Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the death of Henri Nouwen, one of the greatest Christian spirituality writers of the twentieth century.
(Our intro guide to Nouwen’s books)
If you have benefited from Nouwen’s work, here are ten must-read classics of Christian spirituality from earlier centuries that are available as FREE ebooks!
*** How many of these classics have you read?
MysticismEvelyn Underhill |
Underhill’s greatest book, Mysticism: A Study of the Nature and Development of Man’s Spiritual Consciousness, was published in 1911, and is distinguished by the very qualities which make it ill-suited as a straightforward textbook. The spirit of the book is romantic, engaged, and theoretical rather than historical or scientific. Underhill has little use for theoretical explanations and the traditional religious experience, formal classifications or analysis. She dismisses William James’ pioneering study, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), and his “four marks of the mystic state” (ineffability, noetic quality, transience, and passivity). James had admitted that his own constitution shut him off almost entirely from the enjoyment of mystical states, thus his treatment was purely objective. Underhill substituted (1) mysticism is practical, not theoretical, (2) mysticism is an entirely spiritual activity, (3) the business and method of mysticism is love, and (4) mysticism entails a definite psychological experience. Her insistence on the psychological approach was that it was the glamorous science of the pre-war period, offering the potential key to the secrets of human advances in intelligence, creativity, and genius, and already psychological findings were being applied in theology FREE PDF EBOOK!
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Understanding Christian Nationalism [A Reading Guide] |
 Most Anticipated Books of the Fall for Christian Readers!
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Love all of these, but sorely wish our communities were also mindful of such profound luminaries as Saint Isaak the Syrian, Saint Theophan the Recluse, Saint Maximos the Confessor, the Cappadocians, etc. May it be blessed.