Overview

In the forests of medieval Brabant, a quiet priest composed some of the most daring and beautiful works in the history of Western mysticism. His name was John of of Ruusbroec (Jan van Ruusbroec), and his vision of the soul's journey toward God has lost none of its power in the seven centuries since he set it down.The Wisdom of John of Ruusbroec: Mystic of the Flowing Light traces the life, thought, and enduring legacy of the fourteenth-century Flemish contemplative who transformed the Christian mystical tradition. Born in a small village south of Brussels, Ruusbroec served for decades as an ordinary chaplain before withdrawing to the forest priory of Groenendaal, where he spent the remaining thirty-eight years of his life writing, praying, and receiving seekers from across Europe. Ruusbroec's theology centered on a threefold vision of the spiritual life - the active, the interior, and the superessential - animated by the rhythm of divine love flowing outward and returning to its source. His masterwork, Die geestelike brulocht, described the soul as a bride drawn ever deeper into union with the divine bridegroom, a union that expressed itself not in withdrawal from the world but in renewed engagement with the common life of service and charity. The Wisdom of John of Ruusbroec: Mystic of the Flowing Light offers readers: A vivid portrait of Ruusbroec's life, from his early years in Brussels to the contemplative community he founded at Groenendaal A clear and accessible account of his threefold vision of the spiritual life and the theology of flowing and ebbing that structures his thought An exploration of his relationship to the Rhineland mystics, the Beguine movement, and the Free Spirit controversy An examination of his profound influence on the Devotio Moderna and the subsequent history of Western spirituality A careful treatment of the vernacular theological tradition of the Low Countries and Ruusbroec's place as its culminating figure Written in a contemplative and historically grounded style, The Wisdom of John of Ruusbroec: Mystic of the Flowing Light brings to life a thinker whose vision of the divine abyss, the common life, and the nameless God continues to speak to all who seek a deeper understanding of the relationship between the human soul and the sacred.

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