Richard James Foster (born 1942) is a

Christian theologian Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesi ...

and author in the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

tradition. His writings speak to a broad Christian audience. Born in 1942 in New Mexico, Foster has been a professor at

Friends University Friends University is a private nondenominational Christian university in Wichita, Kansas. It was founded in 1898. The main building was originally built in 1886 for Garfield University but was donated in 1898 to the Religious Society of Friends ...

and pastor of Evangelical Friends churches. Foster resides in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He earned his undergraduate degree at

George Fox University George Fox University is a private Christian university in Newberg, Oregon. Founded as a school for Quakers in 1891, it is now the largest private university in Oregon with more than 4,000 students combined between its main campus in Newberg, ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and his Doctor of Pastoral Theology at

Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller consistently has a student body that compri ...

, and received an honorary doctorate from

Houghton College Houghton University is a private Christian liberal arts college in Houghton, New York. Houghton was founded in 1883 by Willard J. Houghton and is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.

. Foster is best known for his 1978 book
Celebration of Discipline
', which examines the inward disciplines of

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

, and

study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of drawi ...

in the Christian life, the outward disciplines of

simplicity Simplicity is the state or quality of being simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or complex depending on the way we ch ...

solitude Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without distu ...

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

, and service, and the corporate disciplines of

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

, guidance, and celebration. It has sold over one million copies. It was named by ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'' as one of the top ten books of the twentieth century. A work described as a sequel to ''Celebration'' is Foster's 1985 ''Money, Sex & Power''. and associated study guide. He also published ''Freedom of Simplicity'' in 1981, which further explores the discipline of simple,

intentional living Intentional living is any lifestyle based on an individual or group's conscious attempts to live according to their values and beliefs. These can include lifestyles based on religious, political or ethical values, as well as for self-improvement. ...

. ''Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home'' (1992, ), which explores 21 different types of Christian prayer, edited ''Devotional Classics'' (1993, ), a devotional guide featuring Christian wisdom through the ages, and ''Streams of Living Water'' (2001, ), which examines the place of the different spiritual traditions - Contemplative: The Prayer-Filled Life; Holiness: The Virtuous Life ; Charismatic: The Spirit-Empowered Life; Social Justice: The Compassionate Life; Evangelical: The Word-Centered Life; and Incarnational: The Sacramental Life - in Christianity. Foster (along with several others) also wrote the devotional ''Renovaré Spiritual Formation Bible'' (now published as '' The Life with God Study Bible''). Two editions of this

NRSV The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.study Bible A study Bible is an edition of the Bible prepared for use by a serious student of the Bible. It provides scholarly information designed to help the reader gain a better understanding of and context for the text. History Perhaps the first editi ...

exist, one with the

apocryphal Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

deuterocanonical The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

texts and one without. In 2008, he co-authored with Gayle Beebe, the book ''Longing for God''. In 1988 Foster founded '' Renovaré'', a Christian renewal para-Church organization. In recent years he has allowed his hair to grow, wearing it in a long pony tail. He says this is his way of honoring the portion of his heritage which is

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Richard 20th-century Christian mystics 20th-century Quakers 21st-century Christian mystics 21st-century Quakers American evangelicals American Christian mystics American Quakers American religious writers American spiritual writers American theologians Christian writers Friends University people Fuller Theological Seminary alumni George Fox University alumni Protestant mystics Quaker evangelicals Quaker ministers Quaker theologians Quaker writers Living people 1942 births