of Religion, founder and cochair; Society for the study of Christian Spirituality, member governing board; Institute of Spirituality at the Dominican Center, Grand Rapids, MI, former Director of Prayer Formation.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Angelic Wisdom: The Cherubim and the Grace of Contemplation in Richard of St. Victor, University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN), 1995.

(Editor) Doors of Understanding: Conversations in Global Spirituality in Honor of Ewert Cousins, Franciscan Press (Quincy, IL), 1997.

(Translator and author of introduction) Angelic Spirituality: Medieval Perspectives on the Ways of Angels, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Contemplation and Compassion: The Victorine Tradition, Orbis Books (Maryknoll, NY), 2003.

The Tree of Life: Models of Christian Prayer, Baker Academic (Grand Rapids, MI), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Steven Chase is a professor of Christian spirituality who has authored several books on prayer, religious history, and on the role of angels in spirituality. In his 2003 title, Contemplation and Compassion: The Victorine Tradition, he examines aspects of the Order of St. Victor, founded in Paris, France, in 1110, which was influential in medieval thought. Joan M. Nuth, reviewing the title in Theological Studies, found it an "appealing account … [that] inspires in the reader the desire to learn more." In his 2005 book, The Tree of Life: Models of Christian Prayer, Chase presents, according to a reviewer for Library Journal, a "well argued" study. In the book, Chase surveys different categories of prayer, from transformational prayers to ones dealing with relationships, using the metaphor of a tree to represent the various types of prayer. Thus, prayer as conversation serves as the tree's roots, while the branches of the tree represent prayer as a form of journey. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly concluded of this book, "Chase sows seeds … [that] will spread deep roots and produce fragrant blossoms."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, October 1, 2005, review of The Tree of Life: Models of Christian Prayer, p. 80.

Publishers Weekly, July 25, 2005, review of The Tree of Life, p. 69.

Theological Studies, June, 2005, Joan M. Nuth, review of Contemplation and Compassion: The Victorine Tradition, p. 491.

ONLINE

Western Theological Seminary Web site, http://www.westernsem.edu/ (January 4, 2006), "Steven Chase."