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Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism (1200-1350). Vol. 3 of The Presence of Gos: A History of Western Christian Mysticism, The

Spiritual Life, Summer 1999 by Wiseman, James A

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You should unbind the captives

And compel the free.

You should refresh the sick

And should still have nothing for

yourself

You should drink the water of pain

And ignite the fire of love with the

wood of virtue.

Then you are living in the true

desert.

McGinn's judicious selection of passages such as the ones quoted above, together with his clear style and abundant notes (the endnotes and bibliography comprise more than one-third of the book), make this volume, like the first two in the series, a work to treasure. In this reviewer's opinion, the only weak part of the book is its final chapter where McGinn may have tried to treat too many mystics of relatively minor significance and thereby lost the forest for the trees. He expresses this fear in a two-page Postscript.

More Articles of Interest: Flowing Light of the Godhead, The; "Who does she think she is?" Christian women's mysticism; Brides in the Desert: The Spirituality of the Beguines; Christological transformation in The Mirror of Souls, by Marguerite Porete; Soul as Virgin Wife: Mechthild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete, and Meister...

But even if he had omitted most of the figures treated in chapter six, he would still not have been able to solve another problem, namely, that in covering a mere 150 years (far fewer than in either volume one or two) he nevertheless did not have space to deal with the major current of more speculative mysticism that we associate with Meister Eckhart, John Tauler, Henry Suso, and John Ruusbroec. These mystics, together with such women as Catherine of Siena and Julian of Norwich, will be covered in the next volume, to be entitled Continuity and Change in Western Mysticism. How far McGinn will be able to get in it and whether he will even be able to complete his project in what are now promised to be five volumes in all, remains to be seen. Perhaps a sixth volume will be needed to bring the history up to the twentieth century. This, however, would in some ways be a blessing, so outstanding is the work of this scholar.

-James A. Wiseman

James A. Wiseman, O.S.B., is an associate professor in the theology department at The Catholic University of America and is also the claustral prior ofSt. Anselm's Abbey in Washington, D.C.

Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism (1200-1350). Vol. 3 of The Presence of Gos: A History of Western Christian Mysticism, The

Spiritual Life, Summer 1999 by Wiseman, James A

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