Fresh translations of Meister Eckhart's sermons are made available in this volume: three for the first time in English and sixteen others for the first time since C. de B. Evans translated them in 1924 and 1931, long before the critical editions of the manuscripts were published in 2003. Other important sermons are included in the translations as well. They improve upon previous translations which were not as sensitive to Eckhart's metaphorical repertoire and his subtle word choice and phrasing. The extended introductory essay describes Eckhart's metaphors and how they work together to form a cohesive whole. By looking at what his metaphors tell us about what an individual person is and how the view of the individual changed in the late medieval world, his ostensibly shocking rhetoric (in places where it is actually novel) is shown to be indicative of a larger cultural tide that culminated in the modern worldview. Finally, all of his homiletic choices are shown to be in service of the greater goal: catalyzing transformative change in his audience by stubbornly insisting on his paradoxes and jarring people out of their customary way of relating to God and themselves.

In many ways, Meister Eckhart has had to wait seven centuries to be heard. Born in 13th century Germany, much of his life was spent in a monastery. 'Meister' means 'Master', and is an academic title from the University of Paris. An admired member of the Dominican Order, he was often sent to reform ailing priories. He was known as a spiritual counsellor; a safe haven for many who sought God in their life, but found themselves troubled by the state of the institutional church. He was best known, however, as a preacher - who used his native German language to startling effect. Eckhart preached a spiritual vision which distrusted both ritual and church dogma. Instead, he aimed at nothing less than the spiritual and psychological transformation of those given to his care. To this end, Eckhart made the disposition of the human heart the key to all things. 'Conversations with Meister Eckhart' is an imagined conversation with this 13th century mystic, around such themes as detachment, which he famously placed above love; spirituality, God, the soul and suffering. But while the conversation is imagined, Eckhart's words are not; they are authentically his own. One of his controversial claims was that God cannot be described. Indeed, in one sermon, he went so far as to say 'We must take leave of God.' 'The church became very hostile towards him,' says Simon Parke, 'accusing him of heresy; and he spent his last days on trial before the pope. They also tried to ensure he'd be forgotten when he died, and nearly succeeded. But he's more popular now than ever.' Eckhart's teaching is an adventure, not a system; a call, not a creed. The depth and universality of his work means it can be contained by no established religion, but draws to itself seekers of truth from all backgrounds. 'Here we have a teaching open to all, but possessed by none,' says Parke. 'And therefore free like a butterfly, in the garden of the soul. Its perhaps my most challenging and rewarding conversation.'

The mystical vision of the German Dominican Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 - 1329) has fascinated German thinkers from Hegel to Heidegger. Central to his writings were a belief in divine 'Oneness' and self-reproduction. Eckhart argued God was both the ultimate source of the universe and the element inherent in all His creatures. He was also preoccupied with the nature of 'intellect' which he called the 'ground of the soul'; the image of God inside us offering all the possibility of redemption through a return to the Trinity. This Neo-platonic 'Oneness' was boldly reconciled with the Christian Trinity by stressing God's reproduction through His son and the human individual. Whilst this unorthodox approach led to charges of preaching beyond the confines of his faith, Eckhart's radical synthesis of Greek thought and Christian doctrine has remained complex, challenging and frequently misunderstood. These Selected Writings, some translated into English for the first time, illustrate the rhetorical flourish and metaphysical drama of Eckhart's evangelical style and confirm his critical position in the evolution of European intellectual life.

In an age of distraction, this issue of Plough Quarterly looks at inwardness – how sustainable human community and social activism must be rooted in the spiritual life. How much of your day is spent in reality, and how much in a fake world? We’ve learned that screen time is bad for you, too much media consumption damages your heart, and Facebook can make you mentally ill. We’re aware of the mind-altering power of advertising, the dehumanizing passions of our polarized politics, and the fact that millions of us have learned to multitask while watching footage of refugees drowning. But what are we to do about it? If this fake world is invading our souls, it’s in our souls that we must find the cure. Only a return to inwardness can bring distracted moderns back to Jesus and to constructive work for his kingdom. Here activists may object: Isn’t it the height of selfishness to retreat into our interior life when we ought to be out saving starving children? Yet Christians through the ages have insisted that inwardness is crucial to the life of discipleship. It’s what keeps us from falling for demagogues and false gospels, from wasting life on superficialities, and from ignoring our neighbor. In fact, throughout history it has often been the mystics who were most active in serving others. In true Plough fashion, this issue brings together a colorful cast of examples: from medieval Beguines and Benedictines to Gerard Manley Hopkins, Simone Weil, and Fannie Lou Hamer, to contemporary voices like Robert Cardinal Sarah, Johann Christoph Arnold, and three persecuted Syrian priests. These lives offer us glimpses of the real world from which our fake world seeks to distract us, and can guide us in our own refusal to conform. Also in this issue: • Poetry from Gerard Manley Hopkins and Malcolm Guite • Insights on inwardness from Meister Eckhart, Eberhard Arnold, Marguerite Porete, Simone Weil, and Isaac Penington • A forum on the Benedict Option with Rod Dreher, Ross Douthat, Jacqueline C. Rivers, and Randall Gauger • Artwork by Jason Landsel, Bruce Herman, Jane Chapin, Graham Berry, Fra Angelico, Francisco de Zurbarán, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, Matthew J. Cutter, John August Swanson, Vittorio Matteo Corcos, and Leon Dabo Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus’ message into practice and find common cause with others.

THIS 34 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 22 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Light, Life and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564596087.

THIS 34 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 48 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 48 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 156 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 22 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Light, Life and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564596087.

THIS 50 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 270 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 156 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 270 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.

THIS 48 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Works of Meister Eckhart, by Meister Eckhart. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 156459274X.