Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Christian Mysticism

Julia A. Lamm is Associate Professor of Theology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is a recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for research at the Academy of Sciences in Berlin. She is also the author of The Living God: Schleiermacher's Theological Appropriation of Spinoza (1996) and co-editor of a forthcoming volume on Schleiermacher, The Christmas Dialogue and Other Selections, for the Classics of Western Spirituality series. She has also published articles on Julian of Norwich.

“As this comment indicates, I am assuming that this volume is going to assume a key place in the literature on this vast subject.”  (Ecclesiastical History, 1 January 2014)“Julia Lamm has assembled a valuable collection of forty articles by leading scholars in this treasury of studies of (mainly) Christian mysticism. A lengthy and expert introduction by Lamm leads to the first section: five articles on “Themes in Christian Mysticism.”  (The Catholic Historical Review, 1 January 2014)“Together they open a rich world of creative, inspired writing to contemporary students and fellow scholars.  Summing Up.  Recommended.  Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers.”  (Choice, 1 September 2013)“The Wiley-Blackwell Companion remains a treasure-trove of scholarship that will delight anyone interested in the academic conversation around Christian mysticism.”  (Carl McColman, 24 May 2013)“There is much to praise about this book, from its well-judged contents to the beautiful presentation and typeface. This is a must-have for any library, and for any student or disciple of the mystical tradition."  (Church Times, 24 May 2013)“The result is a compelling and engaging volume drawing on the best of recent cutting-edge scholarship, and providing insights into an ancient but important Christian tradition.”  (Eastern Christian Books, 17 December 2012)

• Notes on Contributors xiPreface xix1 A Guide to Christian Mysticism 1Julia A. LammPart I Themes in Christian Mysticism 252 The Song of Songs 27Ann W. Astell and Catherine Rose Cavadini3 Gender 41Barbara Newman4 Platonism 56Willemien Otten5 Aesthetics 74Don E. Saliers6 Heresy 89J. Patrick Hornbeck IIPart II Early Christian Mysticism 1037 Mysticism in the New Testament 105Alan C. Mitchell8 The Judaean–Jewish Contexts of Early Christian Mysticism 119Ori Z Soltes9 “Mysticism” in the Pre-Nicene Era? 133Bogdan G. Bucur10 Origen and His Followers 147Augustine Casiday11 Negative Theology from Gregory of Nyssa to Dionysius the Areopagite 161Charles M. Stang12 Syriac Mysticism 177Brian E. Colless13 Mysticism and Contemplation in Augustine’s Confessions 190John Peter Kenney14 Augustine’s Ecclesial Mysticism 202J. Patout Burns15 Benedictine Monasticism and Mysticism 216Columba Stewart, O.S.B.Part III Medieval Mystics and Mystical Traditions 23516 Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercian Mystical Tradition 237Brian Patrick McGuire17 The Victorines 251Boyd Taylor Coolman18 The Mystery of Divine/Human Communion in the Byzantine Tradition 267George E. Demacopoulos19 Francis, Clare, and Bonaventure 282Kevin L. Hughes20 The Nuns of Helfta 297Anna Harrison21 Mysticism in the Spiritual Franciscan Tradition 311Michael F. Cusato, O.F.M.22 The Low Countries, the Beguines, and John Ruusbroec 329Helen Rolfson, O.S.F.23 Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, and Henry Suso 340Charlotte C. Radler24 The Late Fourteenth-Century English Mystics 357Christiania Whitehead25 Late Medieval Italian Women Mystics 373Armando Maggi26 Nicholas of Cusa and the Ends of Medieval Mysticism 388Peter J. CasarellaPart IV Mysticism and Modernity 40527 The Protestant Reformers on Mysticism 407Dennis E. Tamburello, O.F.M.28 Spanish Mysticism and Religious Renewal: Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross 422Edward Howells29 Seventeenth-Century French Mysticism 437Wendy M. Wright30 The Making of “Mysticism” in the Anglo-American World: From Henry Coventry to William James 452Leigh Eric Schmidt31 “We Kiss Our Dearest Redeemer through Inward Prayer”: Mystical Traditions in Pietism 473Ruth Albrecht32 Nineteenth- to Twentieth-Century Russian Mysticism 489Paul L. Gavrilyuk33 Modern Catholic Theology and Mystical Tradition 501Stephen M. Fields, S.J.34 Mystics of the Twentieth Century 515Mary Frohlich, R.S.C.J.Part V Critical Perspectives on Mysticism 53135 A Critical Theological Perspective 533Philip Sheldrake36 What the Saints Know: Quasi-Epistemological Reflections 550James Wetzel37 Mysticism and the Vernacular 562Denis Renevey38 The Social Scientific Study of Christian Mysticism 577Ralph W. Hood, Jr. and Zhuo Chen39 Neuroscience 592Douglas E. Anderson40 Christian Mysticism in Interreligious Perspective 610Leo D. LefebureIndex 626