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Mystics

Presence and Aporia

When we speak of mystics, we normally think of people who have confessed extraordinary experiences of divine presence. But mysticism can also refer to the ways that people have described and explained such phenomena—ways that challenge our normal modes of thinking and believing. And the study of mystics can show problems inherent to experience and language—how to speak and think about what affects people but lies beyond language or thought.

Mystics presents a collection of previously unpublished essays by prominent scholars that consider both the idea of mystics and mysticism. The contributors offer detailed discussions of a variety of mystics from history, including Dionysius the Areopagite, Thomas Aquinas, Joan of Arc, Nicholas of Cusa, Saint Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, and George Herbert. Essays on mysticism in George Bataille, Maurice Blanchot, and contemporary technology bring the volume into the twenty-first century.

For anyone interested in the state of current thinking about mysticism, this collection will be an essential touchstone.

Contributors:
Thomas A. Carlson, Alexander Golitzin, Kevin Hart, Amy Hollywood, Michael Kessler, Jean-Luc Marion, Bernard McGinn, Françoise Meltzer, Susan Schreiner, Regina M. Schwartz, Christian Sheppard, David Tracy

Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
MICHAEL KESSLER AND CHRISTIAN SHEPPARD
Introduction: What Do We Mean by "Mystic"?
JEAN-LUC MARION
"Suddenly, Christ": The Place of Negative Theology in the Mystagogy of Dionysius Areopagites
ALEXANDER GOLITZIN
Thomas Aquinas and Onto-theo-logy
JEAN-LUC MARION
Between Mysticisms: The Trial of Joan of Arc
FRANçOISE MELTZER
Unitrinum Seu Triunum: Nicholas of Cusa’s Trinitarian Mysticism
BERNARD MCGINN
Unmasking the Angel of Light: The Problem of Deception in Martin Luther and Teresa of Avila
SUSAN SCHREINER
From Ritual to Poetry: Herbert’s Mystical Eucharist
REGINA M. SCHWARTZ
Mysticism and Catastrophe in Georges Bataille’s Atheological Summa
AMY HOLLYWOOD
"The Experience of Nonexperience"
KEVIN HART
Locating the Mystical Subject
THOMAS A. CARLSON
Afterword: A Reflection on Mystics: Presence and Aporia
DAVID TRACY
List of Contributors
Index

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