Great Medieval Mystics

Christopher R. Fee, Ph.D.

6 CD’s 18 Lectures.

As a profound attempt to enter into personal communion with the divine, mysticism tends to transcend not only the boundaries of human existence but also human language.

And yet efforts to convey the indescribable beauty and intensity of mystical experiences abound.

Now, medieval literature expert Christopher R. Fee, Ph.D., invites you to examine the foremost mystics from the Middle Ages through the lens of their greatest challenge: expression.

In the medieval period, how did religious women and men put into words their intense—and intensely personal—devotional practices, visions, and experiences? And how did those efforts to articulate mystical experiences comport with church doctrine?

As you explore these questions, you will be amazed at how desperately medieval mystics often wrestled to reconcile the theological implications of their personal faiths with rigid patristic understandings of God.

Recognizing that mysticism is a movement limited to neither Christianity nor the Middle Ages, Prof. Fee offers you glimpses into Jewish and Islamic mystic traditions near the end of the course. You’ll conclude with a discussion about the surprising relevance of medieval mysticism to our own postmodern culture.

You’ll rejoice in this fresh approach to the mystical tradition, grounded in history and letters but elevated by the mystery of the soul. A natural and energetic speaker, Prof. Fee sets every aspect of his subject ablaze. You’ll find his enthusiasm infectious.

Topics

Introduction: “Wit It Wel: Love Was His Meaning”

• Medieval Mysticism: Of Monasteries, Hermits, and Anchorites

Medieval Mystics

• Bernard of Clairvaux
• Francis of Assisi
• Hildegard of Bingen
• Meister Eckhart
• Richard Rolle of Hampole
• Walter Hilton
• The Cloud of Unknowing
• The Ancrene Wisse
• “Love was His Meaning:” Julian of Norwich
•  Margery Kempe
• Teresa of Ávila
• The Dark Night of the Soul: Saint John of the Cross

Mystics of the Book: Counterpoints in Medieval Judaism and Islam

• Kabbalah and Medieval Jewish Mysticism
• Sufism and Medieval Islamic Mysticism

Post-Reformation Mysticism: Of Protestants, Trembling Faith, and Hearts Strangely Warmed

• George Fox and the Quakers
• John Wesley and the Methodists

Conclusion: What’s Love Got to Do with It?

• Medieval Mysticism in Postmodern Context