An Introduction by the Organizer of the 25th Annual Eckhart Conference

Abstract

In 2012 the Eckhart Society’s Annual Conference celebrated its 25th anniversary, and the articles in this issue are from that conference. In the late 1980s Eckhart research was experiencing a renewal as various publications and societies fostered interest, borne upon the 650th anniversary of the papal bull, In agro dominico. The Eckhart Society was conceived by the efforts of individuals such as the Dominican friar Conrad Pepler and the dedicated educator Ursula Fleming. The theme for the 25th conference ‘Eckhart and Aquinas’ sought to honour several key interests of the society and to promote a serious engagement between Eckhart studies and the thought of Thomas Aquinas. Much of the literature on Eckhart has favoured a more Hegelian interpretation, emphasizing the divergent elements between these two Dominicans, who were both students of Albert the Great and both were Masters at Paris. A more Dominican approach to Eckhart stresses the continuity between Eckhart and the emerging appreciation of the Order for Aquinas who died in 1274 when Eckhart was very likely a young friar. Aquinas, it is worth noting, was canonized near the end of Eckhart’s life, when Eckhart was defending himself against charges of heresy. The contributions by Demkovich and Mayer, both Dominicans, favour this latter approach and the works of Speer and Stump lean toward the other. The excellent papers and the engaging sessions offered the attendants an outstanding experience of Eckhart as teacher and preacher. It also, as the articles in this issue demonstrate, advanced the studies of these two great Dominicans. The marking of a 25th anniversary merits special recognition, so it was fitting that we include in this issue the letter of the 87th Master of the Dominican Order, the Order of Preachers, fr. Bruno Cadore, sent to the conference. It sets up the real spirit of the conference and the articles produced for this issue. In Demkovich’s ‘My Flesh is Food Indeed: Eckhart and Aquinas on the Body of Christ’, he demonstrates the common strands of thought between Eckhart and Aquinas in their Eucharistic theology. One of the suspect articles from the bull of condemnation serves as Demkovich’s departure for illustrating Eckhart’s orthodox interpretation and his use of Thomas in his argument. Mayer’s contribution, ‘The Terms ‘‘Ground of the Soul’’ and ‘‘Sparkle of Reason’’ in Eckhart and Aquinas’, is a detailed look at these two thinkers on knowledge, specifically the notions of ‘the sparkle of reason and the soul’s essence’. Mayer carefully compares Eckhart to medieval mystical theology, Vol. 22 No. 2, December, 2013, 101–102