Christopher C. H. Cook - Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition

Mystical theology has experienced a marked revival in recent decades, not least because, as the authors of Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice put it, mystical theology seeks to engage and illuminate theology in such a way as to rescue it from only being a rational and intellectual exercise. Many of the important links between spiritual practice and mystical theology are incisively explored in the essays in this volume. The collection reminds us that fostering connections between theory and practice, especially the practice of prayer, is necessary for true cultivation of the spirit in our fractured world.

Bernard McGinn, Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago

Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice

In Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice several leading scholars explore key themes within the Christian mystical tradition, contemporary and historical. The overall aim of the book is to demonstrate the relevance of mystical theology to contemporary spiritual practice. Attention is given to the works of Baron von Hgel, Vladimir Lossky, Margery Kempe, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Thomas Merton, and Francisco de Osuna, as well as to a wide range of spiritual practices, including pilgrimage, spiritual direction, contemplative prayer and the quotidian spirituality of the New Monasticism. Christian mystical theology is shown to be a living tradition, which has vibrant and creative new expressions in contemporary spiritual practice. It is argued that mystical theology affirms something both ordinary and extraordinary which is fundamental to the Christian experience of prayer.

Christopher C.H. Cook is Professor of Spirituality, Theology and Health in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University, an Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist with Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, and an Honorary Minor Canon at Durham Cathedral. He trained at St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, and worked in the psychiatry of substance misuse for over 25 years. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2001. He has research doctorates in psychiatry and in theology. He is Director of the Project for Spirituality, Theology & Health at Durham University. He is the author of The Philokalia and the Inner Life (Clarke, 2011) and editor of Spirituality and Narrative in Psychiatric Practice (eds Cook, Powell and Sims, RCPsych Press 2016) and Spirituality, Theology and Mental Health (SCM, 2013). He is a member of the core research team for the Hearing the Voice project at Durham University.

Julienne McLean practices as a psychologist, psychotherapist and Jungian analyst in north London, as well as being a spiritual director and retreat director. She has been on the clinical team of St Marylebone Healing and Counselling Centre, London, for many years. She teaches at St Marys University, Twickenham and Sarum College, Salisbury, where she is a Visiting Scholar in Christian Spirituality. She facilitates a contemplative spirituality retreat programme and is the author of Towards Mystical Union (St Pauls, 2003, 2013), a modern spiritual and psychological commentary on St Teresa of Avilas classic text, The Interior Castle.

Peter Tyler is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality at St Marys University, Twickenham. His recent books include The Pursuit of the Soul: Psychoanalysis, Soul-making and the Christian Tradition (T & T Clark, 2016), Picturing the Soul: Revisioning Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction (Dharmaram, 2014), Teresa of Avila: Doctor of the Soul (Bloomsbury, 2013) and The Bloomsbury Guide to Christian Spirituality (ed. with Richard Woods, Bloomsbury, 2012). He is a registered psychotherapist as well as Director of the Centre for Initiatives in Spirituality and Reconciliation (InSpiRe) at St Marys.

Contemporary Theological Explorations in Christian Mysticism

Series Editors: Patricia Z. Beckman, Oliver Davies and George Pattison

This series facilitates new points of synergy and fresh theological engagements with Christian mystical traditions. Reflecting the plurality of theological approaches to Christian mystical theology, books in the series cover historical, literary, practical, and systematic perspectives as well as philosophical, psychological, and phenomenological methods.

Although the primary focus of the series is the Christian tradition, exploration of texts from other traditions also highlight the theological, psychological and philosophical questions that Christian mysticism brings to the fore. https://www.routledge.com/religion/series/ACONTHEOMYS

Christian Mysticism and Incarnational Theology
Between Transcendence and Immanence
Edited by Louise Nelstrop and Simon D. Podmore

Exploring Lost Dimensions in Christian Mysticism
Opening to the Mystical
Edited by Louise Nelstrop and Simon D. Podmore

Mysticism in the French Tradition
Eruptions from France
Edited by Louise Nelstrop and Bradley B. Onishi

Mystical Anthropology
Authors from the Low Countries
Edited by John Arblaster and Rob Faesen

Mystical Theology and Continental Philosophy
Interchange in the Wake of God
Edited by David Lewin, Simon D. Podmore and Duane Williams

First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2018 selection and editorial matter, Christopher C.H. Cook, Julienne McLean and Peter Tyler; individual chapters, the contributors

The right of Christopher C.H. Cook, Julienne McLean and Peter Tyler to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cook, Chris (Christopher C.H.), editor.
Title: Mystical theology and contemporary spiritual practice : renewing the contemplative tradition / edited by Christopher C.H. Cook, Julienne McLean, and Peter Tyler.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2017. | Series: Contemporary theological explorations in Christian mysticism | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017017975| ISBN 9781472480095 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315605388 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Mysticism. | Contemplation. | Spiritual lifeChristianity. | Monastic and religious life.
Classification: LCC BV5091.C7 M97 2017 | DDC 248.2/2dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017017975

ISBN: 978-1-472-48009-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-60538-8 (ebk)