William Johnston's masterwork calls Christians to an abandonment to God, the stirring of love, and the affirmation of secret wisdom. The author, who lives in Tokyo and has written widely on this subject, peers into the mystical depths of the desert fathers in Egypt; devotees of Eastern Christianity; the fourteenth century mystics in the Rhineland, Flanders, and England; and the sixteenth century Spanish Carmelites. Using the work of St. John of the Cross as a touchstone, Johnston muses on the meaning of the living flame of love, the inner light, the gift of grace, and the incomprehensibility of God.

The author outlines the lineaments of a renewed mystical theology for the twenty-first century that speaks forcefully about science, the spiritual practices of the world's great religions, sexuality, social service, and nonviolence. Johnson is especially articulate in his exploration of mysticism's vital energy and the importance of emptiness. Mystical Theology is required reading for Christians who want to travel this path of love in the century to come.

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