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The Christian mystics are the treasure of Western civilization—yet they remain little known among those of us who are potentially their spiritual heirs. Andrew Harvey's anthology confronts us with the mystics in their own words, to show us how well they serve, even now, as guides for the spiritual life—and to challenge our preconceived ideas about the path of Christianity. He has chosen selections that represent all eras of the Christian tradition, as well as the amazing range of people who have embodied it, people like Francis of Assisi, Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila, Thomas Merton, Bede Griffiths, and many others.
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"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lod" Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lod" Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book has earned a permanent place on my bedside table as a valuable source of comfort and inspiration. The entries are brief, thought-provoking, and heart-opening. They provide an excellent way to center the mind and heart in preparation for meditation and prayer.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Andrew Harvey has been a one-man industry in matters mystical. His credentials as a Christian are thin (a gushing book on Jesus - Son of Man: The Mystical Path to Christ - that put me right off) but for this collection it hardly matters. The classics presented here are obvious choices and brief enough for hurried readers who just want a bit of mystic titillation before moving on with their lives. Anyone who wants to engage with the deep thought paraded here will have to go much, much deeper than this anthology, but at least it points them in the right direction. Maybe it's the sort of book to put by the bed instead of a Gideon's Bible, or to put by the loo for people who have about one minute to spare. Think of the volume as Reader's Digest for the soul.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5 reviews
55 of 55 people found the following review helpful
You'll want to share passages with your friends
7 April 2000
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have found in recent years a growing interest in Christian mysticism and a growing pleasure in books that offer the insights of the mystics for the general public's enjoyment (as opposed to denser more scholarly tomes, which, while having a valuable place and worth accessing, don't really add to one's daily activities the way devotionals do.)
This lovely little book has a very nice variety, although not all entries are from "mystics" in the way that we usually think of that term (e.g. Gregory of Nyssa, Mother Teresa, George Herbert, Gerard Manly Hopkins). But that's fine, because these are still valuable spiritual voices. Don't worry, though, for most of the entries are from well-known mystics (Hildegard, Mechtild, Angela of Foligno, Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, St. John of the Cross.)
Some names were unfamiliar to me, but pleasant to read nonetheless, such as Saint Isaac the Syrian, one of whose entries could be a rallying cry for animal rights supporters everywhere, and which enjoins charitable folks to pray even for demons and reptiles. : ) Feminists will delight in Marguerite of Oingts cry, "Jesus are you not my mother?"
Very welcome passages include some of the sayings of the desert fathers (lovely, brief, instructive stories) and some pertinent Scripture passages (excerpts from the incomparable Sermon on the Mount, from the gospels of Mark and John,from the Revelation, and from the writings of Paul).
It closes blessedly with a familiar passage from Teresa of Avila, which, if you haven't heard it done musically by John Michael Talbot, you ought to try and do so!-- "Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours, yours are the eyes through which he is to look out Christ's compassion to the world..."
*Mir*
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Sourcebook for Devotion
27 July 1999
Format:Paperback
This book has earned a permanent place on my bedside table as a valuable source of comfort and inspiration. The entries are brief, thought-provoking, and heart-opening. They provide an excellent way to center the mind and heart in preparation for meditation and prayer.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Teachings of the Christian Mystics by Andrew Harvey
10 Oct 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Teachings of the Christian Mystics
Edited by Andrew Harvey
The Teachings of Christian Mystics edited by Andrew Harvey contain excerpts from the scriptures and the writing of Christian mystics, many who have experienced union with God and the divine marriage. The writings of these beloved saints lead us ever closer to the heart of an intelligent, loving and passionate creator who desires to be known by us, even as we are known by Him; He is the birther of the cosmos and we are his 'Beloved.'
In the words of Andrew Harvey taken from the introduction,"Christ came not to found a new religion or to inaugurate a new set of dogmas but to open up a fierce and shattering new path of love-in-action, a path that seems now, with the hindsight of history, the one that could have saved-and still could save- humanity from its course of suicidal self-destruction."
Read and drink deep from the well of pure waters found within these pages. Reviewed by author: Marie Atkinson
Edited by Andrew Harvey
The Teachings of Christian Mystics edited by Andrew Harvey contain excerpts from the scriptures and the writing of Christian mystics, many who have experienced union with God and the divine marriage. The writings of these beloved saints lead us ever closer to the heart of an intelligent, loving and passionate creator who desires to be known by us, even as we are known by Him; He is the birther of the cosmos and we are his 'Beloved.'
In the words of Andrew Harvey taken from the introduction,"Christ came not to found a new religion or to inaugurate a new set of dogmas but to open up a fierce and shattering new path of love-in-action, a path that seems now, with the hindsight of history, the one that could have saved-and still could save- humanity from its course of suicidal self-destruction."
Read and drink deep from the well of pure waters found within these pages. Reviewed by author: Marie Atkinson
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