Impelling Spirit is a book about Jesuit spirituality as seen in its origins. As such it responds to the challenge of Vatican II that the appropriate renewal of religious life demands a return to the sources of Christian life and the spirit and aims of the founders of an institute. The instrument the author employs is a 1539 document Ignatius and his companions drafted for Pope Paul III as an apostolic letter addressed to themselves; this document - long neglected and largely unknown - clearly reveals how they understood themselves and their way of life. It demonstrates that the spirit and aims of the Society, though radical in 1539, were also deeply rooted in the Christian tradition.

Today the language of mission is in disarray. Where do the language and idea of 'mission' come from? Do they truly have precedence in the early centuries of the church? Michael Stroope investigates these questions and shows how the language of mission is a modern phenomenon that shaped a 'grand narrative' of mission. He then offers a way forward. Prologue Acknowledgements Introduction: the enigma of mission Part 1: Justifying mission 1. Partisans and apologists 2. Reading Scripture as mission 3. Presenting history as mission 4. Rhetoric and trope Part 2: Innovating mission 5. Holy conquest 6. Latin occupation 7. Mission vow 8. Ignatian mission Part 3: Revising mission 9. Protestant reception 10. Missionary problems Epilogue: towards pilgrim witness Works cited