The series contains multiple genres of spiritual writing, including poems, songs, essays, theological treatises, meditations, mystical biographies, and philosophical investigations, and features works by famous authors such as Augustine of Hippo and Martin Luther, as well as lesser-known authors such as Maximus the Confessor and Moses de León.
CWS was originally planned by an editorial board of some thirty scholars to "[foster] more enlightened spiritual direction and fruitful meditation practices", and was projected to contain sixty volumes.
[3] The series was also conceived to support scholarship in the field, which until then was hampered by lack of western language translations, introductions, notes, or other critical apparatus for its foundational texts.
The series was almost immediately "acclaimed as one of the most important religious publishing events of recent years.
"[5] An early reviewer remarked that "the impression left by a preliminary contact with this courageous attempt to open the vast treasures of Western spiritual classics to present-day readers is one of astonished admiration.