This accessibly written volume introduces key figures, texts, and themes of the mystical tradition, showing that the mystics have much to say to contemporary Christians searching for authentic modes of spirituality.  
  
"Any undergraduate or general reader who wishes to take his or her first steps in learning about Christian mysticism can do no better than to read Baxter's remarkable, clear, and thorough Introduction to Christian Mysticism."  
\--__Kevin Hart__, University of Virginia  
  
"Baxter gives us Christian mysticism undomesticated--bold, inflamed, insistent, pushing to the very boundaries of speech, and communing with God beyond every merely human mode of communication. He reminds us that lectio divina is not merely pious but wild, and that yearning for God cannot be kept politely fenced in. He does this while showing that the greatest mystics were not anti-intellectual but rather wrote and prayed with a powerfully intelligent faith, grounded firmly in divine revelation in Christ."  
\--__Matthew Levering__, Mundelein Seminary  
  
"Tracing the mystic experiences of God from the pagans to Julian of Norwich and Nicholas of Cusa, Baxter reorients us to the tradition that we lost after the Reformation and the Enlightenment. To read this book is to be lit up again by our bright, burning, wild, and unfathomable God."  
\--__Jessica Hooten Wilson__, University of Dallas  
  
"A wise man once quipped that mysticism begins in mist and ends in schism. This is true of those mystics who endeavor to divorce faith from reason but not of those profoundly orthodox mystics who have enlightened and enlivened the Christian faith with their mystical encounters with the Divine. In this invaluable volume, Baxter guides us into the realm of ineffable wisdom."  
\--__Joseph Pearce__, Augustine Institute  
  
"Baxter competently and convincingly shows that mysticism is not only a viable and venerable Christian concept but one that needs to be recovered in the contemporary church. With ease he introduces his readers to the 'greatest hits' of the early and medieval Christian mystical tradition. As an introduction to a frequently neglected topic, this book goes a long way in making 'mysticism' part of our daily theological vocabulary."  
\--__Greg Peters__, Biola University and Nashotah House Theological Seminary

__Jason M. Baxter__ (PhD, University of Notre Dame), an expert in medieval Catholic thought, is associate professor of fine arts and humanities at Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyoming. He speaks at universities across the country and has written several books, including A Beginner's Guide to Dante's "Divine Comedy." Visit his website at JasonMBaxter.com.

This brief, accessibly written volume introduces key figures, texts, and themes of the mystical tradition and shows how and why the mystics can speak to the church today. Jason Baxter, an expert educator and storyteller, explains that the mystical tradition offers a more robust understanding of God than our current shallow conceptions. Featuring engagement with primary sources and suitable for use in a variety of courses, this book argues that the mystics have much to say to contemporary Christians searching for authentic modes of spirituality.

This brief, accessibly written volume introduces key figures, texts, and themes of the mystical tradition, showing that the mystics have much to say to contemporary Christians searching for authentic modes of spirituality.

__Contents__ Introduction: The Soul from Whom God Hides Nothing 1. The Christian of the Future in the Desert of Modernity: The Twentieth-Century Rediscovery of Ancient Mysticism 2. Pagans Grope toward God: Piety and Prayer in Antiquity 3. The Inward Turn: What Augustine Learned from the Pagans 4. The Darkness of God: Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory of Nyssa, and Meister Eckhart 5. Praying with the Whole World: Natural Contemplation and the Legacy of the Desert Fathers 6. How to Perform Scripture: Lectio Divina and the Renewal of the Heart Conclusion: The Wildness of the Spiritual Life  
Index

Baxter, Jason M.

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An Introduction to Christian Mysticism

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An Introduction to Christian Mysticism

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