The presence of God : A history of Western Christian mysticism
Bernard McGinn (Author)
"The present volume is the first of four dedicated to the history and theology of Western Christian mysticism... The Presence of God will seek to address... both the historical and the constructive dimensions of a theological understanding of Christian mysticism... The first two volumes... present an account of the first major period--or, perhaps better, layer--of Christian mysticism, which was created in the third and fourth centuries and flourished down through the twelfth. This layer may well be called the monastic layer, since it was closely tied to the values and practices of monasticism. The third volume... will treat the period from the thirteenth century through the sixteenth, a time when new forms of religious life and practice produced a second rich layer which interacted with the monastic component in the later Middle Ages and the Reformation era. These centuries saw the creation of classic 'schools' of mysticism, which sought to spread mystical practices to all groups in Christian society through the medium of the vernacular languages, not the learned Latin of the clergy. The fourth volume... will deal with the challenges to Christian mystical ideals from within and without that became evident in the seventeenth century and that have continued to the present. The final part of this last volume will also endeavor to summarize in constructive fashion what this account of Western mysticism means for contemporary reflection on the nature of Christian mysticism."--from the General Introduction, pages xii-xiii
Print Book, English, 1991
Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, 1991