Abstract
I warmly welcome this latest volume in Bernard McGinn’s ongoing series, “The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism.” The author, former Donnelly Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School, is both a historian and theologian, and a highly regarded specialist in Medieval mysticism. His outstanding scholarship is once again shown in this volume with detailed reflections on a range of mystics, their writings, and central themes.
In his conclusion to the book, McGinn suggests that there is such a vast literature in relation to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century mystics that it “would demand a lifetime to read.” Hence, any study, such as his own, “must, by its nature, be limited” (532). However, in my judgment, given McGinn’s encyclopedic knowledge and careful interpretations, his series offers a magisterial review of Western mysticism.
This latest book is part 3 of volume VI. Taken as a whole, volume VI provides an account of Early Modern mysticism, Catholic and Protestant, during the sixteenth and much of the seventeenth centuries. Part 3 focuses on post-Reformation Catholic mystics and mystical writings apart from Spain, which McGinn explored in part 2.
In the first section of the book, “Mysticism in France,” McGinn offers an extensive study of seventeenth-century French mystical spirituality. His introductory chapter explains why, in the context of a major flood of mystical writers, his book is necessarily selective. I agree with his choices. After a second chapter on early seventeenth-century French mystics such as Benet of Canfield, McGinn offers two substantial and detailed chapters on the major French mystical writers Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, followed by Pierre de Bérulle and his circle. The first section of the book ends with a chapter on less prominent French mystics, including the Jesuit Jean-Joseph Surin, who became involved with exorcising the supposed demonic possession of Ursuline nuns at Loudun. Michel de Certeau, the outstanding twentieth-century analyst of Christian mysticism, treated Surin as his hero. Despite suffering from periodic mental illness, Surin wrote several significant mystical works, including poetry. However, with some justification, McGinn disagrees with de Certeau’s belief that Surin helped to create a new “science of mysticism” (288).
To return to Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal, chapter 3 focuses on their teachings regarding “heart to heart” union with God. This spiritual emphasis builds upon a life driven by desire and love of God in response to the human experience of God’s absolute love for us. Importantly, McGinn’s extensive chapter was reviewed by Wendy Wright, the well-known expert on Salesian spirituality (see p. 89).
Similarly, chapter 4 on the Christocentric theology and spirituality of Pierre de Bérulle and his followers was reviewed by William Thompson-Uberuaga, the respected Bérulle scholar (see p. 181). For me, two aspects of this chapter stand out. First, McGinn offers a particularly helpful interpretation of Bérulle’s teaching on anéantissement, conventionally translated as “annihilation” or “self-abasement” in our relationship with God. This language is often misinterpreted as expressing a negative view of human existence. McGinn carefully corrects this interpretation. Mystical union with Jesus Christ involves a necessary kenosis or self-emptying that is not destructive but allows God to fill our lives. The second interesting aspect of the chapter was a brief but definitive statement in the Appendix concerning the famous friend of Bérulle, Vincent de Paul (239). McGinn judges that, while de Paul was undoubtedly part of seventeenth-century France’s “spiritual elite” (100), his writings were not mystical in the technical sense. Whether or not one agrees with McGinn’s judgment, it highlights the need to be careful about how we use the terms “mystic” and “mystical” when referring to spiritual writers, however significant they are.
The second section of McGinn’s book, “Mysticism in Other Catholic Areas,” consists of three chapters. First, chapter 6 reviews the mysticism of English Recusancy (for example the exiled Benedictine Augustine Baker and the poet Richard Crashaw). Chapter 7 then explores Mysticism in Italy and chapter 8 examines Germany and the Low Countries, for example Johannes Scheffler, later known as Angelus Silesius.
Importantly, McGinn uses the word “persistence” in the book title in relation to mysticism in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Catholic Europe. In his Conclusion, McGinn argues convincingly that even in this fractured period, long-standing traditions of Christian mysticism “persisted,” albeit in adapted forms, in a changed historical environment. In his preface (xiv), McGinn also convincingly explains why he chose to end the volume chronologically in 1675 and to examine the mystical trends known as Quietism in a future volume.
My judgment is that this new book admirably continues McGinn’s outstanding survey of Western Christian mysticism. The detailed material is based on excellent scholarship and sound judgments. Overall, I have benefited greatly from McGinn’s series and look forward to the future volumes.