Description
Book SynopsisThis brief, accessibly written volume introduces key figures, texts, and themes of the mystical tradition and shows how and why the mystics can speak to the church today. Jason Baxter, an expert educator and storyteller, explains that the mystical tradition offers a more robust understanding of God than our current shallow conceptions. Featuring engagement with primary sources and suitable for use in a variety of courses, this book argues that the mystics have much to say to contemporary Christians searching for authentic modes of spirituality.
Table of ContentsContents
Introduction:
The Soul from Whom God Hides Nothing
1. The Christian of the Future in the Desert of Modernity:
The Twentieth-Century Rediscovery of Ancient Mysticism
2. Pagans Grope toward God:
Piety and Prayer in Antiquity
3. The Inward Turn:
What Augustine Learned from the Pagans
4. The Darkness of God:
Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory of Nyssa, and Meister Eckhart
5. Praying with the Whole World:
Natural Contemplation and the Legacy of the Desert Fathers
6. How to Perform Scripture: Lectio Divina
and the Renewal of the Heart
Conclusion: The Wildness of the Spiritual Life
Index
