The Foundations of Mysticism : Origins to the Fifth Century

The Presence of God #1

by Bernard McGinn

In this first volume of the highly-acclaimed Presence of God series, Bernard McGinn explores the origins of Christian mysticism, from early Jewish apocalyptic writings to pre-Christian Greek contemplative thought; the New Testament witnesses; early Greek Patristic thought; and the contribution of early monastic practice. In Part 2, McGinn discusses Western Christian mysticism proper, with special attention to Augustine of Hippo. Of special interest is the now-influential appendix, which reviews various theoretical approaches to mysticism.

Genres: Mysticism, History, Religion, Theology, Spirituality, Christianity, Church History

494 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

Bernard McGinn, the Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School, is widely regarded as the preeminent scholar of mysticism in the Western Christian tradition. He has also written extensively on Jewish mysticism, the history of apocalyptic thought, and medieval Christianity.

A cum laude graduate of St. Joseph's Seminary and College in Yonkers, NY, he earned a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1963 and a PhD in history from Brandeis University in 1970. After teaching theology for a year at The Catholic University of America, he joined the Chicago faculty in 1969 as an instructor in theology and the history of Christianity and was appointed a full professor nine years later. Dr. McGinn was named to the Donnelley chair in 1992. He retired in 2003.

The recent recipient of a Mellon Foundation Emeritus Grant, he also has held a Fulbright-Hays Research Fellowship, an American Association of Theological Schools research award, two research fellowships for work at the Institute for Advanced Study at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a research fellowship at the Institute for Ecumenical and Culture Research at St. John's University, and a Lily Foundation Senior Research Fellowship.

Dr. McGinn has delivered invited lectures at some one hundred colleges and universities in North America, Europe, and Israel. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Medieval Academy of America.  Past-president of the International Society for the Promotion of Eriugenean Studies, the American Society of Church History, and the American Catholic Historical Association, he is member of the board of The Eckhart Society. He served as editor-in-chief of the Paulist Press series Classics of Western Spirituality and currently serves as a member of the editorial boards of Cistercian Publications, The Encyclopedia of World Spirituality, The Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan, and Spiritus.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A work in progress - four of a projected six volumes have been published - this is the best available overview and study of Western Christian mysticism. So far, McGinn has covered, in historical sequence, from the beginnings of Christianity (and older influences on early Christianity) through the fifteenth century.

[booklady]

March 3, 2014: Putting this on Back burner for now.

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Have discovered extensive highlighting in my copy of this book, which I know I bought new ... so I must have started this once before and indeed parts of it are very familiar. Begins with seeds of mysticism as they first showed growth within the Jewish faith, then in the Hellenistic world of Plato's philosophy. Think I'm going to look through my Great Courses and see if I can't find a course on this.

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Three in this series and three in McGinn's World Spirituality series have been on my shelf for awhile. Should be fun to browse even if I don't get all the way through.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would think the that a near ideal thing to collect would be

The Foundations of Mysticism Set by McGinn

along with the 60 paperback volumes of the Classics of Western Spirituality series of about 60 works now by Paulist Press, of which he was editor.

and a good balance would be the books and writings of the great English Platonist, Thomas Taylor

And for those inclined Manly P. Hall's Secret Teachings of All Ages
and books about the Golden Dawn that explain their interpretation of the Christianized Hebrew Qabalah.

[John]

religion,nonfiction,history

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and best volume of an epic history of mysticism in the west. In this volume he constructs a great theoretical and historical framework for understanding the Christian mystical tradition.

[Dustin G. Longmire · Rating 4 out of 5]

So detailed and methodical… certainly not the easiest read but a good one!

[Christopher Perez]

Don't want to do this one again. Lol. Requires studies. Was a doozy. But good info non the less