When examining religious individualization processes, "religious self-determination" makes for a particularly intense subject. In this work the intense nature of the topic isdiscussed, based upon the life and times of the late medieval theologian Meister Eckhart, and set within the context of intellectual and cultural history. The exchangethat took place between religious metaphysics and deep, personal religious experience contributed, among other things, to creating a climate for religious self-determination, which repeatedly caused conflicts within the church.
In medieval literature, tradition and innovation are often closer together than it seems at first glance. Again and again, traditional things are presented as new so as not to be boring, or innovative things as highly traditional and source-bound so as not to be offensive. The relationship between tradition and innovation has always been precarious for all medieval literature, but it becomes highly problematic, even existential, for spiritual poetry and literature that is committed to the Word revealed in the Bible.
When examining religious individualization processes, "religious self-determination" makes for a particularly intense subject. In this work the intense nature of the topic isdiscussed, based upon the life and times of the late medieval theologian Meister Eckhart, and set within the context of intellectual and cultural history. The exchangethat took place between religious metaphysics and deep, personal religious experience contributed, among other things, to creating a climate for religious self-determination, which repeatedly caused conflicts within the church.
In medieval literature, tradition and innovation are often closer together than it seems at first glance. Again and again, traditional things are presented as new so as not to be boring, or innovative things as highly traditional and source-bound so as not to be offensive. The relationship between tradition and innovation has always been precarious for all medieval literature, but it becomes highly problematic, even existential, for spiritual poetry and literature that is committed to the Word revealed in the Bible.