Love Burning in the Soul

by HARPUR, JAMES

• ISBN13: 9781590301128
• ISBN10: 1590301129
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-10-11
• Publisher: New Seeds

Summary

The heart of the Christian faith is a direct encounter with God so profound that it can be referred to asunion.It is an experience that cannot be described in words, but itcanbe glimpsed-in the radiant lives of the men and women called mystics. Here James Harpur presents the stories of some of the most influential Christian mystics from the past two thousand years. He provides their historical and ecclesiastical contexts, as well as appreciations of the unique contributions of each of them to the ongoing articulation of the way of love and union.Love Burning in the Soulis a comprehensive and highly readable survey of the great Christian mystical tradition for everyone. Included are: Clement of Alexandria * Gregory of Nyssa * John Scotus Eriugena * Bernard of Clairvaux * Hildegard of Bingen * Francis of Assisi * Mechtild of Magdeburg * Meister Eckhart * John Tauler * Jan van Ruysbroeck * Gregory Palamas * Richard Rolle * Julian of Norwich * Catherine of Siena * Jacob Boehme * George Fox * Teresa of Aacute;vila * Franccedil;ois Feacute;nelon * Jean Pierre de Caussade * William Blake * Pierre Teilhard de Chardin * Thomas Merton * Many others

Author Biography

James Harpur studied Classics and English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, and has had a lifelong interest in the spiritual and mystical aspects of religion. He has written a number of books on religion, particularly the Christian mystical tradition, including Sacred Tracks: Two Thousand Years of Christian Pilgrimage and The Atlas of Sacred Places. He is also a prize-winning poet whose three collections of verse reflect his interest in the Christian contemplative tradition.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(12)
New Testament Times	13	(11)
Jesus	15	(4)
Paul	19	(2)
John	21	(3)
The Early Church	24	(12)
Clement of Alexandria	26	(3)
Origen	29	(3)
Plotinus	32	(4)
The Christian Empire	36	(11)
Gregory of Nyssa	38	(2)
Evagrius Ponticus	40	(2)
Augustine of Hippo	42	(5)
The Dark Ages	47	(12)
Dionysius the Areopagite	49	(4)
Pope Gregory the Great	53	(3)
John Scotus Erigena	56	(3)
The Age of the Crusades	59	(12)
Bernard of Clairvaux	61	(4)
Richard of Saint-Victor	65	(2)
Hildegard of Bingen	67	(4)
Franciscans	71	(11)
Francis of Assisi	73	(3)
Bonaventure	76	(3)
Angela of Foligno	79	(3)
The Beguines	82	(12)
Hadewijch of Brabant	86	(2)
Mechthild of Magdeburg	88	(3)
Marguerite Porete	91	(3)
The Rhineland Mystics	94	(13)
Meister Eckhart	96	(4)
Johannes Tauler	100	(1)
Henry Suso	101	(2)
Jan van Ruysbroeck	103	(4)
Orthodox Mysticism and Hesychasm	107	(12)
Symeon the New Theologian	111	(3)
Gregory Palamas	114	(5)
The English Flowering	119	(12)
Richard Rolle	121	(2)
The Cloud of Unknowing	123	(3)
Walter Hilton	126	(2)
Julian of Norwich	128	(3)
The Late Middle Ages	131	(9)
Catherine of Siena	133	(3)
Catherine of Genoa	136	(4)
Protestant Mysticism	140	(12)
Jacob Boehme	143	(4)
George Fox	147	(5)
The Golden Age of Spain	152	(11)
Teresa of Avila	154	(4)
John of the Cross	158	(5)
French Mystics and Quietism	163	(13)
Francis de Sales	165	(3)
Brother Lawrence	168	(2)
Miguel de Molinos	170	(2)
Madame Guyon	172	(1)
Francois Fenelon	173	(3)
The Age of the Enlightenment	176	(12)
Jean-Pierre de Caussade	178	(3)
William Law	181	(3)
John Wesley	184	(4)
Romantics and Nature Mysticism	188	(13)
William Blake	190	(5)
William Wordsworth	195	(6)
The Modern Age	201	(14)
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin	205	(3)
Thomas Merton	208	(7)
Epilogue	215	(6)
Notes	221	(14)
Selected Bibliography	235