Mystical Teachings Research Articles

On the Path Towards Thinking: Learning from Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Steiner

This paper is a philosophical study of the nature of thinking based on the philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Steiner. For Heidegger, the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers exemplified genuine thinking, appreciating the meaning of Being. But this kind of philosophy was soon replaced by the onto-theological approach, in which Being was reductively objectified, and the question of the meaning of Being was forgotten. Hence, according to Heidegger, we still have to learn to think. Commentators on Heidegger point to the similarities between his approach to thinking and that of various mystical teachings, such as those of Meister Eckhart or Zen Buddhism. Another less well known philosopher who devoted himself to this question was Rudolf Steiner. Like Heidegger, Steiner claims that we do not know what it means to really think. Steiner was however more outspoken in insisting that only through a kind of meditative practice can we directly experience the nature of thinking. Present day materialistic explanations of thinking as caused by the brain stand in clear opposition to his spiritual conception of thinking. Drawing upon Heidegger (somewhat) and Steiner (mostly) I argue against the materialistic understanding of thinking as jumping to unwarranted conclusions. The paper ends with describing some of the elements of Steiner Waldorf education which are intended to promote the development of living, creative thinking.

Tendencje utopijne w nauce mistycznej Mistrza Eckharta i Jana od Krzyża

Tendencje utopijne w nauce mistycznej Mistrza Eckharta i Jana od Krzyża

Envisager Dieu avec Edmond Jabes, By Nathalie Debrauwere-Miller.

‘You will be able to contemplate God when you have learnt to listen to the word and look long at it; in other words to read,’ we read in Jabès’ El ou le dernier livre. Nathalie Debrauwere-Miller's intense, ambitious and thought-provoking study of Jabès and his work is just such a lesson in reading. The very title becomes more and more vibrant, paradoxical and impelling as we progress: the French « envisager » suggests contemplation, reflection and choice. But it is also a direct subversion of the second commandment forbidding graven image, and of the law dictating that he who looks on the face of God must die. Facing God implies facing up to him, giving him a face and challenging him. Envisaging God suggests that his presence is more hypothesis than certitude; it is a poignant way of suggesting that however faceless, powerless and absent the twentieth century may have rendered him, he is still there to be envisaged. And it shows that envisaging, or contemplating God is a necessary late-twentieth-century creative reply to man's first having been envisaged by God. In the same two-way logic, N. Debraewere-Miller tackles her subject by reading Jabès’ work in the light of twentieth-century European philosophy and history, as well as Jewish theological, kabbalistic and mystical teachings, and equally by revisiting theology, philosophy and history in the light of Jabès’ creative vision. In other words, this is not a work on Jabès’ poetics or textuality, but on the ways a poetic and creative vision emerges from philosophical engagements with exegesis, books and quite simply the book. The method, the corpus and the supporting conceptual apparatus are complex indeed, taking into account the whole question of whether faith, creation and doubt can be envisaged in the twenty-first century after the degradations of the twentieth. But the reader is superbly accompanied on this often illuminating and sometimes harrowing path of reflection by an immensely pedagogically-minded author. While she takes a solid acquaintance with Jabès’ texts for granted, she provides clear, incisive appendices and glossaries for those readers unfamiliar with Jewish theological traditions, schools, beliefs and figures, as well as useful, precise indexes, all of which enable the reader to engage in and revisit her work.

Islamic Mystical Resonances in Fulbe Literature

The real ‘origins’ of the Fulbe tale of initiation, Kaïdara, are unknown. Hélène Heckmann, Amadou Hampâté Bâ’s wife, says (Oui Mon Commandant, 383) that Bâ received ‘knowledge which was relevant to Fulbe pastoral initiation [in 1943] because of his lineage, from one of the last great Fulbe silatigis, Ardo Dembo, whom he met in the Senegalese Ferlo region on the occasion of an ethnographic and religious enquiry carried out for the records of IFAN’. According to Heckmann, Bâ was not ‘initiated’ into the mysteries of Kaïdara: ‘What is properly termed as Fulbe initiation already no longer exists, at this time, except among purely pastoral groups’. Therefore the knowledge which Bâ received is most likely to have been the narrative itself, told as a narrative, rather than as a form of initiation. Africanist and francophone scholars have long known that Bâ’s famous transcription of the Fulbe tale of initiation, Kaïdara, makes some references to Islamic mystical teachings. However, a properly detailed study of these references has not been done. A close examination, however, reveals just how central the Islamic mystical tradition is to the tale. This article examines Kaïdara in the context of the mystical literary form of the Ishrāqī school, the risāla, whose early composers, Ibn Sīnā and Ibn Tufayl and Suhrawardī would have been known for several centuries in Senegal through trade routes and ajj journeys. The article compares Kaïdara with specific aspects of the risāla: its structure and language, the journey to the ʿalam al-mithāl, the concept of esoteric realities being revealed in successive stages and, finally, the incorporation of Qurʾānic imagery and values. Like the risālah, Kaïdara teaches its aspirants that the greatest treasure in this existence is knowledge of divine sacred laws. This knowledge is acquired through self-perfection, which leads to the awakening of a mode of perception that is able to apprehend the hidden meaning of appearances, the wisdom lying beyond visible phenomena.

The garden of Kabbalah: a deeper exploration

In my first paper ‘An Introduction to Kabbalah’ (Wernham, 2005) I gave a broad and basic outline to the Kabbalistic tradition from its earliest roots in the Jewish mysticism of the Biblical period to some expressions of contemporary Kabbalah. In that paper I also set out to dispel some of the myths around Kabbalah that have emerged along with its recent popularity among certain celebrities. In this paper I intend to take a different approach, aiming for depth rather than breadth, by looking at a short piece of Scripture and unpacking from within it the mystical teaching hidden within the text. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Knowledge of Allah and the Islamic View of Other Religions

[One way to submit oneself to the will of the divine is to contemplate the revelations of the Qur'ân. For Muslims, it is God manifested in human speech and for centuries Muslims have attempted to study the surface and hidden meanings of the Qur'ân in order to know more of Allâh's presence. The author explores how Muslims have used their sacred scripture, the customs of the Prophet Muhammad, and various mystical teachings to become closer to God. The process of knowing God meant being tolerant to other religions, especially to Christians and Jews who are understood as believers of the same God. The issue of pluralism and tolerance of others in Islam is examined to illustrate the complexities of religious ideas of exclusivity.]

By the shores of white waters: the Altai and its place in the spiritual geopolitics of Nicholas Roerich

The artist Nicholas Roerich, famous for his expeditions (1925-1928 and 1934-1936) to Central Asia and the Himalayas, was deeply fascinated by the Altai Mountains, which he visited in 1926 (even though he had emigrated from Soviet Russia in 1918). His interest in the region had partly to do with his scholarly theories about the origin of Eurasian cultures. Even more important were Roerich's occult beliefs. Ostensibly artistic and academic in nature, Roerich's expeditions were part of a larger effort to create a pan-Buddhist state that was to include southern Siberia, Mongolia, and Tibet. In the Altai, Roerich aimed to locate the legendary land of White Waters (Belovod'e) and build his capital there. Support for this 'Great Plan' came from American followers of Roerich's mystical teachings. In addition, by representing himself to Soviet authorities as someone who might foster anti-British resentment and pro-Russian feelings among the populations of Central Asia and Tibet, Roerich briefly piqued their interest. The Great Plan was never realised, but Roerich continued to believe in the Altai's magical properties.

An unknown Ruusbroec Letter in Willem Jordaen's Latin

This article presents a critical edition and translation of the newly found eight letter of John of Ruusbroec (1293-1381). It was discovered in a fifteenth-century East-Prussian manuscript, now Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 526. The letter was written in Latin by Ruusbroec's confrere Willem Jordaens, and was sent to someone exercising spiritual direction over a group of devout men and women, probably in Southern Germany. The article argues for accepting the authenticity of the letter both on internal and external evidence. The letter shows numerous important similarities with essential aspects of Ruusbroec's mystical teachings in his treatises. An attempt is made to trace the origins of the Elbing collection, to which MS 526 belongs. An extensive description of MS 526 concludes the article.

The Birth of Literal Algebra

1. MATHEMATICS IN THE FIRST CENTURIES AD. DIOPHANTUS. The Babylonians developed a kind of numerical algebra. Then came Greek geometric algebra. The third-very important-stage of the development of algebra began in the first centuries AD and came to an end at the turn of the 17th century. Its beginning was marked by the introduction of literal symbolism by Diophantus of Alexandria and its end, by the creation of literal calculus in the works of Viete and Descartes. It was then that algebra acquired its own distinctive language, which we use today. The first century BC was a period of Roman conquests and of Roman civil wars. Both took place in the territories of the Hellenistic states and the Roman provinces and were accompanied by physical and economic devastation. One after another, these states lost their independence. The last to fall was Egypt (30 BC). The horrors of war and the loss of faith in a secure tomorrow promoted the spread of religious and mystical teachings and undermined interest in the exact sciences, and in abstract problems in mathematics and astronomy. In Cicero's dialogue On the state one of the participants proposes a discussion of why two Suns were seen in the sky. But the topic is rejected, for even if we acquired profound insight into this matter, we would not become better or happier. In the second half of the first century BC mathematical investigations came to a virtual halt and there was an interruption in the transmission of the scientific tradition. At the beginning of the new era, economic conditions in the Hellenistic countries, now turned Roman provinces, gradually improved, and there was a revival of literature, art, and science. In fact, the 2nd century came to be known as the Greek Renaissance. It was the age of writers such as Plutarch and Lucian and of scholars such as Claudius Ptolemy. Alexandria continued its role as the cultural and scientific center of antiquity and, in this respect, Rome was never its rival. Nor did it ever develop an interest in the depths of Hellenistic science. As noted by Cicero in his Tusculanae disputationes, the Romans, unlike the Greeks, did not appreciate geometry; just as in the case of arithmetic, they stopped at narrow, practical knowledge of this subject.

The mystical teaching of al-Shadhili, including his life, prayers, letters and followers. A translation from The Arabic of Ibn al-Sabbagh'S Durrat al-Asrar Wa Tuhfat al-Abrar. By Elmer H. Douglas, edited with an introduction and bibliography by Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi’. (SUNY Series in Islam.) pp. xiv, 274. Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 1993. US $19.95.

The mystical teaching of al-Shadhili, including his life, prayers, letters and followers. A translation from The Arabic of Ibn al-Sabbagh'S Durrat al-Asrar Wa Tuhfat al-Abrar. By Elmer H. Douglas, edited with an introduction and bibliography by Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi’. (SUNY Series in Islam.) pp. xiv, 274. Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, 1993. US $19.95. - Volume 5 Issue 1

Ulster 1641: Aspects of the Rising ed. by Brian Mac Cuarta, S.J.

BOOK REVIEWS 283 final period ofJeanne de Chantal's life, a period ofconsolidation and expansion for the Visitation foundations, which by 1640 numbered eighty-two. It was likewise a time of sorrow, with the deaths of her last three founding companions . Most of the letters are directed to superiors and sisters of the Visitation communities. They deal with admissions and formation of new members, community problems, relationships with authorities, and temporal affairs. There is also a subtantial correspondence with major ecclesiastical and secular figures of the period, among whom are Vincent de Paul, Princess Christine of France ("Mme. Royale"), the Jesuits Etienne Binet and JeanBaptiste St-Jure, Charles de Condren, and Marie de Combalet, sister of Cardinal Richelieu. Perhaps the most intimate correspondent of this period is "Mère Angélique" Arnauld (1591-1661) of Port-Royal, who in 1619 had been refused ecclesiastical permission to transfer to the Visitation order. The saint confides to the abbess her inner pain and prolonged spiritual desolation, because she no longer has "any creature in the world that I can trust, except you" (p. 447). The ten letters presented here bear witness to Jeanne's heroic struggle in the midst of severe temptations against the faith. She admits that while she speaks to others of God, she feels only disgust for spiritual things. Nonetheless, she chooses to pray by means ofwordless surrender and a "simple gaze of the heart." What emerges from these letters is a strong personality, an ideal yet realistic woman of God who brings her own distinctive, mature interpretation to Salesian mystical teaching. Until recently, Jeanne de Chantal has remained largely unknown to scholars, overshadowed by Francis de Sales as his spiritual daughter and collaborator. This superb edition of her correspondence balances out the picture by revealing a spiritual leader moving in her own light, endowed with originality, initiative, and administrative genius. It will be an indispensable tool for historians and researchers in the French spiritual tradition. One earnestly hopes that an English translation has been foreseen. Janice Farnham, RJ.M. WestonJesuit School of Theology Cambridge, Massachusetts Ulster 1641: Aspects of the Rising. Edited by Brian Mac Cuarta, SJ. (Belfast: The Institute of Irish Studies; the Queen's University of Belfast. 1993. Pp. xi, 238. £15.) For a couple of generations the Irish historical scene has been fascinated by what has come to be called "revisionism," "scientific history," the belief that the past "as it really was" can be sought, and found, in a kind of aseptic mental laboratory. What have been euphemistically dubbed "the troubles" of the last twenty-five years have generated two opposing stances: on the one hand an insistence on the need for this aseptic revisionism; and on the other 284 BOOK REVIEWS a growing realization that the historian just cannot live in an ivory tower, above the pains of mankind. It is not surprising, then, that very recently there have been two studies of the Ulster rising of 1641, for this still casts a long shadow over our present discontents. This volume is a collection of essays edited by Brian Mac Cuarta, who is both a highly competent historian and associatedwith theJesuit mission in Portadown, County Armagh, which had been at the very storm-center of the events of 1641 and still bears the scars. It hangs together better than many such collections. Four master-themes are addressed: the place of the rising in the general political evolution of what became the United Kingdom; the motives of the insurgents; die massacres; and the legacy left to the future. The first point receives illuminating treatment from John McCavitt and Michael Percivall-Maxwell. The conclusion which emerges is diat had it not been for the Ulster rising the odds were in favor of Charles I getting his problems under control and being able to prorogue what became the Long Parliament, with unforeseeable but undoubtedly immense consequences. As for the motives of the insurgents, die picture emerging from the essays by Michelle O'Riordan and Raymond Gillespie would seem to be of two cultures blending, the "only difference" being that one went to Mass, the other to service, the native learned class completely fossilized in a vanished past...

The Literary Emergence of Esotericism in German Pietism

The first literary works of the Jewish mystical tradition known as the Kabbalah appeared in thirteenth-century Provence, and its center soon moved to Spain where it flourished until the Expulsion in 1492. Due to the overwhelming focus of scholars and medieval Kabbalists on the theosophic doctrine of sefirot and their symbolism which was crystallized in the writings of various circles in thirteenth century Spain and was all but canonized in the Zohar, many have neglected to take note of the emergence of pre-Kabbalistic mystical works in the early thirteenth century.1 As reported by Eleazar of Worms, the student of Judah the Pious who headed the pietist circle in Germany, the mystical teachings were passed

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: The Mystical Teachings of al‐Shādhill: Including His Life Prayers, Letters, and Followers. A Translation from the Arabic of Ibn al‐Sabbagh's Durrat al‐Asrar wa Tuhfat al‐Abrar by Elmer H. Douglas. Edited with an Introduction and a Bibliography by Ibrahim M. Abu‐Rab?. Nizam Ad‐Din Awliya: Morals of the Heart. Translated and Annotated by Bruce B. Traditional Islam in the Modern World. By Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Islam: An Introduction. By Annemarie Schimmel. Al‐Damurdāshl's Chronicle of Egypt. 1685–1755: al‐Durra al‐musana f? akhbār al‐kināna. Translated and annotated by Daniel Crecelius and 'bd al‐Wahhāb Bakr. The Islamic Movement of Iraqi Shi'as. By Joyce N. Wiley. Iranian Politics and Religious Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran under the Shah and Khomeini. By H. E. Chehabi. Iran's First Revolution: Shi'ism and the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1906. By Mangol Bayat. Iran: A Decade of War and Revolution. By David Menashri. The Modern Uzbeks from the Fourteenth Century to the Present: A Cultural History. By Edward A. Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period. Edited by M. J. L. Young, J. D. Latham and R. B. Serjeant. The Ismā'il?s: Their history and doctrines. By Farhad Daftary.'Abū Tammām and the Poetics of the 'bbāsid Age. By Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych. Images of Paradise in Islamic Art. Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom Displaying the Orient: Architecture of Islam at Nineteenth‐Century World's Fairs. By Zeynep çelik. Islamic Art. By Barbara Brend. Turkish Nationalism in the Young Turk Era. By Masam Arai. The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880–1925. By Robert Olson. Islam and the Economic Challenge. By Muhammad Umer Chapra. Palestinian Universities Under Occupation. By Anthony Thrall Sullivan.

Hebrew and Aramaic Incantation Texts from the Cairo Genizah: Selected Texts from Taylor-Schechter Box K1

In this volume, Lawrence Schiffman and Michael Swartz assemble a collection of Jewish incantation texts which were copied in the Middle Ages and preserved in the Cairo Genizah. Many of these texts, now held in Cambridge University Library, are published here for the first time. All the texts are translated and supplemented by detailed philological and historical commentary, tracing the praxis and beliefs of the Jewish magical tradition of Late Antiquity. Their relation to Jewish legal and mystical teachings is also explored. 'A major contribution to this area of inquiry. Fourteen incantation texts are made accessible here. They are framed with all the desired apparatus: clear facsimiles, transcriptions, translations, commentary, substantial bibliography and three indexes. The lengthy introduction, in particular, is valuable, providing a mise au point for future study of Genizah magical texts.' s teven m. wasserstorm, ajs review Lawrence H. Schiffman is the Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor in Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, USA. He is a member of the Enoch seminar and of the Advisory Board of The Journal Henoch. Michael D.Swartz is Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Ohio State University, USA.

Mysticism and Ethics in Western Mystical Traditions

Having considered the role of ethics in Indian mystical teachings in a previous, related, essay I would like to consider the same question in its western religious contexts in the present paper, beginning with the Christian mystical tradition. As is the case with Asian traditions charges of moral unconcern are widely directed at Christian mystics, but they are false. Christian mystics are not indifferent to morality nor do they disconnect morality from an intrinsic relationship to their mystical quest. Augustine would already teach that the story of Leah and Rachel was an instructive allegory in which the active life represented by Leah was intrinsic to the contemplative life represented by Rachel while Gregory the Great would unambiguously assert: ‘We ascend to the heights of contemplation by the steps of the active life’, defining the active life as: ‘to dispense to all what they need and to provide those entrusted to us with the means of subsistence’. These representative early samples of the salience of ethical behaviour to the life of contemplation could be multiplied at great length, and almost without exception in the teaching of the major Christian mystics. This historical exegetical exercise, however, is in the present circumstances, both out of place and I hope unnecessary. Instead, the more general, more enigmatic, more repercussive, issues raised by the place and significance of morality within the Christian mystical tradition need attending to.

Mysticism and science of psychoactive drugs

It all started when the potent, psychoactive flower child LSD was christened with an incorrectly coined generic name: psychedelic (instead of psychodelic). Then, Alpert & Leary co-authored an arousing manifesto—prior to their expulsion from the Temple—announcing that, ‘… The drama is genetic. Neurophysiological. So spare us, please, the adolescent heroics of Beethoven and Shakespeare’. In retrospect, it was no drama at all. The genre was a rhetorical hybrid, a cloning (or clowning) of an amusing musical with the narrative of a deconstructed trip-tease. The genre proclaimed ‘internal freedom’ ‘here and now’, that is, with Alpert in India and Leary in jail (all quotations from Alpert & Leary 1963). Then came the bestsellers of Castaneda responding to a neoromantic hunger for myth, magic and mysticism. Castaneda had no ‘anxiety of influence’ (Harold Bloom 1973) and borrowed profusely from other people's valid experiences, projecting himself into these narratives and turning out popularized mystical teaching for the naive reader who has never heard of a Teresa of Avila or John of the Cross. Hence, popularized mysticism was ‘in’ but no charismatic leader was in sight—though Ken Kesey was a candidate hopeful when ‘flying over the cuckoo's nest’. If we regard Leary as an extrovert ex-psychologist and narrator of musical science fiction, the introvert Castaneda lies on a continuum of anthropology and fictionalized mysticism. Where, then, to locate Dennis J. McKenna and Terence K. McKenna? What does their philosophy and psychoactive science offer to the perplexed? The following review of their book The Invisible Landscape is meant to be a silent dialogue with the authors, not only about their book but also about drugs, fashion, philosophy, mysticism and science in general. This review-as-dialogue may be interpreted as a sketchy assessment of an era that brought creative and colorful innovations in style (and life-style) but also hastened the process of spiritual proletarization and the flowering of pseudo-science. The McKennas' book is considered to be among the best of its kind: a challenging text and pre-text.

The Administration of Law and Justice in Seventeenth Century Aceh

In the study of Islamization, main interest of research has centred upon the questions as to when Islam came, from where and by whom it was brought to the region, and upon particular Islamic mystical teachings. Studies of these problems in the last one century have certainly presented us with new findings related to the Islamization of Southeast Asia in general. However, this does not mean at all that the question of the Islamization of the region has conclusively been solved. In fact, little is known about the establishing process of the Islamization or the position of Islam in various Islamic states in the region.The overall, establishing process of the Islamization may be studied from two view-points, apart from those mentioned above. One concerns the acceptance in indigenous society or state of Islam as religion and creed, and the role played by the rulers or state in its acceptance. The other is the acceptance of Islamic Law in the existing legal system, or the Islamization of the legal system of a given state.This paper aims to look at the administration of law and justice in seventeenth century Aceh as a case study of the establishing process of the Islamization from the latter point of view. As necessary background information for a better understanding of the present theme, the following may be noted.It is known that Bandar Aceh, the capital of the Sultanate of Aceh, presented the appearance of one of the major centres of Islamic studies in the Malayo-Indonesian world from the last quarter of the sixteenth century onwards. As a result of this, by the end of the century, at the latest, Islamic Law had become an established force, and consequently the prescriptions of Islamic Law had begun to exert their influence on the Acehnese, particulary on those in the capital. As for the relationship between Islam and the state, the Acehnese rulers used Islam to assert their ritual authority and supremacy. Just as Islam helped the rulers, the rulers also helped Islam by raising it to the position of a state religion, by supporting its institutions and by raising the clergy to influential positions.The present theme is divided into three. Section I takes up the legal system of the Sultanate. Section II examines various cases and punishment, both ‘criminal’ and ‘civil’ in nature. Section III looks at the royal edict of 1726 which offers how the Acehnese of the eighteenth century regarded the administration of law and justice in the seventeenth century.As a result of research, it can be concluded that Islamic Law exerted considerable influence upon the administration of law and justice through the efforts and influence of the senior religious figures of the realm, who were the rulers' religious and spiritual preceptors. This was particularly true for Acehnese social and family life in the urban area of the capital. The implementation of Islamic Law can be easily observed in a number of actual cases. In fact, the ruler as head of an Islamic state, and Islam as both creed source of law were inseparably linked, the ruler playing a central part in the judicature. Nevertheless, the Islamic legal system as such occupied a secondary position in the overall legal system of the Sultanate. The will, and often whim, of the sovereign was, in effect, the prime and ultimate law of the Sultanate, and administrative practices based on such precedents, i. e. the will of ruler, came in time to be regarded as ‘adat’ in the eyes of the Acehnese of the capital, ‘adat’ as ruler-made unwritten law and not traditional customary law and practice which have been defined as adat law by Dutch legal scholars. Furthermore, the degree of the rulers as law-givers and of the enforcement of Islamic Law largely depended on their political authority and religious conviction. As for the Kadi Malik al-'Adil as the representaive of the rulers, this position may perhaps best be seen as the head of the leg

Mysticism, Poverty and Reason in the Thought of Meister Eckhart

This paper interprets Meister Eckhart's mysticism as an integral part of a carefully worked out metaphysical scheme and as a theological response to the popular religious piety and the socio-economic expansion that transformed European society in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Both lines of interpretation bring Eckhart's concept of poverty into focus as they key to his thought. After tracing the transformation of the older monastic ideals of the visio dei and cenobite poverty into popular mysticism and evangelical poverty in the new urban setting, the paper argues that Eckhart was the first major Christian thinker upon whom these ideals had a central and decisive impact. Thus Eckhart's concept of poverty must be understood on one level as a dissenting religious response to the effects of material prosperity on medieval society. On a deeper, but closely related level, Eckhart's concept of poverty must be seen in its theological significance as providing the mystical movements of the Rhineland with a reflective foundation. The paper argues that Eckhart developed a metaphysics of intellection that breaks with both Augustinian and Thomistic traditions in theology, and that correspondingly his mystical teaching breaks sharply with the love- or will-centered mystical tradition represented by Augustine, Bernard and the Franciscans. In his theology Eckhart affirms God to be the One, beyond being, and therefore to be unknowable through any kind of mediation. His mystical teaching posits a direct awareness of God when ordinary, mediated awareness of the world is stilled. Poverty is his term for this direct awareness of God. The paper suggests that this mystical experience of God is also an experience of the world and thus a self-identity in in the world. In concluding, the relevance of Eckhart's notion of poverty to contemporary theology is briefly suggested.

The Religion of Teilhard de Chardin

La Pensée religieuse du Père Teilhard de Chardin was first published at Paris in 1962. It has been admirably translated by René Hague and forms an authoritative commentary. It is authoritative because Père Lubac had been a close friend of Père Teilhard de Chardin for over thirty years and had discussed his thought with him and because it is by Père Lubac with his clarity and his gift for understanding other viewpoints than his own.In his first chapter ‘The Essential Core’, Père Lubac distinguishes between two groups of Père Teilhard’s writings ‘the first in which the line of thought is still scientific or, one might prefer to say philosophical, is developed from the data of experimental science; the second, more strictly mystical and religious, is often explicitly based on the data of Christian revelation. Central to the first is The Phenomenon of Man, to the second Le Milieu Divin.’ Inevitably Père Lubac places his emphasis on the group that centres on Le Milieu Divin and attempts to penetrate ‘to the heart of Teilhard’s mystical teaching’. In what sense was Père Teilhard a mystic?Père Lubac’s eighth chapter is entitled ‘Scientist, Prophet and Mystic’. In it he describes Père Teilhard as a scientist of the first order. This is perhaps a simplification. From the time of his scholasticate and his first unfortunate association with Mr Dawson and the Piltdown Skull, Père Teilhard’s primary subject of study was prehistoric archaeology and it was this that finally made his name in China.

Book Review: Pauline Mysticism: Christ in the Mystical Teaching of St. Paul. by Alfred Wikenhauser

Book Review: Pauline Mysticism: Christ in the Mystical Teaching of St. Paul. by Alfred Wikenhauser