The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. Vol. 1: The Foundations of Mysticism: Origin to the Fifth Century

it defines and limits the meaning of selem. Second, the two words are interchangeable; no distinction is discoverable between them. Third, both words are included in Genesis 1:26. However, only selem is used in Genesis 1:27, but the omission of d§mu®t does not diminish the meaning. Preuss, noting the occurrence and semantic field of the verb and noun forms for t...wm√;d defines it as a “copy,” “reproduction” or “image” (Preuss 1997:3.259). The eighth century prophet Isaiah warns the nation of Israel not to pursue lRs‹RÚpAh “the idol” (Is 40:19), since wáøl ...wk√rAo¶A;tt...wäm√;d_hAm...w l¡Ea N...wâyV;mådV;t yTMIm_lRa◊w “to whom will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?” (Is 40:18). Idols, which are creations of human hands, lack the “likeness” of the divine creator. Isaiah’s comparison is not applicable to the human, who is created in the “image...likeness” of God. The context of Isaiah 40 expresses comfort for God’s people (40:1), whose Lord has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand (40:12), sits enthroned above the circle of the earth (Is 40:22), and is the Everlasting God, Creator of the ends of the earth who does not grow weary or tired (40:28b). Idols do not compare. Feinberg (1972:236) notes the difference between sΩelem, which refers to human essence, and d§mu®t as the aspect of the person that changes. Both concepts evolve from the Greek and Latin father’s distinction between sΩelem, as the physical condition of the human, and d§mu®t which refers to the ethical expression of the divine image emanating from God. Although distinctions between image and likeness are noted, Kidner (2008:55) deduces that the words reinforce one another in Genesis 1:26, since the conjunction is absent

The debilitating duo : shame and guilt in Psalm 32

Starting points for this thesis were personal observations about how paintings may be responses to unplanned experiences, how they may take on a life of their own, and how meanings may emerge rather than be imposed. Questions arose about possible links with Christian concepts of revelation, and these were investigated with particular reference to the French Catholic philosopher and theologian Jean-Luc Marion. His concepts of saturated phenomena and their ‘excess’ of pure givenness were found to resonate with the actual experiences of painters but also to be critiqued by them. The core chapters discuss examples of paintings drawn from the three worlds of nature, ‘culture’, and persons, using an essentially threefold format: 1) presentation of selected paintings together with artists’ autobiographical material; 2) phenomenological analysis; and 3) theological interpretation. Underlying this approach is Marion’s approach to revelation by way of saturated phenomena, for whilst phenomenology alone cannot determine if actual revelation has taken place, it can investigate conditions for the possibility of revelation.

Original features include the following:

• Development of a ten-part typology of painting trajectories, reflecting diverse interactions between givenness and intentionality.
• Identification of ‘nature’ as a saturated phenomenon from the evidence of painting processes; this is new evidence supporting an existing critique of Marion.
• Discernment of saturated phenomena as ‘nested’, that is manifesting at different scales from the cosmic to the microscopic.
• Application of the ‘visual-verbal chronotope’ to the complexities of painterly hermeneutics, with respect to biblical images.
• Use of collaborative painting processes to enter the worlds of primary school children.
• Identification of painting processes as saturated phenomena in their own right.
• Realisation that Marion’s ‘givenness through saturated phenomena’ approach is complementary to the ‘imagination’ approach to revelation pursued by several British and North American theologians. It is suggested that the two approaches need each other.

It is concluded that, phenomenologically, painters’ imaginative responses to givenness are common to both secular and theistic interpretations of revelation, and that through this commonality painting processes can contribute to addressing tensions between natural and revealed theology contribute to addressing tensions between natural and revealed theology.

A theological enquiry into the processes of painting, with reference to the phenomenology of Jean-Luc Marion

THE "THRONE OF GOD" MOTIF IN THE HEBREW BIBLE

The "Throne of God" Motif in the Hebrew Bible

This thesis reports the results of a linguistic and theological investigation of the “one flesh” marriage union concept introduced in Genesis 2:24, and the history of its reception throughout the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament Scriptures, with special focus on its New Testament echoes in Mat. 19, Mar. 10, 1Co. 6 and Eph. 5. The aim was to discover whether this concept provides a fundamental, harmonious foundation for a biblical theology of marriage, and whether the “one flesh” union is, at least subliminally, present in the major marriage (and divorce) passages of the Scriptures. Methods employed include, initially, detailed exegesis of Gen. 2:24, giving attention to linguistic and literary features of the passage in context. Reception history was then used to identify the primary passages in both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament impacted by the Gen. 2:24 “one flesh” marriage concept. These in turn were also subjected to detailed exegesis. The combined data emerging from the study of these passages was then examined from the perspective of biblical theology to determine whether a somewhat unified and harmonious biblical theology of the “one flesh” union can be reasonably constructed. The thesis found that the “one flesh” union concept serves as the foundation for the biblical pattern of an ideal marriage. In addition, the “one flesh” union concept serves as a major foundation for several Hebrew Bible and New Testament passages outlining the ideal relationship between Yahweh and his people. Finally, the thesis concludes by presenting a new biblical framework for marriage, divorce and remarriage which deals in a fresh way with theological implications of concubinage, and issues of possible “biblical” grounds for permissible divorce and remarriage.

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The Biblical "One Flesh" Theology of Marriage as Constituted in Genesis 2:24: An Exegetical Study of This Human-divine Covenant Pattern, Its New Testament Echoes, and Its Reception History Throughout Scripture

This chapter examines the subject of humanity as created in the image and likeness of God, a central theme in the Christian mystical tradition. Indeed, the imago Dei forms the foundation of much if not all Christian theological anthropology, and questions of the ‘nature’ and ‘structure’ of the human person are evidently central to questions of the mystical encounter between human persons and God. This chapter first surveys the scriptural background of the imago Dei in both Genesis and the New Testament and then provides a brief survey of current systematic-theological and historical-theological approaches. After providing some background to patristic imago Dei theologies in both the East and West, the chapter focuses in-depth on three lesser-known medieval authors: John of Fécamp, William of St Thierry, and John of Ruusbroec, in an attempt to highlight the rich variation and theological sophistication of their mystical anthropologies.

The Image and Likeness of God

This contribution investigates the mystical anthropology of two important and related medieval mystics, William of Saint-Thierry and Hadewijch, neither of whom were well known in their own day, but who have come to the fore of scholarly attention in recent years. In the first part, the authors explore the Trinitarian theology of William of Saint-Thierry and the ways in which it provides the foundation for his mystical anthropology. William radically argues that the human soul is structured according to the pattern of the Trinitarian life, and advocates a reciprocal and mutual encounter between the soul and God in which each touch and pass over into one another, becoming one Spirit. In the 13th century, Hadewijch would draw on William’s fundamental insights, integrating them into her own mystical-theological thought. Following her theoretical reflections on the nature of the soul, and unlike her contemporaries in the Schools, Hadewijch maintains that the soul has the natural potential to be united ...

The reciprocity of spiritual love in William of Saint-Thierry and Hadewijch

The Brabantine mystical author John of Ruusbroec initially appears to be a good example of the problematic relationship between mystics and the Church. He had a conflict with the clerical hierarchy in Brussels during his lifetime. After his death, Jean Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris, declared that the third part of Ruusbroec's Spiritual Espousals (on mystical union sine differentia) was to be absolutely rejected. When one examines the historical development of the ecclesial position, it appears that the hierarchy's and the theologians’ concern has an important ethical and ecclesial component. In the ecclesial concern, the unio sine differentia appears to be problematic because it disrupts the unio of human society. An analysis of Ruusbroec's works, however, reveals that nothing could be more alien to his thought than a solipsistic mystic or a contemplative who threatens to endanger the communion of human society. On the contrary, his ideal of the mature Christian mystic is one in whom Chris...

Mysticism with or without the church? John of Ruusbroec's conflict with the clergy

This Companion offers a comprehensive overview of research into the life, work, and influence of John of Ruusbroec (1293-1381). In addition, it contains the first English translation of a series of Middle Dutch texts related to Ruusbroec and his context.

A companion to John of Ruusbroec

This chapter is an introduction that summarizes the elements of John of Ruusbroec's life and works. In approximately 1360, John of Ruusbroec, who was then seventy, walked about forty kilometers from his monastery at Groenendaal to the Charterhouse of Herne. The community of Carthusians had invited him to clarify certain perplexing aspects of his mystical theology. The 1944-1948 editions attributes The Gloss on the Our Father and a sermon entitled On the Blessed Sacrament to Ruusbroec. The editor, considered it possible that the first text, which occurs only in the composite manuscript and is ascribed to Ruusbroec, was actually written by him. The notations in the compilation manuscripts informs of the chronology of Ruusbroec's works, while the epilogue by the so-called 'Descendant' discusses the copying of manuscripts and Ruusbroec's theology. A possible explanation of the symbolic meaning of his text may be found in Ruusbroec's own work. Keywords: Carthusians; John of Ruusbroec; manuscripts; mystical theology

John Arblaster

Papers

The Image and Likeness of God

The reciprocity of spiritual love in William of Saint-Thierry and Hadewijch

Mysticism with or without the church? John of Ruusbroec's conflict with the clergy

A companion to John of Ruusbroec

John of Ruusbroec’s Life and Works