Description
Book SynopsisIn
The Relevance of Bernard Lonergan's Notion of Self-Appropriation to a Mystical-Political Theology, Ian Bell takes on the issue of the separation of the interior and exterior lives that has come to dominate mystical theology over the years. The mystical life, he claims, is necessarily involved in the establishment of social structures and institutions that govern human living, and the work of Bernard Lonergan on the human subject provides a means by which the connection between the interior and exterior lives may be established. Because human persons operate in a consistent pattern regardless of a given moment's particularities, mystical experience is no longer relegated to so-called spiritual matters, and the insights of mystics may be applied to the Christian call to live as agents of love. With this connection in place, mystical theology and political theology come together in a theology that is both mystical and political.
Trade Review«Ian Bell has written a book for citizens and politicians who love God and want to pray, for monastics who love God and pray for the world, and for all who value spirituality but don’t want it separated from everyday life. Why is Thomas Merton so appealing? He overcame in practice what Tad Dunne called the West’s ‘split soul’ that segregates ‘spirituality’ from concerns for politics, social action toward justice, and everyday practice. Most folks don’t live in monastic silence however. Bell reflects theologically on behalf of married and single Christians active in the world. Bell ventures beyond the practice of Merton and milestone contributions in theory from William James, Evelyn Underhill, and, more recently, Bernard McGinn and Michel de Certeau. He advances onto terrain where the split can be healed. Healing involves theory and practice. Theory re-centers the problem squarely in how we understand ourselves as subjects of our experience. Practice brings Bernard Lonergan’s theme of self-appropriation to the link between love for God and love of neighbor. Bell shows why and how mystical experience can be a source of insight useful in practical and political matters on behalf of the common good.» (Thomas Hughson, SJ, Associate Professor of Theology, Marquette University)
