Mystical Anthropology

The question of the ‘structure’ of the human person is central to many mystical authors in the Christian tradition. This book focuses on the specific anthropology of a series of key authors in the mystical tradition in the medieval and early modern Low Countries. Their view is fundamentally different from the anthropology that has commonly been accepted since the rise of Modernity. This book explores the most important mystical authors and texts from the Low Countries including: William of Saint-Thierry, Hadewijch, Pseudo-Hadewijch, John of Ruusbroec, Jan van Leeuwen, Hendrik Herp, and the Arnhem Mystical Sermons. The most important aspects of mystical anthropology are discussed: the spiritual nature of the soul, the inner-most being of the soul, the faculties, the senses, and crucial metaphors which were used to explain the relationship of God and the human person. Two contributions explicitly connect the anthropology of the mystics to contemporary thought. This book offers a solid and yet accessible overview for those interested in theology, philosophy, history, and medieval literature.

The question of the ‘structure’ of the human person is central to many mystical authors in the Christian tradition. This book focuses on the specific anthropology of a series of key authors in the mystical tradition in the medieval and early modern Low Countries. Their view is fundamentally different from the anthropology that has commonly been accepted since the rise of Modernity. This book explores the most important mystical authors and texts from the Low Countries including: William of Saint-Thierry, Hadewijch, Pseudo-Hadewijch, John of Ruusbroec, Jan van Leeuwen, Hendrik Herp, and the Arnhem Mystical Sermons. The most important aspects of mystical anthropology are discussed: the spiritual nature of the soul, the inner-most being of the soul, the faculties, the senses, and crucial metaphors which were used to explain the relationship of God and the human person. Two contributions explicitly connect the anthropology of the mystics to contemporary thought. This book offers a solid and yet accessible overview for those interested in theology, philosophy, history, and medieval literature.

Concepts of the Divine that emerge in mystical testimonies have often been studied. Seldom has the human person, the common denominator in all mystical testimonies, been given due attention. Nevertheless, questions regarding universal elements in mystical experiences and the role of particular theological traditions in current debates on mysticism cannot be addressed without examining the underlying concepts of the human person and the relation to the divine in mystical texts. The complexity and diversity of mystical texts call for an approach that is in the first place critical-hermeneutical and takes all elements, be they particular or universal, into account. It also calls for an interdisciplinary and cross-religious perspective in which the expertise from various disciplines and different mystical traditions is combined. This volume brings different anthropological concepts to the fore through an interdisciplinary study of texts from two religious traditions, the sixteenth-century Arnhem Mystical Sermons (from the Christian tradition) and the twentieth-century Sri Aurobindo Gose (from the Hindu tradition).

By the 1980s, interest in initiation was at its peak; it was being employed both theoretically and practically, in gender politics and humanistic therapy. How did that come to be, how should we understand 'initiation', and what can be its future? This wide-ranging book looks at the history, evolution and contemporary idea of initiation. It traces origins in the ancient Mysteries and early Christian texts, through Renaissance rediscoveries to admission in Freemasonry and anthropological investigations in French Canada and British Australia. It introduces the 'initiation discourse', as something that was constructed through centuries of translations and nineteenth century human science leading to the making of the modern concept. It argues for a subject, 'initiation studies', that effectively secularised the eighteenth-century rites of admission to produce the twentieth-century rites of passage. And it details, as compensation for this hollowing out of the mystery, the study of shaman 'spirit-workers', the idea of death and rebirth, and the later sacralisation of the liminal in adolescent/adult initiation. Finally, a contemporary revision is explored that incorporates neglected aspects like depth psychology and education for an idea of youth as a life-stage. And while ritual is now deemphasised, the religious dimension is reaffirmed with a critical analysis of cosmic consciousness, the enduring Great Mystery.

Mystical Bodies, Mystical Meals is the first book-length study of mystical eating practices and experiences in the kabbalah. Focusing on the Jewish mystical literature of late-thirteenth-century Spain, author Joel Hecker analyzes the ways in which the Zohar and other contemporaneous literature represent mystical attainment in their homilies about eating. What emerges is not only consideration of eating practices but, more broadly, the effects such practices and experiences have on the bodies of its practitioners.

"Alexander Negrov surveys the history of biblical interpretation within the history of the Russian Orthodox church from the Kiev period (tenth to thirteenth centuries) until the Synodal period (1721-1917). He presents a coherent analysis of the essential elements of Orthodox biblical hermeneutics as it developed over a period of several centuries critical to the defining of the Orthodox church."--BOOK JACKET.

This book introduces students to Christian mysticism and modern critical responses to it. Christianity has a rich tradition of mystical theology that first emerged in the writings of the early church fathers, and flourished during the Middle Ages. Today Christian mysticism is increasingly recognised as an important Christian heritage relevant to today's spiritual seekers.

The aim of the volume is to engage in an interdisciplinary discussion about the establishment and debates on anthropological concepts and their changes in the age of Reformation: How do anthropological concepts touch theological questions such as the freedom of will or the human likeness to God? In which ways is there a reflection on emotions? How is scientific knowledge received by theologians? How is contemporary thought on the conditio humana presented in literature and poetry? The volume combines selected papers of relevant experts with the research work of young graduate or postgraduate scholars. It tries to encourage a transdisciplinary, international discussion focused on exemplary case studies as well as systematic points of view. Thanks to the outstanding commitment of all participants of the conference we are able to present the results of this discussion, a rich and comprehensive spectrum of research work, which will encourage further research.