Overview

"Stepping Stones to a Higher Vision examines the development of religious consciousness from religion to spirituality to mysticism. This developmental path imaginatively described as """"stepping stones"""" in the title of the book and as """"elevators of religion"""" in chapter one, has its rewards but also its dangers and pitfalls. Intended for the non-specialist lay person interested in religion, as well as the scholar, the book focuses on Jewish tradition and its sources (Hebrew Bible, Talmud-Midrash, and Kabbalah), but in a broad cross-cultural interdisciplinary context. Ritual, prayer, including meditation and contemplation, ethics and morality, religious leadership, and the afterlife are analyzed in the context of sociology, science, and the history of religion."

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9781532692680

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Reviews

Drawing from a lifetime of thoughtful study, reflection, and experience--as an academic and mystic--Schultz provides an amazingly clear explanation of mysticism that informs and inspires. --Mark D. Nanos, University of Lund, Sweden An innovative, insightful, and most readable guide for the perplexed of the twenty-first century facing the contemporary crisis of religious and moral values. A real tour de force: Replete with insights from the Bible, rabbinic, and mystical-chassidic Jewish literature, as well as those from other religions and buttressed by archeology, a wide integrated range of readings in sociology, psychology, science, history, and current events, it offers a clear middle path for the seeker. --Benjamin Ravid, Brandeis University To read Joseph Schultz is to hear the voice of a wise teacher. Decades of bringing Jewish spirituality into dialogue with other forms of life have made Schultz a compelling guide to what Judaism's mystical traditions offer a diverse world. I hear and admire the voice of my former professor--as vibrant as ever--in this book. He reads the Jewish past with heart and insight for a humane way of life today. --Tom Beaudoin, Fordham University

Drawing from a lifetime of thoughtful study, reflection, and experience--as an academic and mystic--Schultz provides an amazingly clear explanation of mysticism that informs and inspires. --Mark D. Nanos, University of Lund, Sweden An innovative, insightful, and most readable guide for the perplexed of the twenty-first century facing the contemporary crisis of religious and moral values. A real tour de force: Replete with insights from the Bible, rabbinic, and mystical-chassidic Jewish literature, as well as those from other religions and buttressed by archeology, a wide integrated range of readings in sociology, psychology, science, history, and current events, it offers a clear middle path for the seeker. --Benjamin Ravid, Brandeis University To read Joseph Schultz is to hear the voice of a wise teacher. Decades of bringing Jewish spirituality into dialogue with other forms of life have made Schultz a compelling guide to what Judaism's mystical traditions offer a diverse world. I hear and admire the voice of my former professor--as vibrant as ever--in this book. He reads the Jewish past with heart and insight for a humane way of life today. --Tom Beaudoin, Fordham University

Author Information

Joseph Schultz (PhD) served as Rabbi in several congregations. He founded the Jewish Studies Program at Boston University, where he was Assistant Professor of Religion, and at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he was the Oppenstein Brothers Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies. He helped establish the Center for Religious Studies, a consortium of six colleges, theological schools, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City and was its first Director.

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