The Pastoral Art of the English Mystics
The Pastoral Art of the English Mystics

Author: Julia Gatta

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2004-01-09

Total Pages: 147

ISBN-13: 172520908X

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Spiritual Direction from the English Mystics: 'The Revelations of Divine Love', by Julian of Norwich 'The Cloud of Unknowing', Anonymous 'Scale of Perfection', Walter Hilton The current popularity enjoyed by these 14th century English mystics lies in their vocation to seek union with God. Here, for the first time, Julia Gatta shows these mystics to be prototypes for the modern spiritual director, displaying keen insights into that pastoral art. At the heart of the mystics' writings is their own intense desire not merely to see and know God for themselves, but also to bring others to this union with God.

English Spirituality
English Spirituality

Author: Gordon Mursell

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press

Published: 2001-01-01

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 9780664225049

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This wide-ranging historical survey provides an indispensable resource for those interested in exploring, teaching, or studying English spirituality. In two stand-alone volumes, it traces history from Roman times until the year 2000. The main Christian traditions and a vast range of writers and spiritual themes, from Anglo-Saxon poems to late-modern feminist spirituality, are included. These volumes present the astonishing richness and variety of responses made by English Christians to the call of the divine during the past two thousand years.

Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich

Author: Kevin Magill

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-07-13

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1134236999

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Julian of Norwich was a fourteenth-century woman who at the age of thirty had a series of vivid visions centred around the crucified Christ. Twenty years later, while living as an anchoress in a church, she is believed to have set out these visions in a text called the Showing of Love. Going against the current trend to place Julian in the category of mystic - a classification which defines her visions as deeply private, psychological events - this book sets Julian’s thinking in the context of a visionary project used to instruct the Christian community. Drawing on recent developments in philosophy that debate the objectivity and rationality of vision and perception, Kevin J. Magill gives full attention to the depth and richness of the visual language and modes of perception in the Showing of Love. In particular, the book focuses on the ways in which Julian presented her vision to the Christian society around her, demonstrating the educative potential of interaction between the ‘isolated’ anchoress and the wider community. Challenging Julian’s identification as a mystic and solitary female writer, this book argues that Julian engaged in a variety of educative methods – oral, visual, conversational, mnemonic, alliterative – that extend the usefulness of her text.

T&T Clark Handbook of Sacraments and Sacramentality
T&T Clark Handbook of Sacraments and Sacramentality

Author: Martha Moore-Keish

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-12-29

Total Pages: 585

ISBN-13: 0567687678

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Introducing readers to the contemporary field of sacramental theology, this volume covers the biblical and historical foundations, a survey of the state of the discipline, and a collection of constructive essays representing major themes, practices and approaches to sacraments and sacramentality in the contemporary world. The volume starts with a set of foundational essays that offer broad introduction to the field of sacramental theology from contemporary scholars, analysing a number of historical figures in order to illumine and inform contemporary sacramental theology. The second part of the volume is dedicated to a series of essays on sacramentality, and includes attention to elements of space, time, ritual action, music, and word, all as aspects of what Christians have termed “sacramental” reality. The third set of essays includes attention to each of the seven practices that have most commonly been termed “sacraments” in Christian traditions: baptism; eucharist/Lord's Supper; confirmation; confession, forgiveness and reconciliation; marriage; ordination; and anointing. The final part of this volume features scholars who are working on sacraments in conversation with contemporary academic disciplines: critical race theory, queer theory, comparative theology, and disability studies.

The Complete Cloud of Unknowing
The Complete Cloud of Unknowing

Author:

Publisher: Paraclete Press

Published: 2014-03-01

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1612617182

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Central to the Christian mystical tradition is the inspired work of the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing. Rich with insights and perceptions of the obscurity and “unknowability” of God, this work reveals God as being on an entirely different plane of existence from human beings—so different that time-bound human language is inadequate to describe God exhaustively or accurately. Intellect and emotion both fail in seeking God, who can only be encountered by rejecting all common earthly means in a “cloud of forgetting” and the discovery of Godself in the dark “cloud of unknowing” that can be pierced only with a “lance of longing love.” Now, we finally have a translation that captures all of this beauty and complexity, without minimizing the nuances, all of which are explained with extensive introductions and accompanying notes. "If I could keep with me only two books and a journal, this book would be one of the books. As far as I’m concerned it’s the most important book (and among the most influential) on Christian prayer in the last two millennia. I'm delighted to endorse this fine new translation and commentary.”—The Rev. Dr. Chris Neufeld-Erdman, University Presbyterian Church, Fresno, CA , author of Beyond Chaos: Living the Christian Family in a World Like Ours and Returning to the Center: Living Prayer in a Distracting World "The Complete Cloud of Unknowing includes two classics of medieval Christian contemplative spirituality — essential reading for anyone seeking to deepen their relationship with God through the practice of silent prayer. They are rich texts, full of nuanced wisdom that often gets lost in modern translations. Father John-Julian has captured the beauty, humor and literary elegance of the original versions, but also has supplemented his translation with detailed notes that convey the subtle spiritual insight that makes these works required reading. I'm excited about this book — it's a title I will recommend both to beginners and to longstanding students of The Cloud.” —Carl McColman, author of Answering the Contemplative Call and The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader

Life in Christ
Life in Christ

Author: Julia Gatta

Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2018-07-17

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0819233110

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Explore how Anglican traditions enrich Episcopal worship. With its great heritage from English mystics, the Episcopal Church has been “spiritual” since before it was trendy, and modern Episcopalians have been in the forefront of exploring practices beyond Anglican boundaries. Yet, perhaps only rarely do they grasp the implications of the theology embedded in these practices or in the liturgies of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, which has shaped Episcopalians in this country with its emphasis on baptismal spirituality and the centrality of the Eucharist. Julia Gatta wants to change that with her book, Life in Christ. Applying her years of experience as pastor and spiritual director combined with her study of the spiritual wisdom of the past, she explores common Christian practices and their underlying theology through an Episcopal lens. In the tradition of Esther de Waal, Martin Smith, and Martin Thornton, with particular reference to scripture, the Book of Common Prayer, and the wisdom of the Christian spiritual tradition, she illuminates methods readers may already be practicing and provides insight and guidance to ones that may be new to them.

Beloved Dust
Beloved Dust

Author: Robert Hughes

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2008-08-15

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 0826428436

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Beloved Dust takes a realistic and contemporary view of human being as entirely physical (dust) and then shows it immersed in three great tides of the Holy Spirit, the traditional threefold rhythm of conversion, transfiguration, and glory.

Spirituality
Spirituality

Author: Kees Waaijman

Publisher: Peeters Publishers

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 986

ISBN-13: 9789042911833

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This textbook is a systematic guide to the extensive field of spirituality. Kees Waaijman charts the multiform phenomenon of spirituality: the spirituality of ordinary people, the great spiritual traditions and the force of counter-movements. From the foundation of this survey he answers questions like: What exactly is spirituality? What forms can a scholarly approach take? Finally, the book provides methodic access to the study of spirituality, focusing on the following questions: Which are the different forms of spirituality and how can we describe them? How can spiritual texts be given a reliable reading? Which themes can be distinguished in the field of spirituality and what would be a meaningful way to address them? What do we mean by spiritual guidance and what can we learn from it? This textbook has no equal. It is indispensable to scholars wishing to study the subject, but also to others who want to learn about spirituality.

Soul Friend
Soul Friend

Author: Kenneth Leech

Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2001-05-01

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0819225398

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A classic on the Christian practice of spiritual direction.Leech's scholarly, yet accessible, exploration examines the climate in which spiritual direction takes place today-the influence of the drug culture of the 1960's, Eastern influences on prayer and spiritual practice, the Pentecostal movement, and others. He provides background on the history of spiritual direction, both Protestant and Catholic, from the earliest Church through the twentieth century. Leech also explores other questions of interest to directors and those seeking out direction: the relationship between counseling and direction; the practice of prayer in Christian spiritual tradition; and the prophetic role of the spiritual director, not just for the individual but for the larger society. An excellent course book, and a fascinating book for those contemplating direction, Soul Friend will continue to be a classic for years to come.