Mysticisms East and West: Studies in Mystical Experience (Studies in Religion and Culture) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1842270923 ISBN 13: 9781842270929

Publisher: Authentic Media, 2003

Synopsis

Mysticism is proving to be the chosen type of religion for future generations of believers in the West. As traditional institutional religion continues to decline, mystical thought is celebrated as a vital, subversive alternative. Evidence for this religious-cultural shift towards the mystical, the experiential, and indeed the creation-centered can be found in bookstores, most of which devote a large amount of shelf space to mystical themes and writers from the world religions.

While this shift is not new, an increasing number of westerners are turning east because they find the fundamentally mystical thought of Asian religious traditions appealing. Furthermore, numerous westerners have actually become gurus and mystics within Eastern traditions. Mysticisms East and West examines the worldwide phenomenon of mystical experience across the world religions. In examining both Christian and non-Christian expressions of mysticism, this unique volume brings together a number of prominent evangelical scholars to analyze the central historical, cultural, and theological issues. Beginning in the East, these studies in mystical experience gradually move to the West and to Christian mysticism before concluding with a number of philosophically reflective essays examining the implications and nature of mysticism.

About this title

About the Author

Christopher Partridge is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Contemporary Religion in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Chester College, Chester. He is also the editor of Fundamentalisms. Theodore Gabriel was born in Kerala State, India, and trained in Anthropology and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He was Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Gloucestershire until 2000, and is currently Honorary Research Fellow at the same university.

About this edition

• Publisher: Authentic Media
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1842270923
• ISBN 13: 9781842270929
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 377
• Editor: Partridge Christopher, Gabriel Theodore