Mysticism Books

Book SynopsisMartin Buber's embrace of Hasidism at the start of the twentieth century was instrumental to the revival of this popular form of Jewish mysticism. This title analyzes Buber's writings and sources to explore his interpretation of Hasidic spirituality as a form of cultural criticism.Trade Review"Urban's superb study combines remarkable erudition with refined interpretative skills in an innovative contribution to our understanding of the often elusive role of Hasidism in Martin Buber's thought. Because her focus on Buber always points towards an evocative periphery, her book opens a field of larger relevance that will engage readers far beyond the circle of Buber scholars." - Asher D. Biemann, University of Virginia"

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn immensely rich resource for persons interested in medieval Islamic civilization. Choice A groundbreaking work in the study of Sufism. -- Laury Silvers International Journal of Middle East Studies A remarkable study of embodiment in a Sufi and Islamic idiom. -- Scott Kugle Journal of Sufi Studies [A] pathbreaking book... I hope that more scholars follow Shahzad Bashir's lead and contribute to this critically important field of inquiry in Islamic studies. History of ReligionsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Transliteration Abbreviations Chronology Introduction and Shaking Hands 1 Framing Sufi Ideas and Practices 1. Bodies Inside Out 2. Befriending God Corporeally 3. Saintly Socialites 2 Sufi Bodies in Motion 4. Bonds of Love 5. Engendered Desires 6. Miraculous Food 7. Corpses in Morticians' Hands Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a brilliant book. It is the most innovative contribution to our understanding of Mughal history in my time. As a work of the first importance, and a step change in our knowledge of sixteenth-century India, it must be read by anyone interested in the fields of Islamic kingship, millenarianism, and astrology in the Muslim world and the early-modern world in general. -- Francis Robinson, Royal Holloway, University of London Moin deserves the highest praise for venturing into this contested terrain and writing a most interesting book about it. -- Andre Wink American Historical Review he has thrown an entirely new light on how early monarchs of India's greatest dynastic house asserted their claims to royal authority. His book should be read not just by historians of South Asia but equally by those of Central Asia and Iran, as well as by specialists in Islamic studies. -- Richard M. Eaton Journal of Interdisciplinary History In this unusually well written and elegantly carpentered book-he has a rare gift for building argument through narrative-Moin has delivered a major contribution to both Islamic history and the scholarship of sacred kingship. -- Alan Strathern History and Theory Moin outlines a formidable challenge to the conventional narratives of Mughal and, to a lesser extent, Safavid history that is likely to surprise even specialists... A valuable contribution to the field that ought to compel scholars to reevaluate key assumptions regarding kingship and sainthood in Mughal India. International Journal of Middle East Studies Too seldom does a plodding dissertation become transformed into an elegant monograph. This 2010 dissertation is the rare, and welcome, exception... The author has conducted deep archival research with an accent on visual history and astrology... The Millennial Sovereign does deliver on its promise. Journal of Islamic Studies A delightful study that seeks to provide early modern Islamic historical scholarship with a new model to conceive of politics in the pre-modern era... Rich Review of Middle East Studies A fine volume that will enrich the libraries of both scholars of Islam and scholars of early modern Europe. The Sixteenth Century JournalTable of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration 1. Introduction: Islam and the Millennium 2. The Lord of Conjunction: Sacrality and Sovereignty in the Age of Timur 3. The Crown of Dreams: Sufis and Princes in Sixteenth-Century Iran 4. The Alchemical Court: The Beginnings of the Mughal Imperial Cult 5. The Millennial Sovereign: The Troubled Unveiling of the Savior Monarch 6. The Throne of Time: The Painted Miracles of the Saint Emperor 7. Conclusion: The Graffiti Under the Throne Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisEgocentricity and Mysticism is a philosophical milestone that clarifies our relationship to language, social interaction, and mortality. Ernst Tugendhat casts mysticism as an innate facet of what it means to be human—a response to an existential need for peace of mind.Trade ReviewErnst Tugendhat's groundbreaking essay in philosophical anthropology explores with analytical lucidity and existential depth our twofold disposition to speak and act in the first person while going beyond egocentricity, relativizing our singular senses of selfhood in 'mystical' apperceptions of what it means to possess agency, to pursue the good, to ponder mortality, to achieve peace of mind, and to be responsible for others and to life itself-in sum, to be human. -- Michael Jackson, author of As Wide as the World is Wise: New Directions in Philosophical Anthropology This is an engaging and thoughtful philosophical reflection that packs much into its relatively short span. It admirably ranges from what is involved in our ability to say 'I,' through what counts as important in our moral lives, to the large and recurrent questions dealing with life and death, mysticism, religion, and wonder at the existence of the world. Its lucid style of philosophizing joins the precision of analysis with a finessed feel for the larger picture. In its own way, it impressively spans the so-called divide between the analytic and continental approaches to philosophical questions. Warmly recommended. -- William Desmond, author of God and the Between Ernst Tugendhat demonstrates how a sense of mysticism, that is, the capacity for 'stepping back,' is not only necessary for a more humane anthropology but also for philosophy's own theoretical practice. -- Santiago Zabala, author of The Remains of Being: Hermeneutic Ontology After Metaphysics Egocentricity and Mysticism is a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary work. In addition to straddling the so-called continental/analytic divide in contemporary philosophy, it also makes significant and original contributions to the fields of philosophical anthropology, existential phenomenology, and theology-not to mention semantics and even ethics as well. -- Martin Woessner, author of Heidegger in AmericaTable of ContentsTranslators' Introduction Introduction Part I. Relating to Oneself 1. Propositional Language and Saying "I" 2. "Good" and "Important" 3. Saying "I" in Practical Contexts: Self-Mobilization and Responsibility 4. Adverbial, Prudential, and Moral Good: Intellectual History 5. Relating to Life and Death Part II. Stepping Back from Oneself 6. Religion and Mysticism 7. Wonder Addendum: On Historical and Nonhistorical Inquiry Notes Index

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Book SynopsisRachel J. D. Smith combines historical, literary, and theological approaches to offer a new interpretation of Thomas of Cantimpré’s hagiographies, showing how they employ vivid narrative portrayals of typically female bodies to perform theological work in a rhetorically specific way.Trade ReviewExcessive Saints is by far the best study yet written about the ceaselessly audacious holy women of the thirteenth-century Low Countries and their ceaselessly inventive interpreter, Thomas of Cantimpré. Indeed, it is one of the best studies in any field of medieval hagiography published in the last twenty-five years. Thoroughly immersed in Thomas’s writings and their mixed literary, theological, and cultural settings, Rachel J. D. Smith craftily but lovingly analyzes their urgencies, their unnerving tendency towards experimentalism, and the ways they use their saintly subjects to lay bare and in the process refresh the idea of the holy in all its weirdness. -- Nicholas Watson, Henry B. and Anne M. Cabot Professor of English Literature, Harvard UniversityIn this remarkable study, Smith argues that hagiographies written by a contemporary of Thomas Aquinas invented and unraveled theology, offering a semiotic theory of unrivaled complexity that directly confronted the improbable demands of faith. Gracefully written and fearlessly ambitious, Excessive Saints reveals the relevance of Judaism, gender, and devotion to a Christian theology of signification and should be read by anyone interested in the transformative power of textual relationships. -- Constance Furey, author of Poetic Relations: Intimacy and Faith in the English ReformationRachel J. D. Smith brilliantly moves between Thomas of Cantimpré's Dominican training, the bodies and behaviors of his saintly subjects, and the readers of his texts to uncover the 'imaginative theology' that Thomas expressed in his hagiographic narratives. Smith’s sophisticated analysis illuminates Thomas’s creative exploration of the limits of language, sign, and sensory apprehension for fostering religious devotion. Her book contributes to our understanding of thirteenth-century theologies that are often overshadowed by scholastic and syllogistic thought. -- Martha G. Newman, author of The Boundaries of Charity: Cistercian Culture and Ecclesiastical Reform, 1098-1180The results of Smith's approach are unfailingly compelling, advancing our knowledge of what Thomas of Cantimpré was hagiographically and theologically up to in his vitae while at the same time illuminating the spiritual and intellectual world that produced him. In the process we are asked to consider the role of body and gender, of belief and unbelief, of the medieval form of criticism that travelled under the banner of the via negativa as they operate in the thirteenth century and by extension our own. -- Robert Sweetman, H. Evan Runner Chair in the History of Philosophy, Institute for Christian StudiesAdvances scholarly conversation on several fronts and makes a major contribution to the gradual deconstruction of categories and binaries within the study of medieval theologies...Smith’s work is a genuine gift to the field and will likely to be used widely for many years to come. * Reading Religion *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroduction. Hagiographical Theology—Making Holy Bodies from the Word1. Thomas of Cantimpré: His Life and Literary Activity2. “With Wondrous Horror She Fled”: Dissimilarity and Sanctity in The Life of Christina the Astonishing3. Gendering Particularity: A Comparison of The Life of Christina the Astonishing and The Life of Abbot John of Cantimpré4. A Question of Proof: Augustine and the Reading of Hagiography5. Language, Literacy, and the Saintly Body6. The Uses of Astonishment: Apophasis and the Writing of Mystical Hagiography7. Producing the Body of God: Exemplary Teaching, Jewish Carnality and Christian Doubt in the Bonum Universale de ApibusConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisJulian of Norwich wrote ""A Revelation of Love"", a short text which shows the immediacy of her experience, and a long text which shows 20 years of reflection. This book offers a reading of these texts and addresses the relationship between the understanding of God and her vision of human community.Trade Review"In this very important book, Frederick Bauerschmidt provides us with a more adequate account than any hitherto of Julian of Norwich specifically as a theologian, rather than as a mere spiritual writer or else as a feminist avant la lettre." —Pro Ecclesia"Bauerschmidt adds a creative and challenging dimension to the current lively discussion of the theology of fourteenth-century British anchorite Julian of Norwich. His reading of Julian’s text is complex and challenging and makes a provocative contribution to both the hermeneutics of medieval texts and to contemporary political discussions." —Religious Studies Review"This is the best study on Julian since Colledge and Walsh’s 1978 critical edition of Showings. Bauerschmidt’s treatment of Julian’s bodily sight of the Crucified is a stunning tour de force of imaginative scholarship. I have nothing but praise for this uniformly excellent book." —Theological Studies“[Bauerschmidt] presents an intriguing and inspiring interpretation of Julian of Norwich’s Revelation of Love that bridges the gap between the medieval text and its implications for present-day communities of faith, between academic analysis and committed action.” —Church History, Studies in Christianity & Culture"This book is to be commended for its bold attempt to provide a new vocabulary with which to discuss aspects of the Revelation of Divine Love, a text which repeatedly resists scholarly explication. Julian gives no sources for her thought, and this book eschews the search for them. It offers a reading of Julian’s text, not a hypothesis as to its author’s intentions, although its argument is occasionally rendered vulnerable by an over-close identification of author with text. Bauderschmidt wisely disclaims that he has unlocked the text’s 'real’ significance, and acknowledges that his treatment of it is guided by a particular interest in human community. The result is an honest and searching contribution to Julian scholarship. —The Heythrop Journal"Much recent writing on the medieval "mystical" traditions seems either to take a thin slice of concepts through the complex matrix of historical context, or else to offer historical focus at the expense of contemporary relevance. Bauerschmidt's Julian of Norwich and the Mystical Body Politic of Christ is a remarkable achievement of synthesis between a theologico-political analysis of distinct contemporary relevance and historical faithfulness to Julian's own fourteenth century world."—Denys Turner, H.G. Wood Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham, England"With astonishing lucidity, Bauerschmidt proves himself to be a most delicate reader of Julian at the same time as he draws, always with relevance, on a range of powerful contemporary theorists to facilitate our understanding of the scope, depth, and contemporary force of Julian's mystical and political theology." —David Aers, James B. Duke Professor of English and Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Duke University

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Book SynopsisJohann Baptist Metz is one of the most important Roman Catholic theologians in the post-Vatican II period, however there is no comprehensive overview of his theological career. This book fills that gap. It offers careful analyses and summaries of Metz''s work at the various stages of his career, beginning with his work on Heidegger and his collaboration with Karl Rahner.It continues with his work in the nineteen-sixties when he moved off in a radically different direction to found a new political theology culminating in his seminal work, Faith in History and Society. Metz addresses themes ranging from the situation of the Church after Auschwitz, the future of religious life in the Church, and the relationship between religion and politics after the end of the cold war.J. Matthew Ashley covers all of Metz''s writings along with his crucial relationships to figure like Karl Rahner, Martin Heidegger, Ernst Bloch, Walter Benjamin and the social critics of the early Trade Review“This text, which began life as a Chicago doctoral dissertation under David Tracy, works at two levels. At one, it presents a comprehensive look at the theological development of Metz, and in particular examines closely Metz’s shift from Rahnerian transcendental thought to the political theology that has marked his major contributions, while arguing that Metz has stayed in essential continuity with Rahner. At a second and more important level, the work takes us into a discussion of the relationships between spirituality and theology. This time, Metz is viewed as a man who has struggled throughout his life to find a way to blend prayer and theology and has discovered it finally in his sustained attention to suffering. In his concluding chapter Ashley locates the differences between Rahner and Metz in the distinct spiritualities that influence each. From Metz’s perspective, Rahner’s mysticism is too individualistic. The political or prophetic dimension is lacking. This extremely well written work is commended to all with an interest in Rahner, Metz, or in the interrelations of spirituality and theology.” —Religious Studies Review“This text provides the most comprehensive systematization of the theology of Johann Baptist Metz available in English. While the book is welcome enough for that, it offers much more. Ashley’s analysis of Metz’s theological career leads him to a fresh perspective on the much discussed question of the relationship between Metz’s theology and that of Karl Rahner.” —New Theology Review“Those who have studied closely the developments in Metz’s often puzzling theological project will recognize by the very title of this book that Ashley has a sure command of the material. In writing the first comprehensive survey of Metz’s entire career, Ashley not only tracks the concept of interruption in the method and content of Metz’s theology but also applies it to Metz’s own life. Ashley’s significant contribution is to argue for the continuity in Metz’s thought as he moved from writing transcendental Thomist anthropology to creating and developing a political theology to, finally, articulating Christian praxis as Leiden an Gott, ‘suffering unto God.’” —Theological Studies“[Ashley] offers a critical resource for wider interdisciplinary conversations about the relationships between theology and spirituality and the mystical-political structure of Christian faith-praxis.” —Anglican Theological Review“. . . One of the finest theological monographs . . . Ashley’s exposition of the development of Metz’s thought is one of the best, perhaps even the best, available in English.” —Journal of Religion

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Book SynopsisIn May 1373, the English mystic Julian of Norwich was healed of a serious illness after experiencing a series of visions of the Blessed Virgin and of Christ's suffering. This work provides a reading of Julian's ""Revelation of Love"" that addresses the relationship between our understanding of God and our vision of human community.Trade Review"In this very important book, Frederick Bauerschmidt provides us with a more adequate account than any hitherto of Julian of Norwich specifically as a theologian, rather than as a mere spiritual writer or else as a feminist avant la lettre." —Pro Ecclesia"Bauerschmidt adds a creative and challenging dimension to the current lively discussion of the theology of fourteenth-century British anchorite Julian of Norwich. His reading of Julian’s text is complex and challenging and makes a provocative contribution to both the hermeneutics of medieval texts and to contemporary political discussions." —Religious Studies Review"This is the best study on Julian since Colledge and Walsh’s 1978 critical edition of Showings. Bauerschmidt’s treatment of Julian’s bodily sight of the Crucified is a stunning tour de force of imaginative scholarship. I have nothing but praise for this uniformly excellent book." —Theological Studies“[Bauerschmidt] presents an intriguing and inspiring interpretation of Julian of Norwich’s Revelation of Love that bridges the gap between the medieval text and its implications for present-day communities of faith, between academic analysis and committed action.” —Church History, Studies in Christianity & Culture"This book is to be commended for its bold attempt to provide a new vocabulary with which to discuss aspects of the Revelation of Divine Love, a text which repeatedly resists scholarly explication. Julian gives no sources for her thought, and this book eschews the search for them. It offers a reading of Julian’s text, not a hypothesis as to its author’s intentions, although its argument is occasionally rendered vulnerable by an over-close identification of author with text. Bauderschmidt wisely disclaims that he has unlocked the text’s 'real’ significance, and acknowledges that his treatment of it is guided by a particular interest in human community. The result is an honest and searching contribution to Julian scholarship. —The Heythrop Journal"Much recent writing on the medieval "mystical" traditions seems either to take a thin slice of concepts through the complex matrix of historical context, or else to offer historical focus at the expense of contemporary relevance. Bauerschmidt's Julian of Norwich and the Mystical Body Politic of Christ is a remarkable achievement of synthesis between a theologico-political analysis of distinct contemporary relevance and historical faithfulness to Julian's own fourteenth century world."—Denys Turner, H.G. Wood Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham, England"With astonishing lucidity, Bauerschmidt proves himself to be a most delicate reader of Julian at the same time as he draws, always with relevance, on a range of powerful contemporary theorists to facilitate our understanding of the scope, depth, and contemporary force of Julian's mystical and political theology." —David Aers, James B. Duke Professor of English and Director of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Duke University

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Book SynopsisIn the face of religious and cultural diversity, some doubt whether Christian faith remains possible today. Critics claim that religion is irrational and violent, and the loudest defenders of Christianity are equally strident. In response, Desire, Faith, and the Darkness of God: Essays in Honor of Denys Turner explores the uncertainty essential to Christian commitment; it suggests that faith is moved by a desire for that which cannot be known.This approach is inspired by the tradition of Christian apophatic theology, which argues that language cannot capture divine transcendence. From this perspective, contemporary debates over God's existence represent a dead end: if God is not simply another object in the world, then faith begins not in abstract certainty but in a love that exceeds the limits of knowledge.The essays engage classic Christian thought alongside literary and philosophical sources ranging from Pseudo-Dionysius and Dante to Karl Marx and Jacques DerTrade Review"Desire, Faith, and the Darkness of God: Essays in Honor of Denys Turner is a testament to the range of Denys Turner's influence and the varieties of modes of argumentation with which his work is conversant. The volume will be read with pleasure by scholars in the history of Christianity, particularly of Christian mysticism, Christian theologians, and philosophers of religion, as well as scholars across a range of subdisciplines." —Amy Hollywood, Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies, Harvard Divinity School"No scholar could wish for a finer tribute to his success as a teacher as this book provides. Students of Denys Turner, and experts in his field, come together in this volume to provide fascinating contributions to the theological and philosophical topics that have engaged him throughout his academic life. And, like Turner, they all show how thoughtfulness and argument can trump rhetoric." —Brian Davies, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University"Denys Turner is a rare intellectual witness to philosophies of love and justice from mysticism to marxism and beyond. This rich and engaging volume is fitting testament to his extraordinary influence on new generations of thinkers and scholars. Tackling such crucial questions as theodicy, divine eros, and the perennial struggle between faith and reason, philosophy and theology, the contributors shed new light on ancient problems. The exchange between Turner and Eagleton is a very special gem to be treasured." —Richard Kearney, The Charles Seelig Professor in Philosophy, Boston College"A darkly sparkling set of essays, diverse in discipline and in desire, each affirming some intense potentia of negative theology for contemporary conversation. That its stimulation of new exchanges between theism and atheism, cosmology and history, mysticism and Marxism, language and silence, will succeed seems assured by Turner’s concluding performance of an apophatic art of failure." —Catherine Keller, The Theological School, Drew University “This is the most distinguished collection of essays in honour of Denys Turner. . . [A] detailed and concentrated reading of the essays in this splendid collection should provide refreshment for considerable time to come.” —Theology“Instead of settling the stale dispute over whether religion is rationally justified, their work suggests instead that Christian life is an ethical and political practice impassioned by a God who transcends understanding.” —Studies in Spirituality”Turner ends the volume with one of the most inspired essays one will ever come across: “How to Fail, or ‘The fine delight that fathers thought’.” Characteristically eloquent of speech and elegant of mind, this remarkable little essay begins by ruminating on the travails, often self-imposed, of the academy and then shows how the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins shows both the cost of those travails and the possibilities that always remain insofar as the desire for more goes on.” —The Anglican Theological Review

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Book SynopsisIn this book a group of renowned international scholars seek to discern the ways in which Simone Weil was indebted to Plato, and how her provocative readings of his work offer challenges to contemporary philosophy, theology, and spirituality. This is the first book in twenty years to systematically investigate Weil's Christian Platonism.The opening essays explore what actually constitutes Weil's Platonism. Louis Dupré addresses the Platonic and Gnostic elements of her thought with respect to her negative theology, and the Christian Platonism of her positive theology as found in her reflections on beauty and the Good. Michel Narcy provides a close historical reading of Weil and discusses the degree to which her teacher Alain influenced her Platonism. Michael Ross contends that Weil's interest in Plato is in ethical Platonism. Essays by Robert Chenavier and by Patrick Patterson and Lawrence E. Schmidt consider the importance of matter and materialism in Weil's Platonism and argTrade Review“These essays—some written by leading specialists in Simone Weil's thought, others by prominent philosophers of religion and theologians—are especially valuable not only for elucidating Weil's reading of Plato but also for showing what one or another form of Christian Platonism (and there are several!) can mean for us today.” —James A. Wiseman, O.S.B., The Catholic University of America"This remarkable and penetrating collection of essays on Simone Weil's religious philosophy illumines the living intersection between serious metaphysics and ethics. The authors carefully examine this relation that much post-modern reflection has until now searched after only to skim, but that Weil herself managed to embrace with breathtaking intellectual discipline and self giving. The book as a whole is a bracing testimony to the deep moral consequences of classical ontology and its challenging Christian reorientation." —The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, Ascension Episcopal Church, Pueblo, Colorado“A distinguished and timely collection. Throughout these essays, the richness of Weil’s thought emerges over against the complexity of the Platonic tradition. As such, the volume makes a notable contribution to Weil scholarship and to the contemporary revival of Christian Platonic theology.” —John Kenney, Saint Michael’s College"Anyone interested in Simone Weil will want, and need, to read this superb collection." —Diogenes Allen, Princeton Theological Seminary"This is a book of essays by different authors-some principally scholars of the work of Simone Weil, others philosophers of religion and theologians-whose general area is indicated by the title. It is a book to be welcomed, if only because Weil's work is important and interesting, but, with one or two notable exceptions, is little discussed in mainstream English-speaking philosophy of religion. . . this is a book worth reading." —Ars Disputandi". . . a veritable intellectual feast to be discovered when one opens this volume. This is indeed a strong collection of essays. It brings together some of the brightest Weil scholars in the world, all focusing on the crucial topic of Weil's Christian Platonism. Doering and Springsted are to be thanked for making these fine essays available to the reading public." —Cahiers Simone Weil"These 12 essays by a group of international scholars discuss the ways in which Simone Weil (1909-1943) was indebted to Plato and how her readings of Plato challenge contemporary philosophy, theology, and spirituality." —Theology Digest“. . . provides a helpful analysis from different perspectives of Weil's original approach to Plato. It sheds light on Plato and interpretations of Plato, as well as on Weil's thought.” —Faith and Reason“Devoted to the importance of Platonism to Weil, this anthology also undertakes a broad attempt to measure, through the lens of her work, the potential for a renewed appropriation of Plato for Christian self-reflection. Part of a recent trend toward the recovery of Plato as a philosopher of wisdom and ethical pertinence as well as of technical accomplishment, the essays here contribute significantly both to that recovery and to the study of Weil herself.” —Religious Studies Review“This volume is a welcome addition to the small but developing body of literature on Weil’s thought. It brings together the most important strand of recent North American and French scholarship on Weil. This collection would be a valuable place to start reflection in this direction for Christian thinkers with such concerns.” —Scottish Journal of Theology

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Book SynopsisEssays that discuss how Simone Weil was indebted to Plato and how her readings of Plato challenge contemporary philosophy, theology, and spirituality.Trade Review“These essays—some written by leading specialists in Simone Weil's thought, others by prominent philosophers of religion and theologians—are especially valuable not only for elucidating Weil's reading of Plato but also for showing what one or another form of Christian Platonism (and there are several!) can mean for us today.” —James A. Wiseman, O.S.B., The Catholic University of America"This remarkable and penetrating collection of essays on Simone Weil's religious philosophy illumines the living intersection between serious metaphysics and ethics. The authors carefully examine this relation that much post-modern reflection has until now searched after only to skim, but that Weil herself managed to embrace with breathtaking intellectual discipline and self giving. The book as a whole is a bracing testimony to the deep moral consequences of classical ontology and its challenging Christian reorientation." —The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, Ascension Episcopal Church, Pueblo, Colorado“A distinguished and timely collection. Throughout these essays, the richness of Weil’s thought emerges over against the complexity of the Platonic tradition. As such, the volume makes a notable contribution to Weil scholarship and to the contemporary revival of Christian Platonic theology.” —John Kenney, Saint Michael’s College"Anyone interested in Simone Weil will want, and need, to read this superb collection." —Diogenes Allen, Princeton Theological Seminary"This is a book of essays by different authors-some principally scholars of the work of Simone Weil, others philosophers of religion and theologians-whose general area is indicated by the title. It is a book to be welcomed, if only because Weil's work is important and interesting, but, with one or two notable exceptions, is little discussed in mainstream English-speaking philosophy of religion. . . this is a book worth reading." —Ars Disputandi". . . a veritable intellectual feast to be discovered when one opens this volume. This is indeed a strong collection of essays. It brings together some of the brightest Weil scholars in the world, all focusing on the crucial topic of Weil's Christian Platonism. Doering and Springsted are to be thanked for making these fine essays available to the reading public." —Cahiers Simone Weil"These 12 essays by a group of international scholars discuss the ways in which Simone Weil (1909-1943) was indebted to Plato and how her readings of Plato challenge contemporary philosophy, theology, and spirituality." —Theology Digest“. . . provides a helpful analysis from different perspectives of Weil's original approach to Plato. It sheds light on Plato and interpretations of Plato, as well as on Weil's thought.” —Faith and Reason“Devoted to the importance of Platonism to Weil, this anthology also undertakes a broad attempt to measure, through the lens of her work, the potential for a renewed appropriation of Plato for Christian self-reflection. Part of a recent trend toward the recovery of Plato as a philosopher of wisdom and ethical pertinence as well as of technical accomplishment, the essays here contribute significantly both to that recovery and to the study of Weil herself.” —Religious Studies Review“This volume is a welcome addition to the small but developing body of literature on Weil’s thought. It brings together the most important strand of recent North American and French scholarship on Weil. This collection would be a valuable place to start reflection in this direction for Christian thinkers with such concerns.” —Scottish Journal of Theology

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Book SynopsisThe title of Charles Taliaferro's book is derived from poems and stories in which a person in peril or on a quest must follow a cord or string in order to find the way to happiness, safety, or home. In one of the most famous of such tales, the ancient Greek hero Theseus follows the string given him by Ariadne to mark his way in and out of the Minotaur's labyrinth. William Blake''s poem Jerusalem uses the metaphor of a golden string, which, if followed, will lead one to heaven itself. Taliaferro extends Blake's metaphor to illustrate the ways we can link what we see, feel, and do with deep spiritual realities. Taliaferro offers a foundational case for the recognition of the experience of the eternal God of Christianity, in which God is understood as the fount of all goodness and the subject and object of our best love, revealed through scripture, tradition, philosophical reflection, and encountered in everyday events. He addresses philosophical obstacles to the recognition of Trade Review"Charles Taliaferro is a first rate philosopher. The Golden Cord: A Short Book on the Secular and the Sacred is truly original in that it picks up the debate about the viability of secular naturalism and brings it into conversation with Cambridge Platonism and with ascetic theological considerations. It will be of interest to students and scholars in philosophy, popular culture, and spirituality." —William Abraham, Southern Methodist University"In The Golden Cord, Charles Taliaferro again proves to be not only a careful and insightful thinker, but also a wonderfully enjoyable—and widely read—writer. As he tackles big questions of life, he engages the relevant philosophers of our time as well as literary figures from W. H. Auden and Virginia Woolf to Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Teilhard de Chardin, and J. R. R.Tolkien. As a guide, Taliaferro doesn't merely wander the edges; he plunges into core issues of our human existence, inviting his readers to wade into the great sea of divine love." —Matthew Dickerson, author of The Mind and the Machine: What it Means to be Human and Why it Matters"[One of the work's strength] lies in the easy accessibility of the important themes presented: experience, art and literature, and the way in which philosophical positions concerning God's existence imply and are grounded in different worldviews. Anselm's, Aquinas's, Hume's and other classical philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God will always be part of the human cultural heritage. But they do not of themselves address the question: why does it matter whether there is a God, or why does it matter that one believe (or disbelieve) in a God? What has it got to do with living a meaningful human life, or with enjoying one's life or finding one's inner peace? Taliaferro's book addresses and answers those questions admirably. . ." —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews". . . In eight chapters, Taliaferro . . brings the bases of naturalistic and materialist views to critical evaluation by examining challenges to consciousness and selfless agency. He response to the challenges that incoherence and the problem of evil pose for theism. This volume interweaves philosophers, including Augustine, Nagel, Dennett, Parfit, and Van Inwagen together with ancient Christian texts to cover an extraordinary breadth of literature . . . This volume is one of the best this reviewer has read in many years. Essential." —Choice“[The Golden Cord] offers various reasons for resisting materialism and trusting the religious experience of God as an eternal, good being . . . insightfully argued and largely accessible to a wide academic audience. . . . Recommended for university and seminary libraries.” —Catholic Library World"In this highly eclectic, personal, and engaging work, Charles Taliaferro argues why even 'gravity is a manifestation of God's love' . . . For Taliaferro, there are various cords in life that can lead us to God. To reach such a destination, he takes the reader along a journey whose terrain is steeped in literary metaphors, philosophical contours (and obstacles), and autobiographical insights and depictions. . . . [For him,] personal experience cannot be excised from any so-called academic work and it is refreshing to see an author (and a publisher) encourage such mixing." —The Heythrop Journal“These [final] chapters do not merely talk abut the divine life: they disclose it. The skeptical reader may forget about the time and find himself drawn closer to communion with God. Here is a good book to lose oneself in.” —Christian Research Journal“Taliaferro strives to demonstrate that there are certain ‘golden cords’ that one can follow throughout this life that will lead them to the God of eternal love. Taliaferro’s critique of radical materialism is especially insightful, and readers will benefit from his discussion on why consciousness fits better within a theistic framework.” —Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies“In The Golden Cord, Taliaferro aims to bring his previous insights together to build a cumulative case for a Christian worldview inspired by the Christian spirituality of the Cambridge Platonists. . . . In fewer than one hundred and eighty pages, the book covers enormous ground. . . . Taliaferro succeeds in presenting an impassioned book that is both thought-provoking and eminently readable, serving as an overview of, or introduction to, Christian philosophy” —The Expository Times“Charles Taliaferro has written a thought-provoking, original work that succeeds in throwing some of the central tenets of naturalism into question. He has gathered cutting-edge scholarship from the context of debates about naturalism and discusses that within the framework of a theological account of the human condition. The result is a robust theological response to secular naturalism, one that deserves to be taken seriously by the latter’s proponents.” —Victoria Harrison, University of Glasgow

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Translating Christ in the Middle Ages breaks new ground in the study of medieval women’s visionary and hagiographical writings.” —Christine F. Cooper-Rompato, author of The Gift of Tongues"An erudite and carefully constructed book, each chapter building on the preceding one in an ever-widening circle of the significance and scope of visionary translation." —Speculum"An invaluable contribution to the ever-growing literature on gender, authorship, and visionary text which has sprung up in the past two or three decades." —Medieval Mystical Theology"Zimbalist's book opens up a new avenue for the study of women's verbal rather than bodily devotion, and for an appreciation of female visionaries as skillful sermonizers and inventors of new forms of verbal devotion."—Studies in the Age of ChaucerTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Accomplished Word 1. The Origins of a Mode: Collaboration, Conversation, and Community in the Diocese of Liège 2. Vernacular Saints’ Lives and Female Community in the High Middle Ages 3. Vernacular Authority and Visionary Authorship in the Low Countries 4. Revisions of Authority: Rhetoric, Participation, and Devotional Reading 5. Vision, Speech, and Textual Community in the Late Middle Ages Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisReveals the daily lives and religious practice of ordinary Muslim men in Tajikistan as they aspire to become Sufi mystics. Benjamin Gatling describes in vivid detail the range of expressive forms - memories, stories, poetry, artifacts, rituals, and other embodied practices - employed as they try to construct a Sufi life in twenty-first-century Central Asia.

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Book SynopsisHow do we articulate a religious vision that embraces evolution and human authorship of Scripture? Drawing on the Jewish mystical traditions of Kabbalah and Hasidism, this title argues that a neomystical perspective can help us to reframe these realities, so they may yet be viewed as dwelling places of the sacred.Trade ReviewFinalist for the ForeWorld Reviews 2010 Book of the Year Award in Religion"Green emerges as a decidedly non-traditionalist theologian through this illuminating and evocative discussion about such topics as classic metaphors for God, evolutionary theory, and Kabbalistic theories of creation. Radical Judaism is highly accessible, and the issues addressed are very much those of our contemporaries."—Neil Gillman, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America"A credible spirituality for our tumultuous times. Green draws richly from the Jewish mystical tradition, but also writes from the heart of his own experience. This lucidly written and wise book will reach far beyond the Jewish community."—Harvey Cox, author of The Future of Faith

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Book SynopsisThis mirror for princes sheds light on the relationship between spiritual and political authority in early modern EgyptTrade Review"A welcome and important contribution to the field. Because the work is explicitly devoted to guiding the relations between Sufi master and political ruler, a subject for which there are very few exemplars, and because of al-Sha‘rani’s location in time and place, this book constitutes an indispensable resource for understanding how late medieval Sufis themselves theorized this relationship. Sabra has done an excellent job of faithfully rendering the Arabic into clear, lively English prose.” --Nathan Hofer, University of Missouri -- Nathan Hofer"This book illuminates central problems, debates, and strategies regarding the relationship of religion to the state. The themes of religious authority in relation to political power and the proper practice of spiritual and ethical counsel will be of interest to students of cultural history. The Arabic text has recently been edited, and we are fortunate to now have this excellent English translation.” --Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University -- Richard McGregor

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Book SynopsisOffers a postmodern interpretation of the great mystics and their writing. This title argues that extensive modern literature about mysticism has rested on a mistake - the belief that their can be meaningful experience prior to language.Trade Review‘In an era where many decry the death of certainties in our postmodern situation, Cuppitt shows how the mystic teach us to embrace the freedom and likeness of that very situation. The book offers a refreshing freeing of vision to our age of doubt. It is a fine contribution.’ Robert K. Forman, Hunter College "A lucid and stimulating argument for ways to understand mysticism in the postmodern world. Mysticism After Modernity should prove invaluable to those concerned about the relevance and ongoing survival of the mystical tradition." Carl McColman, Mystic-L "Postmodernists are likely to find this enjoyable reading....this is a challenging little book that deserves to be explored by students of mysticism and religious experience"George Adams, Susquehanna University "The central theme of this book is the claim that the writings of the classical mystics are misunderstood when they are treated (as they are even by Derrida) as qualified versions of an orthodox metaphysical theism."Maurice Wiles, OxfordTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Mysticism of Secondariness. 1. The Modern Construction of Mysticism and Religious Experience. 2. Theories of Mysticism in Modernity. 3. Dogmatic Theology is an Ideology of Absolute Spiritual Power. 4. Mysticism is a Kind of Writing. 5. How Mystical Writing Produces Religious Happiness. 6. The Politics of Mysticism. 7. Mystical Writing was the Forerunner of Deconstruction and Radical Theology. 8. Meltdown. 9. Happiness. 10. Eternity. Notes. Select Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisOffers a postmodern interpretation of the great mystics and their writing. This title argues that extensive modern literature about mysticism has rested on a mistake - the belief that their can be meaningful experience prior to language.Trade Review‘In an era where many decry the death of certainties in our postmodern situation, Cuppitt shows how the mystic teach us to embrace the freedom and likeness of that very situation. The book offers a refreshing freeing of vision to our age of doubt. It is a fine contribution.’ Robert K. Forman, Hunter College "A lucid and stimulating argument for ways to understand mysticism in the postmodern world. Mysticism After Modernity should prove invaluable to those concerned about the relevance and ongoing survival of the mystical tradition." Carl McColman, Mystic-L "Postmodernists are likely to find this enjoyable reading....this is a challenging little book that deserves to be explored by students of mysticism and religious experience"George Adams, Susquehanna University "The central theme of this book is the claim that the writings of the classical mystics are misunderstood when they are treated (as they are even by Derrida) as qualified versions of an orthodox metaphysical theism."Maurice Wiles, OxfordTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Mysticism of Secondariness. 1. The Modern Construction of Mysticism and Religious Experience. 2. Theories of Mysticism in Modernity. 3. Dogmatic Theology is an Ideology of Absolute Spiritual Power. 4. Mysticism is a Kind of Writing. 5. How Mystical Writing Produces Religious Happiness. 6. The Politics of Mysticism. 7. Mystical Writing was the Forerunner of Deconstruction and Radical Theology. 8. Meltdown. 9. Happiness. 10. Eternity. Notes. Select Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisIn 1913, Russian marines stormed an Orthodox monastery at Mt. Athos, Greece to haul off monks engaged in a dangerously heretical practice known as Name Worshipping. The authors take us on an exciting mathematical mystery tour as they unravel a bizarre tale of political struggles, psychological crises, sexual complexities, and ethical dilemmas.Trade ReviewThe intellectual drama will attract readers who are interested in mystical religion and the foundations of mathematics. The personal drama will attract readers who are interested in a human tragedy with characters who met their fates with exceptional courage. -- Freeman DysonAt the end of the nineteenth century, three young French mathematicians--Émile Borel, René Baire and Henri Lebesgue--built on the work of Georg Cantor to conceive a new theory of functions that in a few years transformed mathematical analysis. When their work met with skepticism, they began to doubt it and abandoned further investigation. In Russia, under the leadership of Dmitry Egorov, a group of Moscow mathematicians picked up the torch. Animated by a mystical tradition known as Name Worshipping, they found the creativity to name the new objects of the French theory of functions. And they changed the face of the mathematical world. -- Bernard Bru, emeritus, University of Paris VA passionate confluence of mathematical creation and mystical practices is at the center of this extraordinary account of the emergence of set theory in Russia in the early twentieth century. The starkly drawn contrast with mathematical developments in France illuminates the story, and the book is electric with portraits of the great mathematicians involved: the tragic, the unfortunate, the villainous, the truly admirable. The authors offer an account of Infinity that is brief, deft, serious, and accessible to non-mathematicians, and their evocation of the mathematical circles of the period is so intimately written that one feels as if one had lived, worked, and suffered alongside the protagonists. Graham and Kantor have given us an amazing piece of mathematical history. -- Barry Mazur, Harvard UniversityLast week I read one of the most interesting books I've encountered so far this year, Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity, by Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor, just published by Harvard University Press. I'll be writing more about this book, but in the meantime I wanted to let you know about it. Many books in the science-and-religion conversation tediously cover the same ground. This book comes from a fresh angle--the world of mathematics and the world of "science" are not the same, but they overlap--and it tells a fascinating story. I found it absolutely riveting. And it's encouraging to see two secular scholars doing their best to be scrupulously fair in representing religious thinkers whose worldview is very different from their own. -- John Wilson * Books & Culture *It is a story of the persistence of intellectual life against the wrecking tide of history. -- Jascha Hoffman * Nature *In the early 20th century, mathematicians grappled with the concept of infinity, relying heavily on set theory to prove and define it. The French mathematicians, rationalists not fond of abstraction (particularly abstractions with spiritual overtones), went head-to-head with the Russians, who had always linked mathematics to philosophy, religion and ideology. Name Worshipping played a key role in bringing the two closer together. Graham and Kantor do a beautiful job of fleshing out the key players in this gripping drama--nothing less than a struggle to prove the existence of God. -- Susan Salter Reynolds * Los Angeles Times *This absorbing book tells astonishing stories about some of the most important developments in mathematics of the past century...Perhaps the most moving section of the book is that dealing with the famous Moscow School of Mathematics in Soviet times. Its origins are traced to the Lusitania seminar established by Egorov and Luzin (the source of the name "Lusitania" is obscure). The enthusiasm that these teachers inspired in their students is clearly conveyed, as is the atmosphere of intellectual excitement, despite the freezing lecture rooms (the rule that lectures could not take place if the room temperature fell below -5C was ignored)...This is a remarkable book, illuminating the history of 20th-century mathematics and its practitioners. The stories it tells are important and too little known. It is clearly a labor of love and deserves a wide audience: it is an outstanding portrayal of mathematics as a fundamentally human activity and mathematicians as human beings. -- Tony Mann * Times Higher Education *The most unusual book I have read this year. -- Alex Beam * Boston Globe *Fifty years ago, C. P. Snow gave a soon-to-be famous lecture on the "Two Cultures" of modern society, the culture of the humanities and the culture of science, and the need to bridge the gap between them. Today we are more likely to hear debates about the alleged gulf between science and religion. Both divides are bridged in this superb book, which takes us from French rationalism at the turn of the 20th century to a thriving center of world-class mathematics in Moscow, where the presiding figures were also devout Russian Orthodox believers of a mystical bent. -- John Wilson * Christianity Today *Naming Infinity is a short, accessible book about mathematical imagination...Naming Infinity is a straightforward, kinetic, and seductive read...In describing the life trajectories of their subjects, the authors are unafraid to take sides, show their sympathies, even judge. There is something refreshingly honest in their striving to be fair to their real-life characters without feigned impartiality. This considered generosity and the passion that shows itself in the copious quantities of documentary and anecdotal evidence gathered by Loren Graham in Russia, make the book a fascinating read...Just as a stimulating conversation, even when left incomplete, opens the mind to new ideas, Naming Infinity suggests new ways of thinking about mathematical creativity and intellectual excellence. -- Anna Razumnaya * theworld.org *This is not only a readable book, but a most worthwhile one, insofar as it offers a series of anecdotal life-stories of remarkable people, little known save to specialists, together with valuable insights into the Soviet Union of the 1930s. -- Robin Milner-Gulland * Times Literary Supplement *As Naming Infinity so sensitively shows, escaping the world we live in, and the exacting parameters of reason, can sometimes lead to surprising results. As powerful as the gift of rationalism may be, there is still more in heaven and earth. -- Oren Harman * New Republic *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the 2019 I.R. Iran World Award for Book of the Year, Islamic Republic of Iran""This groundbreaking monograph is critical not only for understanding the complex phenomenon that is Sufism, but also for gaining insight into the significant methodological issues of modern historiography."---Kamal Gasimov, Voices on Central Asia"Anyone looking for an introduction to the complexities of Sufism should turn to this book by Alexander Knys." * History Today *"By challenging existing theoretical constructs, the author allows one to rethink metadiscourses on Sufism."---Ayesha Khan, Muslim World Book Review"With a contemporary look at the different perspectives and dimensions of Sufism, the book offers new ideas experiences and, in this respect, is a valuable resource that contributes to promoting an understanding of Sufism’s various dimensions and angles of complexity."---ShahRokh Raei, Die Welt des Islams"Remarkably well-written and comprehensive overview . . . [Sufism] give[s] an accessible, accurately detailed account of Sufism as a system of thought and action. . . . A helpful, wide-ranging historical introduction for students of Islamic spirituality and the many related fields of Islamic thought and practice."---Andi Herawati, Reading Religion"Sufism: A New History of Islamic Mysticism is a welcome addition to a collection of relatively recent overviews of Sufism…The book is a masterful display of Knysh’s extensive study of Sufi history and sources. It will be of immediate use to instructors within Islamic and religious studies, as well as to specialists in need of a summary of the state of Sufi studies and its major points of contention."---Cyrus Ali Zargar, Journal of the American Oriental Society

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“No great textual scholar, no master of philology and historical criticism commands a technique at once more scrupulously attentive to its object and more instinctive with the writer’s voice [than Scholem]. That voice reaches out and grabs the layman.”—George Steiner, New Yorker“[Scholem’s] work on Jewish mysticism, messianism, and sectarianism, spanning now half a century, constitutes … one of the major achievements of the historical imagination in our time. I would contend that it is of vital interest not only to anyone concerned with the history of religion but to anyone struggling to understand the underlying problematics of the human predicament.”—Robert Alter, Commentary“This book has been a classic in its field since it was first issued in 1950, and it still stands as uniquely authoritative and intriguingly instructive…. [It is] a monument of revelation and insight bridging anthropology, religion, sociology, and history.”—Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisA biography of the medieval English religious pilgrim Margery Kempe and a social and cultural history of her world.Trade Review"...here Dr. Atkinson establishes the influence on the Book of previous writings especially those of St. Birgitta), but Dr. Cox forcefully demonstrates the basic originality of Margery Kempe...This is an excellent book that makes a great deal of sense out of a difficult-to-understand personality..." —Adris Newsletter"Atkinson's exposition of the Book of Margery Kempe...represents the first full-length treatment of the Book since its discovery and edition in the 1930s, and one of the first attempts ever to enter sympathetically into the religious world and experience of a woman usually dismissed as "hysterical." After describing Kempe's relations with family and clergy, Atkinson sets her spirituality in the context of high medieval affective piety in Eng- land and ideas of female sanctity fostered on the Continent. The book is...an attractive and well-written introduction to Kempe's religious world, which, in the conclusion, is still further illuminated by drawing upon psychoanalytic and feminist studies." —Religious Studies ReviewTable of ContentsPrefaceCHAPTER ONE - "A Short Treatise and a Comfortable": The Book of Margery Kemp CHAPTER TWO - "A Haircloth in Thy Heart": Pilgrim and Mystic CHAPTER THREE - "She Was Come of Worthy Kindred": The Burnham Family of King's Lynn CHAPTER FOUR - "Her Ghostly Mother": Church and Clergy CHAPTER FIVE - "In the Likeness of a Man": The Tradition of Affective Piety CHAPTER SIX - "A Maiden in Thy Soul": Female Sanctity in the Late Middle Ages CHAPTER SEVEN - "Ordained to Be a Mirror": Interpretations of Margery KempeSelected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe Song of Songs in the Middle Ages is a wide-ranging and insightful book that is carefully researched and gracefully written. It is of importance alike to those interested in mysticism, Middle English, the twelfth century, the fourteenth century...Trade ReviewThis deceptively slender volume is valuable in a number of ways. Astell further substantiates even as she extends and deepens the insights of historical scholars such as Beryl Smalley by distinguishing more precisely the various forms taken by the twelfth-century reemphasis on the letter of the Biblical text and by specifying the psychohistorical circumstances that conditioned that response. She contributes original and insightful readings of important texts, including St. Bernard's Sermones, the mystical writings of Hugh of St. Victor and Richard Rolle, the Middle English religious lyrics, and Pearl. And her bold claim that the 'powerful fusion of letter and allegory in readers' experience of the Song from the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries provided the key definitional model for Christian poetics and rhetoric during that time' encourages a new look at other works.... Astell's book is both stimulating and convincing. * Journal of English and German Philology *Astell proves herself to be a very good close reader.... Her sensitive attention to shifts of gender and their rhetorical motivation yields subtle and compelling results. * Speculum *The Song of Songs in the Middle Ages is a wide-ranging and insightful book that is carefully researched and gracefully written. It is of importance alike to those interested in mysticism, Middle English, the twelfth century, the fourteenth century, and feminist approaches to literature. * Studia Mystica *

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Book Synopsis"A feminist analysis of the writing of the fifteenth-century English mystic, showing how Kempe exploited the gendered ideologies of flesh and text, violated taboos, and responded to the constraints of her time."-Book News, Inc.Trade Review"A feminist analysis of the writing of the fifteenth-century English mystic, showing how Kempe exploited the gendered ideologies of flesh and text, violated taboos, and responded to the constraints of her time." * Book News, Inc. *

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Book SynopsisThe early Christian writer Tertullian first applied the epithet bride of Christ to the uppity virgins of Carthage as a means of enforcing female obedience. Henceforth, the virgin as Christ''s spouse was expected to manifest matronly modesty and due submission, hobbling virginity''s ancient capacity to destabilize gender roles. In the early Middle Ages, the focus on virginity and the attendant anxiety over its possible loss reinforced the emphasis on claustration in female religious communities, while also profoundly disparaging the nonvirginal members of a given community.With the rising importance of intentionality in determining a person''s spiritual profile in the high Middle Ages, the title of bride could be applied and appropriated to laywomen who were nonvirgins as well. Such instances of democratization coincided with the rise of bridal mysticism and a progressive somatization of female spirituality. These factors helped cultivate an increasingly literal and eroticized Trade Review"A dazzling book . . . As Elliott persuasively argues, the seeming elevation of the religious woman as a bride of Christ also raised the specter of her potential faithlessness: the bride was held to be permanently at risk of falling into the arms of the wrong lover, whether human or, worse, demonic. By the later Middle Ages, the bride of Christ was on a downward trajectory . . . As Elliott so convincingly shows, the virgin bride was a dangerous identification for women from the very outset: the virgin, seemingly elevated as Christ's bride, had nowhere to go but down." * Church History *"Elliott's work provides an excellent overview of both the metaphorical and literal bride of Christ who undoubtedly played a central role in the evolution of Christianity . . . Despite the dark overtones implicit in Elliott's brilliant title and argument, this book is a must read for those interested in religious or gender history of the Middle Ages." * Comitatus *"Elliott's historiographical account is an illuminating one. Her command of primary source material, and sensitivity to theories of corporeality, comingle in a compelling work of cultural history. Incorporating biblical commentaries, hagiographies, treatises, sermons, natural philosophy, chronicles, inquisitorial documents, and secular literature, Elliott weaves the particularities of heterogeneous historic moments and theological positions into a continuous narrative . . . Elliott shows convincingly that not all ideals, even religious ones, should be incarnated." * Anglican and Episcopal History *"This provocative, meticulously documented text analyzes a wide range of familiar and lesser-known medieval authors on an important topic . . . the journey is engaging and instructive."" * Catholic Historical Review *"This is a great book, with an overarching design, a bold and provocative argument, and a sweeping narrative, fashioned with a penetrating look and written in a reassuringly smart, witty voice." * Gábor Klaniczay, Central European University *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. A Match Made in Heaven: The Bride in the Early Church Chapter 2. The Church Fathers and the Embodied Bride Chapter 3. The Barbarian Queen Chapter 4. An Age of Affect, 1050-1200 (1): Consensuality and Vocation Chapter 5. An Age of Affect, 1050-1200 (2): The Conjugal Reflex Chapter 6. The Eroticized Bride of Hagiography Chapter 7. Descent into Hell Conclusion List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisEmma Curtis, feminist and religious entrepreneur, led a life of extraordinary diversity and achievement. This work salutes her life as it explores the route by which she melded spiritual healing, metaphysical idealism, and exotic philosophies into multiple careers of unsurpassed dynamic.

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Book SynopsisEcstasy in the Classroom analyzes the early thirteenth century theological discourse about Paul’s rapture and other modes of cognizing God. It reconstructs the perceptions of transformation and self they imply, and demonstrate their role in establishing the peculiar professional identity of scholastic theologians compared with other seers of God.Table of ContentsAs its title suggests, this book does three things: (1) It describes the discourse about Paul’s trance and other modes of cognizing God through key questions raised by early thirteenth-century theologians; (2) It discusses the perceptions of the self implied by this discourse; (3) It suggests these questions resonate concerns of theologians regarding the nature of their academic profession. Each chapter, therefore, has accordingly three titles. Introduction / 1 1 Why was Paul ignorant of his own state, and how do various modes of cognizing God differ? / 23 The experiencing self and the observing self Theology among other modes of cognizing God 2 How could Paul remember his rapture? / 59 Memory and the continuity of the self Theology between experience and words 3 Can a soul see God or itself without intermediaries? / 81 The self as distinct from its habits and actions Theology between experience and observation 4 Does true faith rely on anything external? / 111 The self as an ultimate source of authority Theology between internal and external authority 5 What happens to old modes of cognition when new ones are introduced during trance and other transitions? / 135 The self and its ability to manipulate parts of it during transitions Theology between reasoned knowledge and simple faith 6 Can knowledge qua knowledge be a virtue? / 158 The self in society Theology between theory and practice Summary and Epilogue / 189 Appendix / 199 Acknowledgments / 205 Notes / 207 Bibliography / 265 Index / 291

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Book SynopsisEcstasy in the Classroom analyzes the early thirteenth century theological discourse about Paul’s rapture and other modes of cognizing God. It reconstructs the perceptions of transformation and self they imply, and demonstrate their role in establishing the peculiar professional identity of scholastic theologians compared with other seers of God.Table of ContentsAs its title suggests, this book does three things: (1) It describes the discourse about Paul’s trance and other modes of cognizing God through key questions raised by early thirteenth-century theologians; (2) It discusses the perceptions of the self implied by this discourse; (3) It suggests these questions resonate concerns of theologians regarding the nature of their academic profession. Each chapter, therefore, has accordingly three titles. Introduction / 1 1 Why was Paul ignorant of his own state, and how do various modes of cognizing God differ? / 23 The experiencing self and the observing self Theology among other modes of cognizing God 2 How could Paul remember his rapture? / 59 Memory and the continuity of the self Theology between experience and words 3 Can a soul see God or itself without intermediaries? / 81 The self as distinct from its habits and actions Theology between experience and observation 4 Does true faith rely on anything external? / 111 The self as an ultimate source of authority Theology between internal and external authority 5 What happens to old modes of cognition when new ones are introduced during trance and other transitions? / 135 The self and its ability to manipulate parts of it during transitions Theology between reasoned knowledge and simple faith 6 Can knowledge qua knowledge be a virtue? / 158 The self in society Theology between theory and practice Summary and Epilogue / 189 Appendix / 199 Acknowledgments / 205 Notes / 207 Bibliography / 265 Index / 291

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsThe Wind in the Shell: Prolegomena to the Study of Medieval Nonsignification | 1 1 Priscian, Boethius, and Augustine on Vox Sola | 27 2 Walter Burley on Suppositio Materialis | 52 3 The Cloud of Unknowing on the Litil Worde of O Silable | 76 4 St. Erkenwald on the Caracter | 98 Acknowledgments | 127 Notes | 129 Bibliography | 157 Index | 183

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsThe Wind in the Shell: Prolegomena to the Study of Medieval Nonsignification | 1 1 Priscian, Boethius, and Augustine on Vox Sola | 27 2 Walter Burley on Suppositio Materialis | 52 3 The Cloud of Unknowing on the Litil Worde of O Silable | 76 4 St. Erkenwald on the Caracter | 98 Acknowledgments | 127 Notes | 129 Bibliography | 157 Index | 183

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Book SynopsisMaria of Agreda's exceptional attributes spread from her convent in seventeenth-century Agreda (Spain) to the court in Madrid and beyond. Without leaving her village, the abbess impacted the kingdom, her church, and the New World. This biography integrates autobiographical, historical, and literary sources published by and about Maria of Agreda.Trade Review"Marilyn Fedewa has written a stirring portrait of Maria of Agreda, a brilliant... remarkable player in major spiritual and secular events of [her] age." - Kenneth A. Briggs, former religion editor for the New York Times"

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Book SynopsisCollection of essays that examine the rich history of European culture through the lens of mythology and philosophy.Trade Review"In The Glance of the Medusa, Földényi develops an anatomy of European mythology in his quest towards understanding human completeness. . . . The book advocates a re-enchantment of the world, a theme already introduced in Földényi’s previous non-fiction work, Dostoyevsky Reads Hegel in Siberia and Bursts into Tears (2020), and is a logical development of his authoritative Melancholy (2016) which gave voice to deep ontological anguish. [Földényi] argues that a fragmentation of the soul is a function of our spiritual disorientation as we, moderns, have forgotten our place in — and connection with — a wider cosmos." * Review 31 *

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Book SynopsisA noted scholar examines the work of the English mystic Julian of Norwich Julian of Norwich is the late fourteenth-century and early fifteenth-century English woman theologian. With her mystical writings, she has become one of the most popular and influential spiritual figures of our times. In Julian of Norwich: In God''s Sight, the eminent scholar Philip Sheldrake offers a study of the theology that Julian expresses in her writings. The author examines what is known about Julian's mystical experience or mystical consciousness, discusses what can be surmised about Julian's likely identity and places her writings in historical, cultural and spiritual contexts. Julian of Norwich: In God''s Sight is based on a faithful reading of Julian's texts, especially the Long Text, as well as on her own declared theological-spiritual purpose. This compelling book: Presents a contextually-grounded and text-related study of the key elements of Table of ContentsPreface viii Introduction 1 1 Julian in Context 18 2 Julian’s Theology 47 3 Parable of a Lord and a Servant 66 4 Love is God’s Meaning 83 5 Creation and Human Nature 102 6 Sin and Salvation 120 7 Prayer: A Journey of Desire 138 Conclusion 156 Appendix: The Fate of Julian’s Texts 161 Select Bibliography 165 Index 171

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Book SynopsisThe Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Christian Mysticism brings together a team of leading international scholars to explore the origins, evolution, and contemporary debates relating to Christian mystics, texts, and the movements they inspired. Provides a comprehensive and engaging account of Christian mysticism, from its origins right up to the present day Draws on the best of current scholarship by bringing together a collection of newly-commissioned readings by leading scholars Considers examples of mysticism in both Eastern and Western Christianity Offers a brilliant synthesis of the key figures and historical periods of mysticism; its core themes, such as heresy, gender, or aesthetics; and its theoretical considerations, including theological, literary, social scientific, and philosophical approaches Features chapters on current debates such as neuroscience and mystical experience, and inter-religious dialogue Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors xi Preface xix 1 A Guide to Christian Mysticism 1Julia A. Lamm Part I Themes in Christian Mysticism 25 2 The Song of Songs 27Ann W. Astell and Catherine Rose Cavadini 3 Gender 41Barbara Newman 4 Platonism 56Willemien Otten 5 Aesthetics 74Don E. Saliers 6 Heresy 89J. Patrick Hornbeck II Part II Early Christian Mysticism 103 7 Mysticism in the New Testament 105Alan C. Mitchell 8 The Judaean–Jewish Contexts of Early Christian Mysticism 119Ori Z Soltes 9 “Mysticism” in the Pre-Nicene Era? 133Bogdan G. Bucur 10 Origen and His Followers 147Augustine Casiday 11 Negative Theology from Gregory of Nyssa to Dionysius the Areopagite 161Charles M. Stang 12 Syriac Mysticism 177Brian E. Colless 13 Mysticism and Contemplation in Augustine’s Confessions 190John Peter Kenney 14 Augustine’s Ecclesial Mysticism 202J. Patout Burns 15 Benedictine Monasticism and Mysticism 216Columba Stewart, O.S.B. Part III Medieval Mystics and Mystical Traditions 235 16 Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercian Mystical Tradition 237Brian Patrick McGuire 17 The Victorines 251Boyd Taylor Coolman 18 The Mystery of Divine/Human Communion in the Byzantine Tradition 267George E. Demacopoulos 19 Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure 282Kevin L. Hughes 20 The Nuns of Helfta 297Anna Harrison 21 Mysticism in the Spiritual Franciscan Tradition 311Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M. 22 The Low Countries, the Beguines, and John Ruusbroec 329Helen Rolfson, O.S.F. 23 Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, and Henry Suso 340Charlotte C. Radler 24 The Late Fourteenth-Century English Mystics 357Christiania Whitehead 25 Late Medieval Italian Women Mystics 373Armando Maggi 26 Nicholas of Cusa and the Ends of Medieval Mysticism 388Peter J. Casarella Part IV Mysticism and Modernity 405 27 The Protestant Reformers on Mysticism 407Dennis E. Tamburello, O.F.M. 28 Spanish Mysticism and Religious Renewal: Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross 422Edward Howells 29 Seventeenth-Century French Mysticism 437Wendy M. Wright 30 The Making of “Mysticism” in the Anglo-American World: From Henry Coventry to William James 452Leigh Eric Schmidt 31 “We Kiss Our Dearest Redeemer through Inward Prayer”: Mystical Traditions in Pietism 473Ruth Albrecht 32 Nineteenth- to Twentieth-Century Russian Mysticism 489Paul L. Gavrilyuk 33 Modern Catholic Theology and Mystical Tradition 501Stephen M. Fields, S.J. 34 Mystics of the Twentieth Century 515Mary Frohlich, R.S.C.J. Part V Critical Perspectives on Mysticism 531 35 A Critical Theological Perspective 533Philip Sheldrake 36 What the Saints Know: Quasi-Epistemological Reflections 550James Wetzel 37 Mysticism and the Vernacular 562Denis Renevey 38 The Social Scientific Study of Christian Mysticism 577Ralph W. Hood, Jr. and Zhuo Chen 39 Neuroscience 592Douglas E. Anderson 40 Christian Mysticism in Interreligious Perspective 610Leo D. Lefebure Index 626

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Book SynopsisSince their beginnings in the ninth century, the shrines, brotherhoods and doctrines of the Sufis held vast influence in almost every corner of the Muslim world. Offering the first truly global account of the history of Sufism, this illuminating book traces the gradual spread and influence of Sufi Islam throughthe Middle East, Asia, Africa, and ultimately into Europe and the United States. An ideal introduction to Sufism,requiring no background knowledge of Islamic history or thought Offers the first history of Sufism as a global phenomenon,exploring itsmovement and adaptationfromthe Middle East, through Asia andAfrica, to Europe and the United States of America Covers the entire historical period of Sufism, from its ninth century origins to the end of the twentieth century Devotes equal coverage to the political, cultural,and social dimensions of Sufism as it does toits theologyand ritual Dismantles the stereTrade Review“Green has indeed fulfilled the goal he set himself, to present a ‘global history of Sufism’ … The books offers a singularly global historical-analytical perspective on Sufism and the manner in which its ideas, rituals and institutions grew out of the religious, cultural and social fabric of the Muslim world. It is therefore as welcome an addition to the upper-division Islamic studies classroom as it is to graduate seminars that focus on the history of Sufism. However, its argument reaches far wider than scholarly library and classroom: anyone interested in social psychology or anthropology as the science of the human soul and its states and the manner in which they resonate within the social milieu in which we live today will find this work of immense value.” Journal of Islamic Studies (1 September 2015) “How Green has managed this considerable feat is nearly as interesting as the contents of this engaging volume. Adequately annotated chapters encompassing four large chronological eras stretched across increasingly expansive swaths of geography represent an interesting and not entirely predictable 'periodization'.” Journal of the American Oriental Society (1 October 2014) “Green’s history is well organized and offers a number of clear themes and theses.” The Journal of The Bulletin of the School of Oriental & African Studies (1 August 2013) “A must read not only for those interested in Islamic studies but also for those interested in world history. Summing Up: Essential. Most levels/libraries.” Choice (1 September 2012) Table of ContentsList of Maps and Illustrations ix Preface and Acknowledgments xi Maps xiv Introduction 1 1 Origins, Foundations and Rivalries (850–1100) 15 2 An Islam of Saints and Brothers (1100–1400) 71 3 Empires, Frontiers and Renewers (1400–1800) 125 4 From Colonization to Globalization (1800–2000) 187 Glossary: A Sufi Lexicon of Arabic Terms 239 Further Reading 243 Index 245

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Book SynopsisThe Mystical Science of the Soul explores the unexamined influence of medieval discourses of science and spirituality on recogimiento, the unique Spanish genre of recollection mysticism that served as the driving force behind the principal developments in Golden Age mysticism. Building on recent research in medieval optics, physiology, and memory in relation to the devotional practices of the late Middle Ages, Jessica A. Boon probes the implications of an ‘embodied soul’ for the intellectual history of Spanish mysticism.Boon proposes a fundamental rereading of the key recogimiento text Subida del Monte Sión (1535/1538), which melds the traditionally distinct spiritual techniques of moral self-examination, Passion meditation, and negative theology into one cognitively adept path towards mystical union. She is also the first English-language scholar to treat the author of this influential work – the Renaissance physicTrade Review'The Mystical Science of Soul is a fascinating piece of research. It focuses on a mystical method of recollection and the genre of literature associated with it...this volume should be welcomed by medievalists and early modernists, students of the Renaissance, historians of science, mysticism, and medicine, as well as theologians and church historians.' -- Jon Balserak Sixteenth Century Journal vol 65:02:2014

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Book SynopsisThe Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Christian Mysticism brings together a team of leading international scholars to explore the origins, evolution, and contemporary debates relating to Christian mystics, texts, and the movements they inspired. Provides a comprehensive and engaging account of Christian mysticism, from its origins right up to the present day Draws on the best of current scholarship by bringing together a collection of newly-commissioned readings by leading scholars Considers examples of mysticism in both Eastern and Western Christianity Offers a brilliant synthesis of the key figures and historical periods of mysticism; its core themes, such as heresy, gender, or aesthetics; and its theoretical considerations, including theological, literary, social scientific, and philosophical approaches Features chapters on current debates such as neuroscience and mystical experience, and inter-religious dialogue Trade Review“As this comment indicates, I am assuming that this volume is going to assume a key place in the literature on this vast subject.” (Ecclesiastical History, 1 January 2014) “Julia Lamm has assembled a valuable collection of forty articles by leading scholars in this treasury of studies of (mainly) Christian mysticism. A lengthy and expert introduction by Lamm leads to the first section: five articles on “Themes in Christian Mysticism.” (The Catholic Historical Review, 1 January 2014) “Together they open a rich world of creative, inspired writing to contemporary students and fellow scholars. Summing Up. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers.” (Choice, 1 September 2013) “The Wiley-Blackwell Companion remains a treasure-trove of scholarship that will delight anyone interested in the academic conversation around Christian mysticism.” (Carl McColman, 24 May 2013) “There is much to praise about this book, from its well-judged contents to the beautiful presentation and typeface. This is a must-have for any library, and for any student or disciple of the mystical tradition." (Church Times, 24 May 2013) “The result is a compelling and engaging volume drawing on the best of recent cutting-edge scholarship, and providing insights into an ancient but important Christian tradition.” (Eastern Christian Books, 17 December 2012)Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors xi Preface xix 1 A Guide to Christian Mysticism 1 Julia A. Lamm Part I Themes in Christian Mysticism 25 2 The Song of Songs 27 Ann W. Astell and Catherine Rose Cavadini 3 Gender 41 Barbara Newman 4 Platonism 56 Willemien Otten 5 Aesthetics 74 Don E. Saliers 6 Heresy 89 J. Patrick Hornbeck II Part II Early Christian Mysticism 103 7 Mysticism in the New Testament 105 Alan C. Mitchell 8 The Judaean–Jewish Contexts of Early Christian Mysticism 119 Ori Z Soltes 9 “Mysticism” in the Pre-Nicene Era? 133 Bogdan G. Bucur 10 Origen and His Followers 147 Augustine Casiday 11 Negative Theology from Gregory of Nyssa to Dionysius the Areopagite 161 Charles M. Stang 12 Syriac Mysticism 177 Brian E. Colless 13 Mysticism and Contemplation in Augustine’s Confessions 190 John Peter Kenney 14 Augustine’s Ecclesial Mysticism 202 J. Patout Burns 15 Benedictine Monasticism and Mysticism 216 Columba Stewart, O.S.B. Part III Medieval Mystics and Mystical Traditions 235 16 Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercian Mystical Tradition 237 Brian Patrick McGuire 17 The Victorines 251 Boyd Taylor Coolman 18 The Mystery of Divine/Human Communion in the Byzantine Tradition 267 George E. Demacopoulos 19 Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure 282 Kevin L. Hughes 20 The Nuns of Helfta 297 Anna Harrison 21 Mysticism in the Spiritual Franciscan Tradition 311 Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M. 22 The Low Countries, the Beguines, and John Ruusbroec 329 Helen Rolfson, O.S.F. 23 Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, and Henry Suso 340 Charlotte C. Radler 24 The Late Fourteenth-Century English Mystics 357 Christiania Whitehead 25 Late Medieval Italian Women Mystics 373 Armando Maggi 26 Nicholas of Cusa and the Ends of Medieval Mysticism 388 Peter J. Casarella Part IV Mysticism and Modernity 405 27 The Protestant Reformers on Mysticism 407 Dennis E. Tamburello, O.F.M. 28 Spanish Mysticism and Religious Renewal: Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross 422 Edward Howells 29 Seventeenth-Century French Mysticism 437 Wendy M. Wright 30 The Making of “Mysticism” in the Anglo-American World: From Henry Coventry to William James 452 Leigh Eric Schmidt 31 “We Kiss Our Dearest Redeemer through Inward Prayer”: Mystical Traditions in Pietism 473 Ruth Albrecht 32 Nineteenth- to Twentieth-Century Russian Mysticism 489 Paul L. Gavrilyuk 33 Modern Catholic Theology and Mystical Tradition 501 Stephen M. Fields, S.J. 34 Mystics of the Twentieth Century 515 Mary Frohlich, R.S.C.J. Part V Critical Perspectives on Mysticism 531 35 A Critical Theological Perspective 533 Philip Sheldrake 36 What the Saints Know: Quasi-Epistemological Reflections 550 James Wetzel 37 Mysticism and the Vernacular 562 Denis Renevey 38 The Social Scientific Study of Christian Mysticism 577 Ralph W. Hood, Jr. and Zhuo Chen 39 Neuroscience 592 Douglas E. Anderson 40 Christian Mysticism in Interreligious Perspective 610 Leo D. Lefebure Index 626

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Book SynopsisThe Lonely Letters is an epistolary blackqueer critique of the normative world in which Ashon T. Crawley meditates on the interrelation of blackqueer life, sounds of the black church, theology, mysticism, and the potential for platonic and erotic connection in a world that conspires against blackqueer life.Trade Review“Ashon T. Crawley pushes his readers to contemplate the intimacy of living the life of the mind as a spiritual, enfleshed, and intellectual matter. Rejecting the intellect/emotion division through a rendering of intimacy and desire, The Lonely Letters stands as the achievement of aspirations long discussed but largely elusive in both feminist and queer criticism. A stunning and innovative work.” -- Imani Perry, author of * Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation *“The Lonely Letters is a joyful mourning, a celebratory treatise, a rigorous performance, and an analysis of race and philosophy, aesthetics and blackness, and much more. I could not put it down and at points found myself laughing and in tears, all the while learning. Truly pathbreaking, it is an astounding, innovative, and deeply affecting work.” -- Nicole R. Fleetwood, author of * On Racial Icons: Blackness and the Public Imagination *"The Lonely Letters, from A to Moth, from Crawley to us, is ultimately an illumination of a way to Baby Suggs’ clearing in Beloved, the site of blackqueer care, the site of grace—an invitation to 'refuse the prison of "I" and choose the open spaces of "we.”'" -- Yumi Pak * American Studies *"I admire Crawley’s writing about queerness and sociality profoundly. I revere his embrace of the epistolary, of the way he makes academic writing feel pulsing and alive, enacted with breath and desire and shouting and song. . . . [E]ach letter is a flexing, embodied interweaving of queer theory, Black studies, music, eros, intellect, art, friendship, religion, body, breath. It is critical and creative all at once." -- Ayden Leroux * Full Stop *"Crawley opens the world of critical theory (a discipline not known best for being welcoming to all minds and approaches) to those readers who might not have a background in it." -- Leora Fridman * Full Stop *“The Lonely Letters, in thinking through and with Black life, challenges the reader to (re)imagine religion, mysticism, epistemology, performance, and the possibility of life together otherwise.... [It] bears the potential to push religious studies scholarship beyond what was presumed possible.” -- Christopher Hunt * Journal of Africana Religions *“The Lonely Letters arrives as a wonderful surprise: it invites us to sit with vulnerability, and to ask what vulnerability might offer our world-imagining practices.” -- Keguro Macharia * GLQ *“You can’t review [The Lonely Letters]. Because you haven’t just read a book. You’ve had an encounter. A beautiful, blackqueer, encounter.” -- Biko Gray * Reading Religion *

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Book SynopsisRabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was the charismatic leader of the Chabad Hasidic movement and its designated Messiah. Yet when he died in 1994, the messianic fervor he inspired did not subside. Through traditional means and digital technologies, a group of radical Hasidim, the Meshichistim, still keep the Rebbe palpably close—engaging in ongoing dialogue, participating in specific rituals, and developing an ever-expanding visual culture of portraits and videos. With Us More Than Ever focuses on this group to explore how religious practice can sustain the belief that a messianic figure is both present and accessible. Yoram Bilu documents a unique religious experience that is distinctly modern. The rallying point of the Meshichistim—that the Rebbe is "with us more than ever"—is sustained through an elaborate system that creates the sense of his constant and pervasive presence in the lives of his followers. The virtual Rebbe that emerges is multiple, visible, accessible, and highly decentralized, the epicenter of a truly messianic movement in the twenty-first century. Combining ethnographic fieldwork and cognitive science with nuanced analysis, Bilu documents the birth and development of a new religious faith, describing the emergence of new spiritual horizons, a process common to various religious movements old and new.Trade Review"In this fascinating study, Yoram Bilu, Israel's foremost scholar of Jewish popular religion, has succeeded in penetrating the world of Chabad's messianic subculture. He offers a brilliant analysis of how these Hasidim use visual media, apparitions, and letters to their deceased leader to create an 'apotheosis' of the Rebbe." -- David Biale * University of California, Davis *"This ethnographic exploration of the religious imagination in Chabad demonstrates that there is no one better equipped than Yoram Bilu to provide a theoretically sophisticated and phenomenologically sensitive account of the movement's messianic devotion to its deceased yet ever-present Rebbe." -- Thomas J. Csordas * University of California, San Diego *"With Us More than Ever is an important book for readers interested in Chabad, Hasidism, and contemporary Judaism. Its focus on the 'messianic ecology' yields a nuanced and dispassionate image of the acute messianism of the Meshichists—a community, or, perhaps, a state of mind, that has been discussed, criticized, and ridiculed, but hardly ever researched either quantitatively or qualitatively." -- Wojciech Tworek * Association for Jewish Studies Review *Table of ContentsContents and AbstractsIntroduction: Introduction chapter abstractThe messianic surge that swept Chabad in the late 20th century has not subsided following the death in 1994 of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last president of Chabad and the designated Messiah in the eyes of most Hasidim. Since then, the movement has been able to maintain its popularity and dominance despite the catastrophic loss. Focusing on the Meshichistim ("messianists"), the radical Hasidim who deny the Rebbe's death, the introduction documents the means they employ to fill the void of the Rebbe's "occlusion." The book makes use of a media-studies approach to examine how these means fill the critical role of making the absent Rebbe present. The data are based on interviews with Meshichists, participant observations in their gatherings, and meticulous perusal of messianic publications, primarily periodicals. The discussion includes a description of the charged interrelationships that developed between the author and the Hasidim during fieldwork. 1Chabad and the Messianic Idea chapter abstractThe chapter follows the vicissitudes of the messianic idea in Chabad from the movement's inception to the stormy years of the seventh and last leader, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. As shaped by its founder, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, Chabad was less prone to messianic tension than were other Hasidic sects. The fifth admor, Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber, resorted to messianic discourse in the late 19th century in order to battle the lure of secular ideologies such as communism and Zionism. His son and successor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, viewed the horrors of the Holocaust as messianic tribulations. But it was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson who generated acute messianic turbulence by advancing to his Hasidim the notion of imminent redemption. The Rebbe's messianic vision, kept alive by the Hasidim after his departure, forms the background for the means and practices that constitute the messianic ecology in contemporary Chabad. 2Meshichist Sociology chapter abstractThe chapter presents the major sociological features of the Meshichists. The Meshichists are more prevalent in the movement's periphery. Of Chabad's two main centers, they are more strongly represented in Israel than in the U.S. and more among the younger Hasidim in either place. –. In accord with the enthusiasm and high commitment typically displayed by religious immigrants and converts anywhere, new Chabadniks, coming from secular or other religious backgrounds, are overrepresented among the Meshichists. As a result of their outreach activities, Chabadniks anywhere tend to be more socially and politically involved in the wider society than are other ultraorthodox Jews, and the Meshichists all the more so. One indication of their assimilation into Israeli society is their use of military language in articulating their ideas and activities. 3Writing to the Rebbe: The Holy Letters Oracle chapter abstractThis chapter discusses the bibliomantic device the Hasidim developed to continue the dialogue with the absent Rebbe. The technique is based on inserting a petition randomly into one of the thirty-two volumes of the Rebbe's collected letters. Even though these letters were written to other people at other times, the petitioners maintain that the answers they receive are germane to their own pleas. The veridicality of the answers is redoubled when they play out in the real world. Following the miraculous stories associated with the Holy Letters Oracle, the chapter discusses its growing popularity and accounts for its success. The popularity and success of the technique seem to confirm the assertion of the Meshichistim that despite his occlusion, the invisible Rebbe is more accessible than ever. 4Sensing the Rebbe: Traces and Practices of Embodiment chapter abstractHow do the Hasidim perceive the absent Rebbe as close and involved? This chapter discusses a broad range of signs or "traces" of the Rebbe, such as the Rebbe's abode, his armchair, the dollar bills he distributed for charity, and the water from his ritual bath, which the Hasidim are adamant to keep intact and, where possible, to replicate. Primarily in Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights, but also in Chabad Houses all over the world and in the Meshichists' homes, these artifacts serve as focal points for ritual practices that involve the Rebbe as an active participant. The traces and practices interweave to produce a "messianic ecology" that actualizes the Rebbe among his followers. In the religion-media paradigm, these traces and practices are conductors of his presence. 5Seeing the Rebbe I: Chabad's Visual Culture chapter abstractChapter Five is devoted to Chabad's visual culture as evidenced by the widespread use of still photographs and film footage of the Rebbe, which bolster his visual salience to an unprecedented extent in Judaism. The elaborate cult that has been developing around the Rebbe's images borders on iconophilia. The pictures serve as focal points for this wide-ranging visual cult. They are used as amulets, thwarting threats and curing maladies; as magnets drawing and attaching passersby to the Rebbe; and as icons triggering the elaborate ritual encounters between the Rebbe and his devotees. The chapter discusses the Rebbe's iconic picture, in which he is shown waving his hand in encouragement, and how it has taken on a life on its own. 6Seeing the Rebbe II: Dream and Waking Apparitions chapter abstractChapter Six maps the Rebbe's apparitions in dreams and then moves to reports of apparitions in normal waking states. The author proposes a psychocultural model to account for these apparitions, deeming them evidence of contextual accomplishment rather than psychopathological deficit. Two distinct clusters of apparition experiences emerge, one associated with ritual and the other with mundane settings. In comparison to Christian visionary experiences, the Rebbe's apparitions are hyper-realistic, literal reinforcements of the claim that the Rebbe is alive. While this claim is audacious ontologically, it limits the epistemological horizons of the messianic imaginary and detracts from its significance as a "taste" of the redemption. 7Schneersoncentrism: The Rebbe Steers the World chapter abstractFor the Meshichistim, the invisible Rebbe is the center of the world. Chapter Seven conveys this conviction through the notion of "Schneersoncentrism," the belief that the Rebbe steers the world and navigates its events. It discusses two broad domains where the Rebbe's imprint on the world is indelible, according to the Hasidim: natural disasters, which the Rebbe is able to stop, and manmade political upheavals, which the Rebbe can rectify. According to his followers, the Rebbe's fingerprints are evident in key historical moments such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Exodus of its Jews, and the American victory in the second Gulf War. 8The Apotheosis of the Rebbe chapter abstractChapter Eight deals with the sensitive issue of the Rebbe's deification, a corollary of his centrality in the universe. While the Chabad mainstream argues that attempts to deify the Rebbe are limited to the movement's lunatic fringes, it shows that activists in the Meshichist camp are not hostile to these attempts and, under special circumstances, are even willing to give them a voice. The mystical doctrine of the tzadik in Hasidism, which views him as part of the divine system of emanations, and the messianic shturem in Chabad today help attenuate the deep-seated resistance in Judaism to glorifying a human being. 9"To Make Many More Menachem Mendels": Creation and Procreation in Messianic Chabad chapter abstractChapter Nine illustrates the divine role accorded to the Rebbe in the fantasy lives of some of his followers by zooming in on his alleged role in one domain of human misery: infertility and birth problems. Drawing on a small sample of dreaming and waking apparitions, the chapter shows how the childless Rebbe "reproduces" himself by providing childless couples with children in his image. In these reports the Rebbe appears as a creator no less than as a progenitor. 10Holy Place and Holy Time in Meshichist Chabad chapter abstractChapter Ten discusses the spatial and temporal dimensions of holiness in the messianic religion. For the Meshichists, who ordinarily refrain from frequenting the Rebbe's sanctuary in Old Montefiori Cemetery in Queens, the most sacred site is the Rebbe's abode on 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, dubbed "770." Viewed as the house of the Messiah and a wing of the future third Temple, 770 is the Meshichist hub, where the life routine with the Rebbe is kept intact. Replicas of 770 have been built in scores of places across the globe. The Meshichist emphasize two dates in Chabad's ritual calendar: Yod-Aleph (11) Nissan, the Rebbe's birthday, and Gimel Tammuz, the date of the Rabbi's disappearance, euphemistically called the Day of Redemption. 11The Omnipresence of Absence: Messianism in the Technological Age chapter abstractChapter Eleven discusses the present-absent virtual Rebbe, maintained in part by the magic of technology. In analyzing the properties of his virtuality, it is suggested that the Rebbe is multiple (reproduced), close and palpable, visible, accessible, and highly decentralized. The fact that the virtual Rebbe can be directly accessed and equally shared by all Hasidim poses a potential threat to Chabad's hierarchical structure and cohesion. 12Meshichists, Christians, Sabbateans, and Popular Culture Heroes chapter abstractThe dynamic common to past and present messianic movements is the focus of Chapter Twelve. It considers the struggles of Chabad's messianism in light of the Christian and Sabbatean precedents. It also poses a speculative comparison between the cult of the Rebbe that emerges from Chabad's visual culture and the adoration of charismatic entertainment and political celebrities in global popular culture. 13From Tzadik to Messiah: Comparing Chabad and Bratslav chapter abstractChapter Twelve proposes a systematic comparison of Chabad and Bratslav Hasidism. Both of these Hasidic movements lack the defining feature of a classic Hasidic sect, a serving tzadik-admor, yet they are enjoying unprecedented success. Can the flourishing of these two movements be attributed to the messianic expectations they both nurture? In support of this supposition, the chapter seeks to decipher the enigma of the growing popularity of these two "anomalous" Hasidic sects by dwelling on their propensity for border-crossing in various domains. Conclusion chapter abstractThe messianic surge that swept Chabad in the late 20th century has created the opportunity for studying the religious imagination at large, and as a subject in its own right. Messianic movements expand the boundaries of proper religious conduct and bring to the fore modes of action and experience the religious establishment shuns as extreme or subversive. The media and the practices that Meshichists employ to make the absent Rebbe present were born in this fertile, enabling ecology. More daring and pronounced than ordinary institutionalized religious beliefs and rites, they differ only in degree. The conclusion discusses the unprecedented extent to which the Rebbe-cum-Messiah is glorified, the boundless energy his elevated status generates in his followers, and their capacity to cope with the disappointment of his occlusion by sustaining a virtual Rebbe that is palpable and close.

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Book SynopsisAs a result of the isolation of doctrinal theology from its roots in Christian spiritual life, the relationship between spirituality and theology is often perceived to be ambiguous and uneasy.Trade Review"McIntosh offers a fruitful avenue for overcoming the split between theology and spirituality that has emerged in contemporary Christianity. His mastery of the history of mystical theology is insightful and impressive. His hermeneutical strategy, developed both in its theoretical and practical dimensions, makes a major contribution to the recent study of mysticism." Bernard McGinn, University of Chicago "Mystical Theology is one of the most sustained, systematic and impressive attempts at uniting spirituality and dogma, and demonstrating the necessity of this union, that I have encountered." Brian Horne, Kings College London "The book is a sound exploration of the Christian mystical tradition. The strength of McIntosh's work is its attention to the postmodern question of the other, both human and divine. In short, McIntosh aptly shows that the mystical tradition, which has received comparatively little attention by modern theologians, can and must be an important source for postmodern thinkers. Those who are concerned to address the role of Christian theology in the postmodern age will find this book an important contribution." Timothy P. Muldoon, Mount Aloysius College, Journal of the American Academy of Religion "This is a clearly-written and well-crafted argument for the reintegration of spirituality and theology." Michael Downey, SpiritualityTable of ContentsPreface ix Part I Issues of History and Method 1 1 Spirituality and Theology: The Questions at Issue 3 2 Mystery and Doctrine: The Historical Intergity of Spirituality and Theology 39 3 Recovering the Mystical Element of Theology: The Twentieth-Century Examples of Rahner and von Balthasar 90 4 Theological Hermeneutics and Spiritual Texts 119 Part II Mystical Theology in Practice 149 5 Trinitarian Self-Abandon and the Problem of Divine Suffering 151 6 The Hiddenness of God and the Self-Understanding of Jesus 187 7 Love for the Other and the Discovery of the Self 211 Index 243

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Book SynopsisThe Sufi path described in this book leads the seeker past ordinary states of consciousness towards a new experience of infinitude that is the source of the universe. In this stage there is no duality or otherness, but instead infinitude, the Original Oneness, from which all dualities and attributes emanate. The book is at once an autobiography, a didactic treatise and a literary opus full of wonderful translations of the words of earlier Sufis, as well as the author's own poetry. It describes Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri's life quest to connect today's world with classical times, especially through his meetings with enlightened Sufis all over the globe. Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri also addresses profound Sufi teachings concerning the nature of humankind, the cosmos and God, using clear and simple language to address difficult doctrinal issues as only a master who has digested fully such knowledge could do. The book also reveals much about the present-day Islamic world where, despite the tragedies that are to be seen everywhere, tradition and spirituality survive. This is a metaphysical and spiritual guide to the Sufi path that ultimately offers insight into the meaning and purpose of life.

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Book SynopsisDiscover the meanings and messages hidden in your dreams! By appreciating and understanding our dreams we can trace wonderful new paths to self-discovery and self-enrichment.Dreams can be vivid, poetic, surreal, erotic, haunting, even disturbing - but if we look more closely at their mysterious symbols and imaginative logic, they can provide us with privileged glimpses into the secret corners of our unconscious minds.The New Secret Language of Dreams takes a fresh approach to dreaming, with a wealth of real-life examples and illuminating guidance on how to tease out the underlying symbolism and logic of dreams. The author, renowned psychologist and dream expert David Fontana, unfolds the psychological workings of the dreamworld, building on the work of Jung, Freud and other pioneers in the field. He describes the main dream archetypes and reveals how dreams reflect everyday desires, tensions and anxieties in unexpected ways, using a rich vocabulary of symbols. Also, he trains us in techniques for remembering and recording dreams, and for working on their narrative, details and mood to arrive at interpretations that relate to our personal circumstances.

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