The Mysticism of Saint Augustine
The Mysticism of Saint Augustine

Author: John Peter Kenney

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2005-09-19

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1134442726

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Augustine's vision at Ostia is one of the most influential accounts of mystical experience in the Western tradition, and a subject of persistent interest to Christians, philosophers and historians. This book explores Augustine's account of his experience as set down in the Confessions and considers his mysticism in relation to his classical Platonist philosophy. John Peter Kenney argues that while the Christian contemplative mysticism created by Augustine is in many ways founded on Platonic thought, Platonism ultimately fails Augustine in that it cannot retain the truths that it anticipates. The Confessions offer a response to this impasse by generating two critical ideas in medieval and modern religious thought: firstly, the conception of contemplation as a purely epistemic event, in contrast to classical Platonism; secondly, the tenet that salvation is absolutely distinct from enlightenment.

Writings of Augustine (Annotated)
Writings of Augustine (Annotated)

Author: Keith Beasley-Topliffe

Publisher: Upper Room Books

Published: 2017-04-01

Total Pages: 86

ISBN-13: 0835816702

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With: Historical commentary Biographical info Appendix with further readings For nearly 2,000 years, Christian mystics, martyrs, and sages have documented their search for the divine. Their writings have bestowed boundless wisdom upon subsequent generations. But they have also burdened many spiritual seekers. The sheer volume of available material creates a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Enter the Upper Room Spiritual Classics series, a collection of authoritative texts on Christian spirituality curated for the everyday reader. Designed to introduce 15 spiritual giants and the range of their works, these volumes are a first-rate resource for beginner and expert alike. Writings of Augustine compiles some of the most profound and moving writings of the 4th-century African Christian who had a vast influence on the Christian church and Western culture. Included are excerpts from Augustine's Confessions and other writings.

The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition
The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition

Author: Andrew Louth

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2007-01-25

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0191608777

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Scholars of the patristic era have paid more attention to the dogmatic tradition in their period than to the development of Christian mystical theology. Andrew Louth aims to redress the balance. Recognizing that the intellectual form of this tradition was decisively influenced by Platonic ideas of the soul's relationship to God, Louth begins with an examination of Plato and Platonism. The discussion of the Fathers which follows shows how the mystical tradition is at the heart of their thought and how the dogmatic tradition both moulds and is the reflection of mystical insights and concerns. This new edition of a classic study of the diverse influences upon Christian spirituality includes a new Epilogue which brings the text completely up to date.

Augustine Mystic and Mystagogue
Augustine Mystic and Mystagogue

Author: Frederick Van Fleteren

Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 672

ISBN-13:

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This volume, entitled Augustine: Mystic and Mystagogue, studies the origins of Augustine's mystical writings, analyzing texts in which Augustine describes his own anagogic experiences and mysticism in general, and demonstrating the influence of Augustine's mystical analyses on later writers. The book is divided into four parts. In the Introduction, the editors posit critical questions concerning the nature of mysticism and present a monograph from the mid-1930's in English translation, wherein the author critiques many ascensional passages in Augustine. In the section on Augustine as Mystic, eight authors assess Augustine's descriptions of his own ascents-of-mind, and his generalizations upon them. In the section on the influence of Augustine's mysticism, ten authors examine the sway exercised by Augustine over medieval mystical writings. Finally, in the Conclusion, the editors of this volume express their own judgments concerning Augustine as both mystic and mystagogue and present the assessments of two other authors.

A Course in Christian Mysticism
A Course in Christian Mysticism

Author: Thomas Merton

Publisher: Liturgical Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0814645089

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Thomas Merton's lectures to the young monastics at the Abbey of Gethsemani provide a good look at Merton the scholar. A Course in Christian Mysticism gathers together, for the first time, the best of these talks into a spiritual, historical, and theological survey of Christian mysticism--from St. John's gospel to St. John of the Cross. Sixteen centuries are covered over thirteen lectures. A general introduction sets the scene for when and how the talks were prepared and for the perennial themes one finds in them, making them relevant for spiritual seekers today. This compact volume allows anyone to learn from one of the twentieth century's greatest Catholic spiritual teachers. The study materials at the back of the book, including additional primary source readings and thoughtful questions for reflection and discussion, make this an essential text for any student of Christian mysticism.

Freud and Augustine in Dialogue
Freud and Augustine in Dialogue

Author: William B. Parsons

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2013-11-15

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 081393480X

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"It is arguably the case," writes William Parsons, "that no two figures have had more influence on the course of Western introspective thought than Freud and Augustine." Yet it is commonly assumed that Freud and Augustine would have nothing to say to each other with regard to spirituality or mysticism, given the former's alleged antipathy to religion and the latter's not usually being considered a mystic. Adopting an interdisciplinary, dialogical, and transformational framework for interpreting Augustine's spiritual journey in his Confessions, Parsons places a "mystical theology" at the heart of Augustine's narrative and argues that his mysticism has been misunderstood partly because of the limited nature of the psychological models applied to it. At the same time, he expands Freud's therapeutic legacy to incorporate the contemporary findings of physiology and neuroscience that have been influenced in part by modern spirituality. Parsons develops a new psychological hermeneutic to account for Augustine's mysticism that will capture the imagination of contemporary readers who are both psychologically informed and interested in spirituality. The author intends this interpretive model not only to engage modern introspective concerns about developmental conflict and the power of the unconscious but also to reach a more nuanced level of insight into the origins and the nature of the self.

On the Road with Saint Augustine
On the Road with Saint Augustine

Author: James K. A. Smith

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2019-10-01

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 149341996X

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★ Publishers Weekly starred review One of the Top 100 Books and One of the 5 Best Books in Religion for 2019, Publishers Weekly Christianity Today 2020 Book Award Winner (Spiritual Formation) Outreach 2020 Resource of the Year (Spiritual Growth) Foreword INDIES 2019 Honorable Mention for Religion This is not a book about Saint Augustine. In a way, it's a book Augustine has written about each of us. Popular speaker and award-winning author James K. A. Smith has spent time on the road with Augustine, and he invites us to take this journey too, for this ancient African thinker knows far more about us than we might expect. Following Smith's successful You Are What You Love, this book shows how Augustine can be a pilgrim guide to a spirituality that meets the complicated world we live in. Augustine, says Smith, is the patron saint of restless hearts--a guide who has been there, asked our questions, and knows our frustrations and failed pursuits. Augustine spent a lifetime searching for his heart's true home and he can help us find our way. "What makes Augustine a guide worth considering," says Smith, "is that he knows where home is, where rest can be found, what peace feels like, even if it is sometimes ephemeral and elusive along the way." Addressing believers and skeptics alike, this book shows how Augustine's timeless wisdom speaks to the worries and struggles of contemporary life, covering topics such as ambition, sex, friendship, freedom, parenthood, and death. As Smith vividly and colorfully brings Augustine to life for 21st-century readers, he also offers a fresh articulation of Christianity that speaks to our deepest hungers, fears, and hopes.

Mystics of the Church
Mystics of the Church

Author: Evelyn Underhill

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2002-07-08

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 1725205750

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Evelyn Underhill's classic book on mysticism shows not only the historic development of Christian mysticism and its influence on the Church, but gives a deep insight into the spiritual growth of the individual mystics, their struggles, achievements and influence. Covering the whole development of the Christian Church from St. Paul to the present century, the author illustrates the differing backgrounds and approach of many of the great mystics such as St. Augustine of Hippo, whose writings helped to create the Church's understanding of its mystical character; and St. Francis of Assisi, whose example proved an inspiration to many. The book gives much more than an opportunity to "meet" the great mystics: it also provides a framework for the analysis of true mysticism and false, contrasting Catherine of Sienna, a girl of the people whose transcendental mysticism benefited many in an age of ecclesiastical degradation, with the well-born and beautiful Madame Guyon, whose excesses brought mysticism into disrepute. Evelyn Underhill illuminates the whole of her subject by drawing attention to the differences of approach that can bring mortals along the road to the divine, from the zealous militancy of a Loyola to the passivity of the Quietists. This absorbing study by one of the great writers on mysticism covers every aspect of the subject and gives a clear understanding of the mystics' world in writing that is both informative and stimulating.