Product Description

Composed during a critical time in the evolution of European intellectual life, the works of Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1327) are some of the most powerful medieval attempts to achieve a synthesis between ancient Greek thought and the Christian faith. Writing with great rhetorical brilliance, Eckhart combines the neoplatonic concept of oneness - the idea that the ultimate principle of the universe is single and undivided - with his Christian belief in the Trinity, and considers the struggle to describe a perfect God through the imperfect medium of language. Fusing philosophy and religion with vivid originality and metaphysical passion, these works have intrigued and inspired philosophers and theologians from Hegel to Heidegger and beyond.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #213546 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-26
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

About the Author
Johannes Eckhart, commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was born near Gotha in eastern Germany around 1260. He had an illustrious career in the Dominican Order, teaching all over Europe including Saxony, Bohemia and Paris. He is one of the great speculative mystics of Western Europe, who sougth to reconcile traditional Christian belief with transcendental metaphysics. He was accused of heretical teaching in his lifetime, but is seen today as a foremost exponent of Christian philosophical theology. He died in 1327/8. Oliver Davies is senior lecturer in theology at the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Customer Reviews

Rewarding
Eckhart is a thoroughly challenging writer on several counts. For one thing, some of his arguments are very complex and subtle. Moreover, as he says himself several times in this book, he cannot be understood by anyone who hasn't renounced human and earthly attachments to become one with God. Since few modern readers (or medieval) will have done this, then we must take much of what he says on faith. Maybe the issue of faith is another sense in which Eckhart is tough going, at least for readers who don't share his Christian belief framework. But then Eckhart uses Christian language in an almost metaphorical way.

Even you only tackled the opening section of this book, the Talks of Instruction, it would be money well spent. The next section, the Book of Divine Consolation, has some much denser passages, as does the shorter On The Noble Man. The German and Latin sermons which follow are in smaller and more digestible pieces.

He is a rewarding author to read. He can convey a sense of "oneness" that few other writers can and his thoughts on the nature of time and timelessness are mind-boggling at the same time as they seem to offer huge solace and a glimpse of a much better way of living.

A very good translation of one of the classic authors of Western mysticism
Meister Eckhart writes in the Christian-Neoplatonic mystical tradition as exemplified by Pseudo-Dionysius of the 6th Century AD and St Bonaventure of the 12th, amongst others. This tradition is one of the main conduits of Western mysticism, which seeks to emphasize the oneness of creation and a hierarchy of being encompassing both the 'sensible' [material] and 'intellectual' [spiritual].

Eckhart's writings in this book consist of a few preliminary works such as 'The Book of Divine Consolation' and 'On the Noble Man' and then the main body of the book, which is a collection of selected 'sermons'. These are highly readable, original and thought-provoking. The language throughout is (as would be expected) quite religious and theological but this in no way detracts from its readability. Indeed the Medieval world picture, especially in its more mystical variety, is shown to be both wise and beautiful, and a refreshing change to modern materialism. The introduction provides a useful overview of key themes.

In a similar vein I would recommend St Bonaventure's 'Journey of the Mind to God'.