Exploring Lost Dimensions in Christian Mysticism Opening to the Mystical [Hardcover]

Mystical theology has developed through a range of meanings, from the hidden dimensions of divine significance in the communitys interpretation of its scriptures to the much later science of the souls ascent into communion with God. The thinkers and questions addressed in this book draws us into the heart of a complicated, beautiful, and often tantalisingly unfinished conversation, continuing over centuries and often brushing allusively into parallel concerns in other religions. Raising fundamental matters of epistemology, representation, metaphysics, and divine reality, contributors approach the mystical from postmodern, feminist, sociological and historical perspectives through thinkers such as Meister Eckhart, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Ignatius of Loyola, William James, Evelyn Underhill, Ernst Troeltsch, Rudolf Otto, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Marion and Jean-Louis Chr?tien. Medieval and early modern radical prophetic approaches are also explored. This book includes new essays by Sarah Apetrei, Tina Beattie, Raphel Cadenhead, Oliver Davies, Philip Endean, Brian FitzGerald, Ann Loades, George Pattison, Simon D. Podmore, Joel D.S. Rasmussen, and Johannes Zachhuber.Contents: Introduction: remembering and forgetting the mystical in contemporary theological discourse, Louise Nelstrop; The return of mysticism: the eternal return of the same?, George Pattison; On reading medieval mystics today, Oliver Davies; Mysticism as a category of inquiry in the philosophies of Ernst Troeltsch and William James, Joel D.S. Rasmussen; Mysticism as a social type of Christianity? Ernst Troeltschs interpretation in its historical and systematic context, Johannes Zachhuber; Ignatian spirituality: the mystical within the Church, Philip Endean; Mysterium horrendum: mystical theology and the negative numinous, Simon D. Podmore; Mysticism: 'the energetic love of a female adventurer, Ann Loades; The body between us: towards an incarnate mysticism, Tina Beattie; Spiritual mal#