Thinkers, Saints, Heretics: Spiritual Paths of the Middle Ages - Softcover

Sease PhD, Virginia; Schmidt-Brabant, Manfred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1902636902 ISBN 13: 9781902636900

Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

“Whether souls have returned in physical incarnations as Platonists, as Aristotelians, as pupils of Chartres, as members of the Dominican Order, as Templars, as Cathars, or whether these souls accompany us as spiritual beings, a stream of spiritual continuity that begins in the Middle Ages flows through human history.” ― Manfred Schmidt-Brabant

Why do people today look back to the Middle Ages with such interest? Are those times related in some way with the present? In this enlightening series of lectures, Manfred Schmidt-Brabant and Virginia Sease suggest that our sense of self depends on creating a true relationship to the present age. To do this, however, we must understand the spiritual roots of our time. The authors suggest that those roots may be found in the Middle Ages. The impulses that originate from that time continue to flow into the present, helping to shape our thinking, feeling and actions. Even the history of Europe is determined largely by the thinking of people during the Middle Ages, which has endured to be believed and fought over. This emerges today in individual consciousness as well as in the fabric of our communities.

To help us undersatnd this critical period, the authors embark on a broad historical survey of the culture and history―exoteric and esoteric―of the Middle Ages. Their journey takes in King Arthur and the Celtic mysteries; Francis of Assisi, the Franciscans and the School of Chartres; Thomas Aquinas, Averroes, and the Dominicans; Cabbala and Jewish mysticism; heretics and the Cathars; Templar secrets; spiritual alchemy and Gothic architecture; Columbus and the mysteries of America; and the consciousness soul and the historical figure of Faust.

About this title

About the Authors

Virginia Sease was born in Pennsylvania and earned her doctorate in German from the University of Southern California. She taught in a university and a waldorf school in Los Angeles and has been a member of the Executive Council of the Goetheanum since 1984. She directs the English language Anthroposophical Studies Program at the Goetheanum. 

Manfred Schmidt-Brabant was born in Berlin in 1926. In 1975 he became a member of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, and served as Chair of the Council from 1984 until his death in 2001. His service during those years included leadership of the Social Science Section of the School of Spiritual Science, and he lectured around the world on many subjects. He was the author of several books that have been published in English.

Edition details

• Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1902636902
• ISBN 13: 9781902636900
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224