Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher

The Classics of Western Spirituality

by Meister Eckhart, Bernard McGinn (Editor)

Here are the texts that illustrate the diversity of one of the most enigmatic and influential mystics of the Western Christian tradition. Eckhart the teacher is represented by the Commentary on Exodus and by selections from six other commentaries, including the Commentary on Wisdom 7:14, the Commentary on Ecclesiasticus 24:29, and the Commentary on John 14:8.
Eckhart's ministry as a preacher was an equally important part of the man, and thus his sermons, from both the Latin and the Middle High German manuscripts, are included. What emerges is a comprehensive picture of the works of this great speculative theologian. Together with Meister Eckhart: The Essential Sermons, Commentaries and Treatises, this work form the most extensive corpus of Eckhart's writings in English.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Christianity, Mysticism, Christian

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Eckhart von Hochheim, commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Gotha, in Thuringia.

Meister is German for "Master", referring to the academic title Magister in theologia he obtained in Paris. Coming into prominence during the decadent Avignon Papacy and a time of increased tensions between the Franciscans and Eckhart's Dominican Order of Preacher Friars, he was brought up on charges later in life before the local Franciscan-led Inquisition. Tried as a heretic by Pope John XXII, his "Defence" is famous for his reasoned arguments to all challenged articles of his writing and his refutation of heretical intent. He purportedly died before his verdict was received, although no record of his death or burial site has ever been discovered.

Meister Eckhart is sometimes (erroneously) referred to as "Johannes Eckhart", although Eckhart was his given name and von Hochheim was his surname.

"Perhaps no mystic in the history of Christianity has been more influential and more controversial than the Dominican Meister Eckart. Few, if any, mystics have been as challenging to modern day readers and as resistant to agreed-upon interpretation."
—Bernard McGinn, The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart

Reviews

[robin friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: this book is in fact the second of two Paulist Press volumes devoted to Meister Eckhart. It is erroneously listed as volume 1 here on Goodreads.

Meister Eckhart In The Classics Of Western Spirituality Series -- 2

The works of the great medieval philosopher and mystic, Meister Eckhart,(1260 -- 1327) have entered modern culture through a popular spiritual writer who has adopted his name and through composers such as John Adams who titles a movement "Eckhart and Quackie" in his "Harmonielehre." "Meister" is an honorific term awarded to show great learning and wisdom. Eckhart is a profoundly moving and difficult thinker. His works are difficult to categorize. He is within the Christian tradition but also appeals to readers with strong interests in Buddhism as well as to spiritually inclined readers who do not practice a specific religion. In 1329, two years after his death, some of the Meister's teachings were condemned by the Pope. The condemnation may have recently been tacitly lifted or markedly softened.

Many introductions to Eckhart are available. For readers with a serious interest, among the best ways to study Eckhart is through the two volumes of his writings published by Paulist Press in its "Classics of Western Spirituality" series. Both volumes include introductions and translations by Bernard McGinn, probably the leading contemporary scholar of the Meister. Both volumes also include selections from Eckhart's Latin treatises. Most readers come to Eckhart primarily through his vernacular sermons written in Medieval High German. The Latin treatises are drier, more scholarly and more difficult; but they are invaluable for a fuller understanding of this difficult thinker.

The first of the two volumes was published in 1981 as "Meister Eckhart: The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises, and Defense" while the second volume, which I am reviewing here, was published in 1986 as "Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher". I have known the first volume for a long time but I have only recently read the second with readings of the vernacular sermons and studies in between. I had trouble with the scholasticism of the Latin texts. When a friend suggested the importance of Eckhart's "Commentary on Exodus" which I hadn't read before, I had to get to know that work through this volume.

The term "Teacher and Preacher" covers both parts of Eckhart's writings: the scholarly academic treatises such as the Exodus commentary and the vernacular sermons preached to lay women religious and to others. This book shows the interrelationship and essential unity of Eckhart's Latin and German writings. The Latin works, more than the German sermons, show the vast range of the Meister's learning. They also show, if there is any doubt, that Eckhart begins deeply emeshed in medieval Christianity and in particular in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. His Latin works begin in scholasticism but in their subtlety and originality do not end there. It was rewarding to read the Latin works in this volume, particularly the lengthy Exodus commentary which is given in full.

Eckhart does not comment on every verse in Exodus. He begins with the text and works in his philosophical and theological positions. Portions of the text also involve rather traditional Biblical commentary. The lengthiest and most original portions of the commentary are those which deal with Moses' desire to see and to understand the nature of God and to understand the names of God. Eckhart does not argue for a position as much as he tries to redirect the reader to understand the relationship between God and the individual soul. The commentary and analyses are difficult and McGinn's Introduction and comments are highly useful. I had not realized before the extent of Eckhart's familiarity with and closeness to medieval Jewish thinkers, Eckhart quotes and analyzes extensively Maimonides' "Guide to the Perplexed" for its views on the predication of terms to God. Maimonides is at least as enigmatic a thinker as is Eckhart. Their languages and goals are different, but they may be closer to one another than I had thought. Eckhart also quotes from another Jewish medieval writer, the Neoplatonistically inclined Ibn Gabirol who wrote a work called "The Fountain of Life" which Eckhart knew. At the time, it was unknown that "The Fountain of Life" had been written by a Jewish author. Ibn Gabirol's neoplatonism, I found, was also a good way in thinking again about Eckhart.

Besides the "Commentary on Exodus" and other Latin treatises, this book includes six Latin sermons, which I hadn't known, one of which includes Eckhart's saying that "God is the intelligible sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere." The work also includes 24 of Eckhart's German sermons translated by Frank Tobin together with extensive notes and cross-references. Among the sermons included is no. 86 in which Eckhart explores the Gospel of Luke's story of Mary and Martha. The Meister's treatment of this story shows how spirituality requires carrying on with life rather than withdrawing from it.

The volume concludes with a long appendix, the "Sister Catherine Treatise" which is not by Eckhart but which was greatly influenced by him. It is a curious work which I thought mixed Eckhartian with non-Eckhartian themes. The heroine of this work is a young woman who disregards her confessor's advice and sets out on her own to discover the spiritual path. When she attains it, she returns to teach her former mentor.
I did not like this Treatise as much as I like and love Eckhart's own works.

The brief Foreword to this volume notes that "Meister Eckhart's writings invite us to share in a mystery. This volume has no other intention beyond that of helping to spread the invitation. .... Since his rediscovery in the early nineteenth century, [Eckhart] has inspired and influenced thousands, both famous philosophers and theologians and humble, holy seekers known only to God. Perhaps no Western mystic has appealed so strongly or offered so fruitful a conversation to the great mystical traditions of Asia."

I have thought about and returned to Eckhart many times over the years. This volume and its companion volume in the "Classics of Western Spirituality" series offer an extended way to get to know this great spiritual thinker.

Robin Friedman

[Phil Calandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Meister Eckhart Teacher and Preacher" is the 2nd book in a series written by Bernard McGinn arguably the leading contemporary scholar concerning Meister Eckhart. The book, as most books written on Meister Eckhart, can be perplexing and beyond the scope of most readers that deal with such topics as negative theology, "nothingness," and the "Godhead." However, there is something very compelling and spiritually uplifting about Meister Eckhart's work that draws the reader to him. I would highly recommend this book.

[Larry Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meister Eckhart by Meister Eckhart and Bernard McGinn (editor) contains the writings of one of the great Christian mystics. Eckhart was a proponent of the “via negativa” or the path of negation, believing that language is inadequate to describe God. (Neti Neti, as the Hindus say, meaning “Not this, not that.”)

[carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will go as my comment to most of this kind of work:

You can't talk about Nothing.