DOCSLIB.ORG

William of St. Thierry's Theological Treatment of Salvation in Light of His Pneumatology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
William of St. Thierry's Theological Treatment of Salvation in Light of His Pneumatology Durham E-Theses In the Spirit of Salvation: William of St. Thierry's Theological Treatment of Salvation in light of his Pneumatology O'LEARY, DEVIN,JAMES How to cite: O'LEARY, DEVIN,JAMES (2016) In the Spirit of Salvation: William of St. Thierry's Theological Treatment of Salvation in light of his Pneumatology, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11671/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Devin James O’Leary Abstract While desire for salvation forms the foundation of all Christian investigation, the modes through which salvation is explored vary between different theologians. William of St. Thierry, while leaving behind a wealth of extant sources, is frequently overlooked in the academic and theological investigation of the subject. This study undertakes an in-depth investigation of William’s writings, focused on pnuematological soteriology and an explanation of the characteristic elements which made up his thinking on this core. William investigates the Holy Spirit through three major identities: Will, Love and Unity. As a result of the fact that these characteristics also exist within humanity, and of the intimacy of the subject matter, this study is informative both to those studying historical theology, and to those seeking the spiritual origins of western anthropology and identity. In order to reveal the particular contours of William’s theology, it is important to compare him to the theologians on which he drew, and to those in whose company he was writing. This study compares William with the two patristic thinkers who exerted the greatest influence on his work: Origen of Antioch and St. Augustine of Hippo. It also draws comparison with four of William’s contemporaries, each representing different intellectual communities of the time: St. Anselm of Cante. rbury, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Hugh of St. Victor, and Peter Abelard. This comparison is important in order to appreciate William’s theology in light of its own principles. 1 In the Spirit of Salvation William of St. Thierry’s Theological Treatment of Salvation in light of his Pneumatology Devin James O’Leary PhD The Department of History and The Department of Theology and Religion Durham University 2015 2 Table of Contents: List of Abbreviations …………………………………………………………… 4 Statement of Copyright………………………………………………………… 10 Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………...11 Chapter One: William’s Worth ……………………………………………………13 Chapter Two: Critical Assessment of the Evidence……………………………….44 Chapter Three: Will ……………………………………………………………….96 Chapter Four: Love………………………………………………………………141 Chapter Five: Unity………………………………………………………………183 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………..221 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………...234 3 List of Abbreviations Aenigma William of St. Thierry, Aenigma fidei, in Opera omnia V. Opuscula asversus Petrum Abaelardum et de fide, ed. P. Verdeyen, CCCM, 89A (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), pp. 129 191. Arbitrii St. Anselm of Canterbury, De libertate arbitrii, in Opera omnia S. Anselmi Cantuariensis archiepiscopi, ed. F.S. Schmitt, 6 vols. [vol. 1 printed at Seckau 1938; vol. 2. at Rome 1940, all reset for the Nelson edn] (Edinburgh 1946– 1961), reprinted with new editorial material as S. Anselmi Cantuariensis archiepiscopi opera omnia, 2 vols. (Stuttgart- Bad-Cannstatt 1968-1984)],Vol. I, pp. 205-226. Arbitrio St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Liber de Gratia et de libero arbitrio in Sancti Bernardi opera, ed. J. Leclercq and H.M. Rochais, (Rome: Editiones Cistercienses, 1963), vol. 3, pp. 165-203. Canticum Origen of Alexandria, Commentarium in Canticum Canticorum, [Latin, trans. Rufinus] in Origenes Werke vol. 8, ed. W.A. Baehrens, Greichischen Christlichen Schriftsteller, 33 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1925), p. 61-241. CCCM Corpus christianorum continuatio medievalis Charity Hugh of St. Victor, ‘On the Praise of Charity,’ in On Love: A Selection of Works of Hugh, Adam, Achard, Richard, and Godfrey of St. Victor, ed. Hugh Feiss, trans. Franklin T. Harkins (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011). Choice St. Anselm of Canterbury, ‘Freedom of Choice,’ in The Complete Philosophical and Theological Treatises of Anselm of Canterbury, trans. Jasper Hopkins and Herbert Richardson (Minneapolis: The Arthur J. Banning Press, 2000) pp. 191- 213. Contemplating William of St. Thierry, ‘On Contemplating God,’ in On Contemplating God, Prayer, and Meditations, trans. Penelope Lawson (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1970), pp. 36 66. 4 Contemplando William of St. Thierry, De Contemplando Deo: La Contemplation de Dieu: L’oraison de Dom Guillaume, ed. and trans., Jacques Hourlier (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1959). Concordia St. Anselm of Canterbury, De Concordia praescientiae et praedestinationis et gratiae dei cum libero arbitrio in Opera omnia [as Arbitrii above] vol. II, pp. 245-288. Collationes Peter Abelard, Collationes, eds. and trans. John Marenbon and Giovanni Orlandi (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) Cur Deus St. Anselm of Canterbury, Cur Deus Homo, in Opera Omnia [as Arbitrii above] , vol. II, pp. 39-133. ‘Cur Deus’ St. Anselm of Canterbury, ‘Cur Deus Homo,’ in Complete Philosophical and Theological Treatises of Anselm of Canterbury, [as Choice above], pp. 295-389. Days Hugh of St. Victor, ‘On the Three Days,’ in Trinity and Creation: Victorine Texts in Translation, Exegesis, Theology and Spirituality from the Abbey of St. Victor, eds. Boyd Taylor Coolman and Dale M. Coulter, trans. Christopher P Evens (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2011). Didascalicon Hugh of St. Victor, Didascalicon de studio legendi, ed. Ch.H. Buttimer (Wahsington D.C.: Catholic University Press, 1939), pp. 1-133. Didascalicon: Guide Hugh of St. Victor, The Didascalicon of Hugh of St. Victor: A Medieval Guide to the Arts, trans. Jerome Taylor (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968). Diebus Hugh of St. Victor, De Tribus Diebus, ed. D. Poirel CCCM, 177 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2002.) Diligendo St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Liber de diligendo Deo, in Sancti Bernardi opera, [as Arbitrio above], vol. 3, pp. 119-154. Enigma William of St. Thierry, The Enigma of Faith, trans. John D. Anderson (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1973). Epistle William of St. Thierry, The Golden Epistle, trans. Theodore Berkeley (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1971). Epistula William of St. Thierry, ‘Epistula ad fratres de Monte Dei,’ in 5 Opera omnia III. Opera didactica et spiritualia: De Sacremento Altaris; De natura corporis et animae; De contemplando Deo; De Natura et dignitate amoris; Epistula ad fratres de Monte Dei, eds. Stanly Ceglar and Paul Verdeyen (Turnhout: Brepols, 2003). Ethics Peter Abelard, Ethics, trans. J. Ramsay McCallum, (Merrick: Richwood Publishing Co., 1976). Volume used with amendment where necessary. Expositio Canticum William of St. Thierry, ‘Expositio super Cantica canticorum,’ in Opera Omnia II, Expositio super Cantica canticorum; Brevis Commentatio; Excerpta de libris beati Ambrosii super Cantica canticorum; Excerpta ex libris beati Gregorii super Cantica canticorum, eds. Stanly Ceglar and Paul Verdeyen (Turnhout: Brepols, 1997). Free Choice St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On Grace and Free Choice, trans. Daniel O’Donovan (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1988). Meditations William of St. Theirry, ‘Meditations,’ in On Contemplating God, Prayer, and Meditations, trans. Penelope Lawson (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1970), pp. 89-190. Meditativae William of St. Thierry, Meditativae orationes: Oraisons méditatives ed. and trans., Jacques Hourlier (Paris Éditions du Cerf, 1986). Mirror William of St. Thierry, The Mirror of Faith, trans. Thomas X. Davis (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1979). Monologion St. Anselm of Canterbury, Monologion in Opera omnia [as Arbitrii above],Vol. I, pp. 5-122. ‘Monologion’ St. Anselm of Canterbury ‘Monologion,’ in The Complete Philosophical and Theological Treatises of Anselm of Canterbury, [as Choice above], pp. 1-87. Natura William of St. Thierry, ‘De Natura et dignitate amoris,’ in Opera omnia, III. Opera didactica et spiritualia: De Sacremento Altaris; De natura corporis et animae; De contemplando Deo; De Natura et dignitate amoris; Epistula 6 ad fratres de Monte Dei, eds. Stanly Ceglar and Paul Verdeyen (Turnhout: Brepols, 2003). Nature William of St. Thierry, The Nature and Dignity of Love, Thomas X. Davis (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1981). Origen, Song Origen of Alexandria, The Song of Songs Commentary and Homilies, trans. R. P. Lawson (Mahwah: The Newman Press, 1957). Principiis Origen of Alexandria, De principiis (Periarchon), ed. P. Koetschau, Greichischen Christlichen Schriftsteller, 22 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1913), pp. 7-364. Principles Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles, trans. G. W. Butterworth (Notre Dame: Christian Classics, 2013). Processione St. Anselm of Canterbury, De processione spiritus sancti in
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018
    Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 Conforming to General Convention 2018 1 Preface Christians have since ancient times honored men and women whose lives represent heroic commitment to Christ and who have borne witness to their faith even at the cost of their lives. Such witnesses, by the grace of God, live in every age. The criteria used in the selection of those to be commemorated in the Episcopal Church are set out below and represent a growing consensus among provinces of the Anglican Communion also engaged in enriching their calendars. What we celebrate in the lives of the saints is the presence of Christ expressing itself in and through particular lives lived in the midst of specific historical circumstances. In the saints we are not dealing primarily with absolutes of perfection but human lives, in all their diversity, open to the motions of the Holy Spirit. Many a holy life, when carefully examined, will reveal flaws or the bias of a particular moment in history or ecclesial perspective. It should encourage us to realize that the saints, like us, are first and foremost redeemed sinners in whom the risen Christ’s words to St. Paul come to fulfillment, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The “lesser feasts” provide opportunities for optional observance. They are not intended to replace the fundamental celebration of Sunday and major Holy Days. As the Standing Liturgical Commission and the General Convention add or delete names from the calendar, successive editions of this volume will be published, each edition bearing in the title the date of the General Convention to which it is a response.
    [Show full text]
  • BOOK ESSAY Bernard Mcginn's Presence of God: the Project That
    Louvain Studies 41 (2018): 173-195 doi: 10.2143/LS.41.2.3284885 © 2018 by Louvain Studies, all rights reserved BOOK ESSAY Bernard McGinn’s Presence of God: The Project that Made Mystical Theology Respectable John Arblaster and Rob Faesen For the past several decades, Bernard McGinn,1 Emeritus Professor of the University of Chicago, has been working on a magisterial project on the history of Christian mysticism entitled The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism.2 Part two of volume six of this series of books was published in late 2017. Despite the fact that seven books have thus far appeared, a review of the series may appear somewhat prema- ture, given that two more books are planned to complete the project. Nevertheless, we would like to take this opportunity to discuss McGinn’s contributions thus far, and especially from our own expertise, which is primarily in the history of mystical theology in the medieval and early modern Low Countries. Each of the volumes of The Presence of God has received almost universal praise. For example, Denys Turner, another famous scholar of medieval mysticism, commented on the fifth volume: 1. Bernard McGinn is the Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, where he taught for thirty-four years (1969-2003). Trained in both theology and Medieval intellectual history, the author and/or editor of thirty-three books and well over three hundred articles; he was Editor- in-Chief of the Paulist Press Classics of Western Spirituality Series between 1988 and 2015, and has served on the editorial boards of many publications.
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Devotion the Northern Renaissance and Religious
    Turning Points:God’s Faithfulness in Christian History 4. Religious Awakening: Modern Devotion below: Begijnhof/ Beguinage, Bruges Context : Renaissance 1300-1500 “Renaissance”= re-birth / discovery of “Classical Ancient World”= Greece & Roman (600 BC--300 AD) “Humanism” = method to recover & study ancient texts. Discovery of ancient wisdom challenged existing authorities (church, kings): “Veritas, non auctoritas facit legem” (truth, not authority makes the law); truth in original texts & languages: Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, classical Latin. All Truth is God’s Truth Arthur F. Holmes, All Truth Is God’s Truth (Eerdmans, 1977). Long-time Wheaton College philosopher 2 Rise of Spirituality Problem of “Spirituality” for medieval laity & individual: (1) Few “religious” (nuns), monks, & priests w/some access to spirituality; (2) Laity mediated only through institutional Christendom (& rise of papacy). Lacked: access to Bible (esp. own language); God very distant (in heaven judging) & Jesus divinity, not humanity; no developed sense of individual/personal piety; almost no education about doctrine. CHANGE 1. Renaissance: 1300-1500 = re-birth of antiquity. 2. Christology: from almost solely divine Jesus to more human Jesus. 3. Mysticism allowed individual quest to know God & Self with heightened awareness of role of “conscience” & individual responsibility. Rise of Spirituality 4. “Devotio Moderna ” (modern devotion) movement northern Europe: Beguines, Brethren of the Common Life, & new Augustinian Order1256, education & publication. 5. Crises 14th c.: breakdown Christendom (2-3 popes);100 Yrs. War; Bubonic Plague; Peasant revolts. 6. Christian Humanism & spread of handbooks/manuals (scholarly base) & devotional materials. A balance b/w FAITH & REASON = goal. Crisis of Authority: Breakdown of Christendom Great Schism (1378-1417) SUPPORT Avignon: Kingdoms of France, Two popes: Avignon & Rome.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Does the History of Christian Spirituality Mattery
    WHY DOES THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY MATTER? Rob Faesen PIRITUALITY, IN ALL ITS SHAPES and forms, is very much in vogue at S present. But for the history of Christian spirituality, this is much less the case. It appears that what happened in the past is regarded as of little relevance, and as something that, on the whole, can be disregarded. There are, however, a few fashionable exceptions—for example Meister Eckhart and the Beguines. I would like to raise the question of why the history of Christian spirituality might be very relevant, and what some important writers from the European spiritual tradition can teach us in the twenty-first century. Perhaps the first point to stress is that, in any case, the importance of spirituality is relative, and never normative. On this, the Bible could not be clearer: the only thing that really matters is to love God, with all one’s heart, all one’s soul and all one’s mind, and this can only be done by loving one’s neighbour as oneself (Matthew 22:36–39). Included in the command to love one’s neighbour as oneself are personal care for the neighbour, the effort to establish human, social and economic structures that are just, and to nurture and protect God’s creation. The human person is called to an actively good, just and responsible life. These things are normative and indispensable. Spirituality presupposes this; in no way are the two mutually exclusive. On the contrary, these are clearly foundational principles in the history of Christian spirituality.
    [Show full text]
  • John of Ruusbroec Mystic and Theologian in the Quiet of Groenendaal
    LIEVE UYTTENHOVE John of Ruusbroec Mystic and Theologian in the Quiet of Groenendaal A few years ago, I was asked to attend a colloquium on hermits and recluses in the Low Countries. On that occasion, I was due to give a lecture on the fourteenth-century Brabantine mystical writer John of Ruusbroec (1293-1381), of whom it has generally been said, left the city of Brussels in 1343 and moved into a hermit’s hut in the Sonian Forest, in a valley called Groenendaal. Unfor- tunately, the colloquium did not take place. It was then decided that I convert my presentation into an article. At that stage, I took for granted the generally accepted portrayal of Ruus- broec as a ‘hermit’, who lived in a hermitage or hermit’s hut. This depiction, however, may be less securely based than might at first sight appear. With regard to both Ruusbroec’s move into a hermitage and the seemingly general consensus that he lived there as a hermit, it is helpful to rehearse the relevant findings in two extant and well-known written testimonies about his life. The first of these is a Prologue to a manuscript collection of five of Ruusbroec’s works written circa 1360 by Brother Gerard of Saintes, a Carthusian at the ­priory in Herne;1 the second is a biography of Ruusbroec contained in De ­origine monasterii Viridisvallis – a history of the foundation of the priory at Groenendaal – written circa 1414-1420 by canon of Groenendaal, Hendrik Utenbogaerde (better known by his Latinised name Henricus Pomerius).2 ¶ I wish to thank Ursula Lawler for assistance in language editing and proofreading the manuscript.
    [Show full text]
  • Traces of a Thomistic De Musica in the Compositions of Olivier Messiaen
    Siglind Bruhn Traces of a Thomistic De musica in the Compositions of Olivier Messiaen In the year of his centennial, Olivier Messiaen (1908–92) is widely acknowledged as not only one of the leading French com­ posers of the twentieth century, but as a voice of timeless signifi­ cance within Western music. In addition to his love for music with its “colors” and rhythms, he felt passionately about two other areas in which he became an erudite scholar: theology and ornithology. A devout Catholic, he owned and diligently read a large collection of theologi cal books; an avid bird lover, he studied their song so thoroughly that his contri butions to the field are now considered invalua ble even to specialists. A third field to which Messiaen de­ voted a cluster of com positions is that of idealized human love. As he knew, all love derives from God’s love for humankind. The hu­ man love of God may be but an awkward and flawed response to the divine gift, but even the love of one human for another, provided it is true and strong, must be regarded as a reflection—albeit a pale reflection—of God’s love.1 Messiaen began reading books on theology already as a teen­ ager. Mystics like John of Ruusbroec, Thomas à Kempis, and Thomas Merton as well as saints like Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Ávila, John logos 11:4 fall 2008 thomistic de musica in the compositions of messiaen 17 of the Cross, Catherine of Siena, and Thérèse de Lisieux were of crucial impor tance for his devotion.
    [Show full text]
  • How Ruusbroec Tastes, Sounds, and Smells Henry of Coesfeld and the Gerson–Groenendaal Controversy
    TOM GAENS How Ruusbroec Tastes, Sounds, and Smells Henry of Coesfeld and the Gerson–Groenendaal Controversy Around 1406, the chancellor of the University of Paris Jean Gerson († 1429) condemned parts of Ruusbroec’s Espousals in two letters to the Herne Carthu- sian Bartholomew Clantier († 1427).1 In his second letter, Gerson included an excerpt from a capitular sermon by an anonymous Carthusian.2 Elsewhere, I have demonstrated that this quotation has its origin in a sermo or collatio held by Henry of Coesfeld († 1410) at the 1406 general chapter of the Urbanist branch of the Carthusian Order in Seitz [Žiče].3 This sermon contains a sum- mary of Henry’s theology of devotio, as it was developed in a few earlier ser- mons and a tract on the institution of the sacrament of the Eucharist.4 ¶ I would like to thank José van Aelst, Krijn Pansters, Kees Schepers, and John Arblaster, for giving valuable comments and insights to improve this essay. I am also indebted to Jasper Hop- kins’ translations of the early sermons of Nicholas of Cusa, made available on his personal web- site (jasper-hopkins.info). 1 For an overview of the Gerson–Groenendaal controversy, see K. Schepers, ‘Ruusbroec in Latin: Impulses and Impediments’, in: J. Arblaster & R. Faesen, A Companion to John of Ruusbroec [Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, 51], Leiden – Boston, 2014, 237-285, p. 262-268. 2 See the edition of Epistola II ad Bartholomeum in A. Combes, Essai sur la critique de Ruys- broeck par Gerson, 3 vols., Paris, 1945-1959, vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Brepolis Catalogue
    2020 Online DATABASES Brepols Online Databases Table of Contents Introduction 1 Source Collections 2 Bibliographies 11 Encyclopaedias 18 Stand-alone Databases 21 WEBSITES www.brepolis.net - www.brepols.net More info on databases: about.brepolis.net E-NEWSLETTER Subscribe to our free E-Newsletter: [email protected] Please specify your field(s) of interest. B Introduction Unequaled resources for the study of Western civilisation from Antiquity to the twenty-first century For more than 25 years, Brepols Publishers has been The other strength of Brepols lies in the study of Latin developing high-value databases in the field of Humanities. language and Literature as we offer the world’s leading Since 2001, these databases are available online on a databases in this field. Brepols has created a Latin environ- platform called BREPOLiS. ment where we bring together recent Latin texts editions and Latin dictionaries: At the moment, BREPOLiS offers seven bibliographic databases, four encyclopaedias, eight full-text data- The cluster Brepolis Latin Complete gathers together bases and four stand-alone databases. the Library of Latin Texts (Series A & Series B), the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, the Archive of Celtic- Latin Literature, the Aristoteles Latinus Database, and One of Brepols’ main fields of interest isMedieval Studies. the Database of Latin Dictionaries. The Cross Database We have created an unparalleled medieval environment Searchtool allows the user to search these databases where we bring together key resources for the study of simultaneously. the Middle Ages with bibliographies on the one hand, and with encyclopaedias on the other. Two clusters are available, including “live links”: A last cluster of databases is dedicated to Religious Studies and Church History and includes the Index Religiosus, the Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, and Brepolis Medieval Bibliographies gathers together the Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire (Bischöfe des Heiligen the International Medieval Bibliography, the Bibliographie Römischen Reiches).
    [Show full text]
  • Poverty and Mobility: New Religious Movements and Urban
    Poverty and Mobility: new religious movements (c. 1200-1300 AD) Europe c. 1200- 1300By 1200, the map of Europe was a complex one: • A number of polities that had grown up in the wake of the collapse of the Carolingian empire – by this stage, they were increasingly mature and ambitious! • The most powerful kings increasingly sought to establish fuller control over core and neighbouring territories, limiting the authority of other dukes and princes within them, and establishing clearer borders. The roots of “countries”, in the modern sense, are becoming a little easier to see. • In the region of modern-day France, the Kings of the Franks (who increasingly styled themselves “Kings of France”) began a struggle with the Angevin/English kings; the latter had full sovereignty in England, but also held and effectively ruled many territories in France that were technically subordinate to the French King. • The Empire, meanwhile, was becoming an increasingly German polity. Increasingly independent and ambitious local states in northern Italy – Venice and Genoa especially – as well as the Papacy begin to roll back the power of the German Emperors in the Italian peninsula. • The aspiration to have a ‘universal’ authority still existed in the Latin West, however, despite the decline of the Empire. The post-Gregorian reform papacy had much success in subjugating the clergy throughout Western/Central Europe to its overall authority. This greater control in religious matters ran across borders and effectively gave the papacy significant political influence across the West. They also claimed the right to collect taxes from ecclesiastical properties regardless of which polity they were located in.
    [Show full text]
  • The Shape of Spiritual Direction in the Mystical Theology of Jan Van Ruusbroec
    THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA The Shape of Spiritual Direction in the Mystical Theology of Jan van Ruusbroec A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By Greg Voiles Washington, D.C. 2016 The Shape of Spiritual Direction in the Mystical Theology of Jan van Ruusbroec Greg Voiles, Ph.D. Director: James Wiseman, O.S.B, S.T.D. This dissertation considers the trinitarian mystical theology of the late-medieval mystical theologian Jan van Ruusbroec and how his trinitarian thought forms and animates his written spiritual direction. It particularly examines the relationship between Ruusbroec’s trinitarian mystical theology and his post-Brussels written spiritual direction, which offers guidance to specific communities and persons in their pursuit of union with God through the life of prayer, worship, and service. In order to render a coherent account of this relationship and its primary characteristics, the work argues that one must read Ruusbroec as a mystical theologian. As a mystical theologian, Ruusbroec’s thought displays the natural integrity of theology and spirituality, as assumed by the majority of the theological masters of the Christian tradition, from its origins to the High Middle Ages. After dealing with the biographical details of Ruusbroec’s life and historical, cultural, and theological contexts, the study makes a foray into the works of Ruusbroec to show the primary characteristics of the Brabantine’s trinitarian mystical theology, the core of which is his teaching of essential love, the perfect, eternal simultaneity and harmony of activity and rest of the life of the Trinity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Strategy of Ontological Negativity in Meister Eckhart's Metaphysics
    religions Article The Strategy of Ontological Negativity in Meister Eckhart’s Metaphysics and in Philosophical Traditions of India Tatyana Lifintseva * and Dmitry Tourko * Faculty of Humanities, School of Philosophy, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Staraya Basmannaya st., 21/4, Moscow 105066, Russia * Correspondence: lifi[email protected] (T.L.); [email protected] (D.T.); Tel.: +7-9099748119 (T.L.) Received: 4 October 2018; Accepted: 20 November 2018; Published: 26 November 2018 Abstract: In this article, the authors investigate ontological strategies in Meister Eckhart’s metaphysics, which remounts Neoplatonism and the Corpus Areopagiticum, and in two schools of Indian philosophical tradition, the Advaita Vedanta and Early Buddhism. Along with differences in the anthropology, epistemology, and soteriology of these traditions, we can find similar strategies of ontological negativity and mystical experience in both traditions: detachment from the world of images and forms as the highest blessing; non-association of oneself with corporality, feelings, cognitive ability and reason; interiorizing the intentionality of consciousness, and termination of its representative function. Practically all systems of Indian philosophy were projects of liberation or personal transformation from subjugation and suffering into being free and blissful. The idea of spiritual release is also the cornerstone of Christian salvation as with the renouncement of sin and entering blissful unity with God. The apophatic doctrine of Christian neo-platonic mystics about the concealment, non-comprehensiveness, and inexpressibleness of God as the One and Nothingness, and also the idea of comprehension of God by means of detachment from the created world and one’s own ego, gives us the opportunity for such comparative analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Notices
    Studies in Spirituality 27, 323-343. doi: 10.2143/SIS.27.0.3254109 © 2017 by Studies in Spirituality. All rights reserved. BOOK NOTICES The intention of these book notices is very simple: to draw attention to new spirituality books that could be of interest to readers of Studies in Spirituality. Henk Rutten, the librarian and information manager of the Titus Brandsma Institute, lists about sixty titles with short descriptions. They are not meant to be comprehensive and in-depth book reviews. Arblaster, John, & Rob Faesen (Eds.), Mystical Anthropology: Authors from the Low Countries, Basingstoke: Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2016 (Contemporary Theological Explorations in Christian Mysticism), 240 pages, ISBN: 9781472438034. The question of the ‘structure’ of the human person is central to many mystical authors in the Christian tradition. This book focuses on the specific anthropology in a series of key authors in the mystical tradition in the medieval and early modern Low Countries. Their view is fundamentally different from the anthropology that has commonly been accepted since the rise of Modernity. This book explores the most important mystical authors and texts from the Low Countries including: William of Saint-Thierry, Hadewijch, Pseudo-Hadewijch, John of Ruusbroec, Jan van Leeuwen, Willem Jordaens, Hendrik Herp, Arnhem Mystical Sermons, and the Evangelical Pearl. The most impor- tant aspects of mystical anthropology are discussed: the spiritual nature of the soul, the inner-most being of the soul, the faculties, the senses, and crucial metaphors which were used to explain the relationship of God and the human person. Two contribu- tions explicitly connect the anthropology of the mystics to contemporary thought.
    [Show full text]