This clear and comprehensive anthology, culled from the vast corpus of Christian mystical literature by the renowned theologian and historian Bernard McGinn, presents nearly one hundred selections, from the writings of Origen of Alexandria in the third century to the work of twentieth-century mystics such as Thomas Merton.
Uniquely organized by subject rather than by author, "The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism "explores how human life is transformed through the search for direct contact with God. Part one examines the preparation for encountering God through biblical interpretation and prayer; the second part focuses on the mystics' actual encounters with God; and part three addresses the implications of the mystical life, showing how mystics have been received over time, and how they practice their faith through private contemplation and public actions.
In addition to his illuminating Introduction, Bernard McGinn provides accessible headnotes for each section, as well as numerous biographical sketches and a selected bibliography.
Praise for "The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism "
"No one is better equipped than Bernard McGinn to provide a thorough and balanced guide to this vast literature....This is an anthology which deserves to be read not only by those who study Christian history and theology, but by believers who long to deepen their own lives of prayer and service." -- "Anglican Theological Review"
"Bernard McGinn, a preeminent historian and interpreter of the Christian mystical tradition, has edited this fine collection of mystical writings, organizing them thematically....McGinn offers helpful introductions to each thematic section, authorand entry, as well as a brief critical bibliography on mysticism. Published in the Modern Library Classic series, this is a great value." - "Christian Century
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"No-one is better equipped than Professor McGinn to provide a thorough and balanced guide to this vast literature. A first-class selection, by a first-class scholar." -- Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

"This accessible anthology by the scholarly world's leading historian of the Western Christian mystical tradition easily outstrips all others in its comprehensiveness, the aptness of its selection of texts, and in the intelligent manner of its organization." -- Denys Turner, Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology, Yale Divinity School

"An immensely rich anthology, assembled and introduced by our foremost student of mysticism. Both the scholar and the disciple will find God's plenty here." -- Barbara Newman, Professor of English, Religion, and Classics, John Evans Professor of Latin, Northwestern University

"An unusually clear and insightful exposition of major texts selected by one of the greatest scholars in the field of Christian mysticism, based on his vast erudition and uniquely sensitive interpretation. Like his other books, this one too is destined to become a classic." -- Professor Moshe Idel, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

"The very imposing and very welcome Classics of Western Spirituality (TM) series...should be in every theological collection of any depth." Ardin Newsletter Meister Eckhart: The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense translated and introduced by Edmund Colledge, O.S.A. and Bernard McGinn; preface by Huston Smith "...it is necessary that all things be bathed in the blood of Christ and led back into the Father through the Son's meditation, just as the Father does all things through the Son; and so the flowing back will correspond to the flowing out." Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1327) The thought of Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1327), Dominican philosopher and spiritual master, is among the most daring and difficult in the history of Western mysticism. Thoroughly grounded in the Scholastic method of his day and steadfastly loyal to the Church, Eckhart's love of speculation, paradox, and the apophatic way, nevertheless, resulted in the controversial condemnation of certain of his teachings by papal bull in 1329. His doctrines of detachment, the return of the soul to God, and the birth of the Son in the soul have continued to perplex his critics and nourish his disciples through the ages. This volume, based on the critical Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft edition of Eckhart's works, represents the first time that his technical Latin writings and more popular German sermons and treatises have appeared together in English.

The life and times of the most important theological work of medieval Christendom Thomas Aquinas's Summa theologiae holds a unique place in Western religion and philosophy. Written between 1266 and 1273, it was conceived by Aquinas as an instructional guide for teachers and novices and a compendium of all the approved teachings of the Catholic Church. It synthesizes an astonishing range of scholarship, covering hundreds of topics and containing more than a million and a half words-and was still unfinished at the time of Aquinas's death. Bernard McGinn, one of today's most acclaimed scholars of medieval Christianity, traces the remarkable life of this iconic work, examining Aquinas's reasons for writing it, its subject matter, and the novel way he organized it. McGinn looks at the influence of Aquinas's masterpiece on such giants of medieval Christendom as Meister Eckhart, its ridicule during the Enlightenment, the role of the Summa in the post-Vatican II church, and the book's enduring relevance today.

A scholar turned monk, Isaac combined the increasingly technical vocabulary of the cathedral schools with the spiritual tradition of the monastery. Dialectic is here combined with meditative reflection.

William of Saint-Thierry (ca. 1080-1148) became abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Thierry in about 1119, holding that office for about sixteen years and writing a large number of works, some for the guidance of the monks of his abbey and others as theological treatises. But during that same time, after meeting Bernard, abbot of the Cistercian abbey of Clairvaux, he longed to become a Cistercian. He finally satisfied that dream in 1135, when he became a monk at Signy. His final work was the first of the five books that constitute the Vita Prima Sancti Bernardi. The nine chapters in this book explore William's thought as represented in his twenty works, ranging from his earliest theological writing through his contribution to the Vita Prima Sancti Bernardi. The contributors to this volume have moved scholarship on William in new directions, ranging from a comparative analysis of Bernard's and William's thought through a study of William's Christology, an analysis of individual works, a new translation of one of William's little-known works, an examination of sixteenth-century images drawn from the Vita Prima, a study of William's rhetorical skills, and a recognition of William's new take on the phrase unitas spiritus. Dr. E. Rozanne Elder's expertise as a scholar of the works of William of Saint-Thierry, combined with her decades of distinguished service as a professor of history, director of the Institute of Cistercian Studies and then of the Center for Cistercian and Monastic Studies, all at Western Michigan University, and as editorial director of Cistercian Publications for thirty-five years, has made her the best known of Cistercian scholars today. She is the one primarily responsible for moving Cistercian studies into the mainstream of medieval history and thought. As the gracious and indefatigable host of the annual Conference of Cistercian Studies that takes place each May as part of the International Medieval Studies Congress, she has created a community of scholars and friends.

Apocalypticism has been the source of hope and courage for the oppressed, but has also given rise, on many occasions, to fanaticism and intolerance. The essays in this volume seek neither to apologize for the extravagance of apocalyptic thinkers nor to excuse the perverse actions of some of their followers. Rather, they strive to understand a powerful, perhaps even indispensable, element in the history of Western religions that has been the source of both good and evil, and still is yet today.The Editors The Continuum History of Apocalypticism is a 1-volume, select edition of the 3-vol. Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism first published in 1998. The main historical surveys that provided the spine of the Encyclopedia have been retained, while essays of a thematic nature, and a few whose subject matter is not central to the historical development, have been omitted. The work begins with 8 articles on The Origins of Apocalypticism in the Ancient World, extending from ancient Near Eastern myth through the Old Testament to the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus, Paul, and the Book of Revelation. Next are 7 articles on Apocalyptic Traditions from Late Antiquity to ca. 1800 C.E., including early Christian theology, radical movements in the Middle Ages, and both Jewish and Islamic apocalypticism in the classic period. The final section, Apocalypticism in the Modern Age, includes 10 articles on apocalypticism in the Americas, in Western and Eastern Europe, and, finally, in modern Judaism and modern Islam.

Apocalyptism has been broadly defined as the belief that God has revealed the imminent end of the ongoing struggle between good and evil throughout history. It has been a major element in the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and extensive scholarship has been devoted to apocalyptic study during the latter half of the 20th century. With contributions from 42 scholars, this encyclopedia in three volumes provides a comprehensive survey of apocalypticism's role in Western history from its origins down to the eve of the third millennium.

Apocalyptism has been broadly defined as the belief that God has revealed the imminent end of the ongoing struggle between good and evil throughout history. It has been a major element in the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and extensive scholarship has been devoted to apocalyptic study during the latter half of the 20th century. With contributions from 42 scholars, this encyclopedia in three volumes provides a comprehensive survey of apocalypticism's role in Western history from its origins down to the eve of the third millennium.

This collection of essays, which originated in 1987 at a symposium entitled God and Creation: an Ecumenical Symposium in Comparative Religious Thought, is devoted to the doctrine of creation in the three Western monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Scholars from all three traditions investigate the historical and constructive aspects of this doctrine within an ecumenical environment. Several comparative dimensions, especially on the relation between creation and emanation, have been highlighted.

Three treatises by twelfth-century Cistercians, who reflect on the human person as the image of God and capax Dei, capable of God, of being reformed to the divine Image. Of the three-Isaac of Stella, an anonymous Cistercian, and William of Saint Thierry- only the last discusses the nature ('the physics') of the body as well as of the soul, giving us an insight into medieval medical theory as well as to theological anthrology.

From millenarists to Antichrist hunters, from the Sibyls to the Hussites, "Visions of the End" is a monumental compendium spanning the literature of the Christian apocalyptic tradition from the period A.D. 400 to 1500, masterfully selected and complete with a comprehensive introduction and new preface.

This richly interdisciplinary collection of seventeen essays by an impressive array of medievalists offers an overview of the influence of the Apocalypse on the shaping of the Christian culture of the Middle Ages. Each one focuses on some aspect of John's great visionary text, specifically analyzing its interpretation, representation, and manipulation in medieval culture, history, religion, art, and literature. The book is divided into three sections.

In the first part, six scholars of medieval history and thought detail the development of interpretations of the Book of Revelation from the earliest work of Tyconius and Augustine to the Franciscan and Dominican explanations of the later Middle Ages. In the second part, six art historians discuss the visual representation of the Apocalypse in medieval art from early Christian mosaics through late medieval and early Renaissance paintings and prints, including those of Albrecht Durer. Five essays by historians and literary historians in the third section focus on the wide variety of ways in which medieval literature, liturgy, and historiography were influenced by the Apocalypse.

Providing a wealth of new material, this book will enrich our understanding of some of the major themes of medieval intellectual, cultural, and religious history, and should serve as a model for future works on related topics.

Contributors David Burr, Michael Camille, Yves Christe, E. Randolph Daniel, Richard K. Emmerson, C. Clifford Flanigan, Paula Frederiksen, Ronald B. Herzman, Dale Kinney, Peter Klein, Robert E. Lerner, Suzanne Lewis, E. Ann Matter, Bernard McGinn, Karl F. Morrison, Penn Szittya, John Williams

The manifest strength of the medieval period has always been the ways in which particular thinkers negotiated the twin criteria of reason and faith. What seemed to the Enlightenment a weakness appears to our time as a virtuoso performance. Less well-known in the West has been the inherently interfaith and intercultural character of the discussion. This collection of essays, which originated in 1987 at a symposium titled "God and Creation: An Ecumenical Symposium in Comparative Religious Thought," is devoted to the doctrine of creation in the three Western monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For the first time scholars from all three traditions investigate the historical and constructive aspects of this doctrine within an ecumenical environment. Several important comparative dimensions, especially on the relation between creation and emanation, have been highlighted in new ways. While some dimensions of the problematic were shared, notably the Aristotelian challenge of an eternal universe, others turn out to be specific to different traditions.

Mystics who have spoken of their union with God have come under suspicion in all three major religious traditions, sometimes to the point of condemnation and execution in the case of Christianity and Islam. Nevertheless, in all three religions the tradition of unio mystica is deep and long. Many of the spiritual giants of these three faiths have seen the attainment of mystical union as the heart of their beliefs and practices. Despite its importance, mystical union has rarely been investigated in itself, apart from the wider study of mysticism, and even more rarely from the aspect of comparative studies, especially those based upon broad and expert knowledge of the inner life of the three related monotheistic faiths. This text brings together essays that equally explore the broader idea of unio mystica as well as the mystic traditions within each religion.

The great German mystic Meister Eckhart remains one of the most fascinating figures in Western thought. Revived interest in Eckhart's mysticism has been matched, and even surpassed, by the study of the women mystics of the late13th century. This book argues that Eckhart's thought cannot be fully be understood until it is viewed against the background of the breakthroughs made by the women mystics who preceded him.

The projected thirty-volume Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR) is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to the current state of knowledge on the background, origins, and development of the canonical texts of the Bible as they were accepted in Judaism and Christianity. Unprecedented in breadth and scope, this encyclopedia also documents the history of the Bible's interpretation and reception across the centuries, not only in Judaism and Christianity, but also in literature, visual art, music, film, and dance, as well as in Islam and other religious traditions and new religious movements. The EBR is also available online. Further information on The Bible and Its Reception ."